{"id":880627,"date":"2026-09-02T10:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T10:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/880627\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T10:58:13","slug":"my-productivity-stack-now-uses-three-apps-not-one-ive-never-been-more-organized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/880627\/","title":{"rendered":"My productivity stack now uses three apps, not one; I’ve never been more organized"},"content":{"rendered":"

I use an unconventional method for taking notes, writing to-do lists, and planning my day.<\/p>\n

It’s a single document I update daily<\/a> with everything I need in a simple bullet-point format. No fancy to-do apps, no advanced editing tools, just a daily document I keep updated. <\/p>\n

Over two months after I adopted this method, I still use it, but I’ve noticed an unexpected change.<\/p>\n

The note-taking apps I abandoned have crept back into my life, but it’s not a problem. Contrary to my expectations, juggling multiple apps is the best solution.<\/p>\n


\n \"Using<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tI write hundreds of words a day for a living, and this is the only text editor I will recommend
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

I found the only text editor that actually lets me focus<\/p>\n

There is no one-size-fits-all solution<\/p>\n

No app or system is perfect<\/p>\n

The philosophy behind my current note-taking solution is structuring my life around a single .txt file. It’s fantastically simple, and shows how unnecessary most subscription-based note apps are.<\/p>\n

However, from the start of the project, I needed more than a single document. Requiring instant access from any device meant I had to adopt two extra services: Calmly Writer and Google Drive.<\/p>\n

\"calmly<\/p>\n

I was already using Google Drive, but I wanted to detach my notes from any account. Thus, the first problem was born. How do I stay in control with minimal hassle?<\/p>\n

For months, I tried to make it work, but I only solved the problem when I accepted its limitations.<\/p>\n

For example, I also use Calmly Writer to write the words you’re reading right now. It’s a fantastic tool that solved many of the problems I had with Google Docs and is perfect for personal writing.<\/p>\n

But I don’t need it for shopping lists, and it’s terrible for collaboration.<\/p>\n

Keeping my notes and articles stored in .txt form is useful, but I still needed collaboration tools. Why was I going through all this effort for notes I only needed to reference once?<\/p>\n

When I realized I couldn’t exclusively use my single solution<\/p>\n

Projects got messy fast<\/p>\n

For a separate work project, I was jotting down ideas through my usual process on my phone. I ended up with a page and a half of notes.<\/p>\n

Next, I needed to open the file in a text editor, format it, make edits, save it as a PDF, and access it on a work computer.<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, my project needed two rounds of edits after I had brought it to work. Coworkers wanted to make comments. I needed to check the revision history. Extra formatting was needed.<\/p>\n

If I were working on a single computer on a single account, it wouldn’t have been a problem. But I was forced to constantly reshare and reupload my notes.<\/p>\n

This was only the start of my issues.<\/p>\n

Friends wanted to collaborate on personal projects. My partner likes using a specific shopping list. My mom wanted to leave comments on a document.<\/p>\n

\"Google
\n Credit:\u00a0<\/p>\n

The solution was to use Google Docs and Google Keep<\/a>. I could convert my notes into documents and share them so I could access them at work and from home. <\/p>\n

But that was causing fragmentation. Now my notes were split across three separate apps (four if you count Docs and Keep as separate), which was the problem I was trying to solve.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I solved the issue. Here’s how.<\/p>\n

Different notes have different value<\/p>\n

So a different solution for each was required<\/p>\n

I now use the shopping app Bring! which is a useful tool. It’s got great collaborative features, and the UI is perfect for ticking off items one-handed.<\/p>\n

Let’s say Bring! shut down right now, and I lost all my shopping lists. It wouldn’t matter at all.<\/p>\n

I don’t mind tying my shopping lists to an account because I don’t care if I lose them.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

After that revelation, I realized I needed to organize my notes.<\/p>\n

I divided my written work into three categories: Personal, Collaborative, and Junk.<\/p>\n

My personal notes exist in my .txt file. This keeps them secure, backed up, and I don’t have to change my system.<\/p>\n

Collaborative notes live in Google Docs and Keep. I can share and collaborate with a single button press. Yes, they’re tied to an account, but these notes are linked to short-term projects.<\/p>\n

Junk notes live wherever I feel like at the time. These include shopping lists and notes I’m typing to show a friend when the music is too loud. I don’t care about losing them.<\/p>\n

There’s no point trying to find the perfect note-taking app<\/p>\n

I’m much happier with my note-taking and to-do list setup now. While I lament losing a one-size-fits-all solution, I recognize that dream was impossible. Some productivity apps try to do it all<\/a>, but they all fail eventually. <\/p>\n

What solved my problem was mentally dividing my notes into separate categories. It was silly to try to force projects into a space that didn’t work for them.<\/p>\n

Best of all? I’m still not spending a penny.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I use an unconventional method for taking notes, writing to-do lists, and planning my day. It’s a single…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[49,48,190,61],"class_list":["post-880627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}