The Productivity Tools I Actually Use (And Why It's Mostly Pen and Paper)

I've read many productivity tool roundups. Many say they've tried hundreds.

Trello. Notion. Todoist. Asana. Pomodoro timer. Obsidian.

My list is shorter. I use a desk calendar, phone alarms, and a notebook.

That's basically it. And its not for a lack of trying.

Tool graveyard

I think it's a fitting name for what it is.

I've had accounts on many platforms. I recently built a habit tracker in C, and before that, I'm pretty sure I've built a few as hobby projects. These tracked my goals, workouts, habits, and deadlines. I stuck to them for a week.

I'd get excited about the app, sign up for an account, think it'd be life-changing. Next day, the friction of logging in would kick in.

Like Atomic Habits suggests, a habit has to be stackable to stick. Habit stacking is a concept James Clear talks about in his book: Atomic Habits.

One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top - James Clear

Over time, I've realised I stick to something that I don't have to think about.

What I use now

A desk calendar. The kind you flip through. It sits on my desk and I look at it constantly because it's just there. I write quick notes on dates.

Honestly, I use my notebook more often than my desk calendar.

With Google Calendar, the reminder would pop up, I'd dismiss it, and forget. With a physical calendar, the date is visible all week. I can't dismiss it.

Phone alarms. For meetings and anything I think I'll miss, I set an alarm 30 minutes before the event. The same kind that could wake me up.

A notebook. My notebook is a cheap notebook a friend got me for my last birthday. It's not structured or color-coded. I write quick notes, tasks for todday, things I need to remember, and move on.

What works and what doesn't

I think tools like Notion and Logseq are quite powerful. If you commit to writing logs for a year, you could have a RAG model that looks at your habits. Cool stuff.

Me? I'd give up the next day.

Notion is great for documentation, shared wikis, project notes that multiple people need to access. It's terrible as a personal daily task manager — too many clicks, too much structure, too slow. I use it for documentation on projects. I don't use it as a planner.

Trello is fine for managing a project with a team or tracking something with clear stages. I don't use it for todos.

Todoist is doesn't get in the way. Natural language input, good mobile app, not bloated. Still not something I use.

Google Calendar works well if you actually look at it. I'd only open it when I remembered to - I'm not looking at my phone constantly, so it's a bad fit for me.

Takeaway

The productivity tool that works is the one you can't avoid. For me, that's a physical calendar on my desk, alarm on my phone, and a notebook.

I don't like the friction of opening apps on my phone. For solo work, notebook and alarm have more success than anything I've built in software.

For teams and shared tasks, something like Notion or Docs is worth the friction cost because the alternative is worse.

What to actually try

If nothing is sticking, honest options:

Desk or wall calendar. A physical one. Put it somewhere you'll see without trying. Write important things on it. Flip the page when the month ends.

Phone alarms Not reminders. Actual alarms. For today.

One notebook. Not a system, not a second brain - just a place to write things down when you need to. Doesn't have to be fancy.

Todoist if you need digital. Simple, free tier is enough for most people.

If something is already working - stop reading articles like this one.

The best productivity system is the one you actually use. It took me a while to learn that it doesn't have to be rust-powered as long as it works