Paperless Productivity: Final Decision

 

About this time last year, I decided that I would try out moving my paper-based productivity tools of a diary and notebook to a more digital format (you can see the post about that here).  Other than the digital calendar I have linked to my phone it's never really been something I've tried before.  I've always liked using paper and pen, as it just seems to work with how my brain is wired, and the satisfaction of ticking off the work that you've done, so this year has been a bit of an eye-opener.

After a year of testing out 14 different apps (twelve for productivity and two for note-taking) this is what I've found:

• There are a lot of options out there, so it's pretty likely you'll find something that suits you.
• Despite the variety, it's unlikely you'll find something that is 100% what you want, but then that's the same for all forms of productivity, including paper.
• That I actually prefer the simpler apps with the least amount of frills, which is not what I was expecting when I first started this.  Really this should have been obvious, I've tried many complex versions of diaries, habit tracking, and task completion, and yet I always reverted back to simplest format.  The other forms just made me feel like I should be busy, even when I really shouldn't.

So, which are the apps that I actually liked and am likely to carry on with.  

When it comes to note-taking I only tested two apps and the one that I prefered was OneNote.  I liked the way I could have it on my phone, my laptop, and link to it through my email, and the layout really works for me as it's more like a notebook than just post-it notes.

When it comes to the to-dos or tasks my favourite apps were actually Cute Note (which is funny as I originally picked it as just a light end) and Teux Deux.  I like Cute Note for the simple but actually quite effective layout, the countdown page, and, to be completely honest, the cuteness of the whole thing.  It's also completely free, which is always good.  Teux Deux is just as simple but has a more minimal appearance with no distractions.  However, it does function much more effectively as a task keeper, specifically the part where the tasks get moved for you to the next day.  This one does cost money, but the price wouldn't exactly break the bank.

For a long time, TickTick was actually my favourite app, but I've now decided it's a bit too complex for what I actually need.  I'm also no longer bothered about keeping an eye on my habits at the moment.  My main aim is to drink enough water and take my iron tablets, I'm not sure I need an app to do that.  This may change in the future if I ever need to work on more things and I would definitely recommend it if that's what you're looking for.

An honourable mention has to go to Habitica.  It's far more complex than I need, but it definitely added an element of fun to getting tasks done without taking up a large amount of space on my phone.  Definitely keeping it in my list of future possibles for if things get a bit more complex.

So, am I doing moving forward?  My physical diary is now coming to an end.  It's a visually beautiful diary, but I'm not going to buy a new one.  However, I do have a number of notebooks sitting in my storage boxes that I want to use up, so the start of the year is going to still be paper-based when it comes to organising my to-dos.  I'm pretty sure I'll always need to have a notebook of some description with me as my brain does work better when I write things down (I just don't think I'll ever be able to go completely digital).  However, I have already moved a lot of my long-term notes and note-taking onto One Note, and I'll continue to do that.  Also, once those notebooks are finished I'll move to a digital task manager.  I haven't decided yet if it's going to be Cute Note or Teux Deux yet, but it will probably be one of those two.

To read about the apps I tested this year you can following my Paperless Productivity label.

Paperless Productivity - Toodledo

 

I think I've had a little too much of productivity apps right now so I'm not sure I've been able to give Toodledo as much of a trial as it probably should have had and.  However, I did use it for a few weeks to try and get it a good idea on how to use it so hopefully, I can write something useful here.  I should probably start by saying that I think this is another one that would be good if you're someone who wants a little use a digital form of a bullet diary.

When you first download the app it asks you a couple of questions to help find out how to set it up specifically for your needs - which is a nice touch, as long as you know what the terms mean.

Then you need to log in so that it can sync your information with the website version which is a bit more full-on and that you do actually have to use sometimes because the phone app doesn't allow you to do everything (more on that later).

When the tasks page first comes up you get a whole lot of information on how to use the app and you can go through each part to get a real feel for it - also a nice little touch.

The main menu (on the left) allows you to navigate through each section of tasks (also brokendown in sub-sections so you can navigate to a specific task quickly), notes, outlines (I really didn't use this section at all), habits, and lists.

So let's start with tasks.  These are pretty simple to add and follow what is now a pretty familiar pattern.  You click on the cross button at the bottom right.

Then you type in the name of the task and add any notes you feel you need to keep with the task.

You can then add this task to a folder and add context to it (I used this to say if the task was for work, blog, home etc).  This is one part where I found I had to use my laptop instead of just being able to use my phone.  You can add a folder or context to your task on your phone if one exists, but to create them you have to log in using your computer.

Then you add a start date if you want and due date, and you can also select what priority the task needs to be.  Click on the tick at the top right and you're done.

You can see what tasks are overdue or coming up over a specific time by picking 'Due-Date' from the menu.

Or have a look at the tasks you have in each category using the 'Context' section and these are probably the two parts that I used the most.

The tasks themselves are ordered in importance, which seems to be partly based on the importance you give them when you created them but are mostly due to the due date they have.

I would mostly use the note section for writing up quick shopping lists and which I only really did here to test it out as I normally use the notes app on my phone.  However, if you were wanting to integrate notes with tasks for a project you have going this would probably be perfect as you can add the notes to a specific folder.  As with adding a task note adding it pretty simple and you just click on the cross, type in the name of the note, what folder you want to add it to and then type away.  Clicking on the tick at the top right then saves it.

The next section is Habits (I'm glossing over Outlines because I really didn't look into it) and I used this also as much as the tasks part.  Rather than a number or rating I kept all my tasks as a checkbox as I just prefer that.  The good things about this habit tracker is the chain chain underneath the habits name.  The reason for this is that every time you complete the task it makes the corresponding link in the chain dark and this allows you to see how many many times you have managed to complete this task in the last few days.  I will admit that it is quite satisfying.

Adding is the same as before.  Click on the cross at the bottom right.  Write in the name of the habit and click how you want to show you've completed the task.

Add a start date (though this isn't necessary if you're starting from the day you've added it), how often you want to do the habit and if you want to be reminded.  Then it's just 'Start Habit' and you're off.

If you put in number instead of checkbox then there is this pretty cool thing where you can add the amount of time you have completed the habit in a day and then this progress is then shown on a graph to let you see this progress.  I didn't really feel that it would mean anything to the habits I was wanting to track, but if you were doing something like push-ups or swearing less then this would probably be a good tracker.

The last section is Lists.  I already have lists elsewhere and didn't want to duplicate them here, but I did have a little play around.  

It's actually quite a nice little section and already has a whole lot of list templates already made up for you. 

Like Migraine Log - something I probably should have been tracking a few years ago.  But there's also bucket lists, recipes, reading list, weight tracking, etc and you can creat your own with a little bit of work.

And that's the layout of the app.  I'm not going to lie, it did feel a little bit clunky trying to get around this software on my phone and is probably a lot easier to use on you computer instead.  I would say that the best way to use it is to actually predominantly use the website when you're at home and just use the phone app for when you are on the go.  Which is absolutely fine, but I want something much simpler that I can use directly off my phone.  There was also an issue with it trying to sync from my phone to the website and I kept getting messages that this wasn't happening, but I wasn't too bothered about that.  However, if you are using it in that integrated way then that might be an issue.  I also noticed that I didn't get the reminders coming up on my phone as I did with Memorigi and Tick Tick, and I actually quite liked those.

One little aspect that I liked was the way you could add things to the tasks from another app using the share function.  A couple of times I found webpages I wanted to read but didn't have time right then and easy enough to add it as a task by clicking share and then selecting Task with the Toodledo logo, and there it was.

As I said before, I probably didn't give this app as much of a test as it deserved and could probably do with a little break from these at the moment.  It would be a really good app if you were someone who likes using a bullet journal to organise all your project, thoughts, and tasks, and maybe in the future I'll come back to it if I ever need that amount of organisation.  If that's what you're looking for definitely give this a go, however, I don't really feel I need anything that complicated and so this app didn't really work for me.

I'm going to take a little break from these, but then I'm going to test Habitica.  I've heard a lot of good things about this one.

Paperless Productivity

I'm going to have to admit something. I am definitely one of those people that, if I don't write it down, I will probably forget it. That includes to dos, things I need to buy (yes I have walked into a store, brought a whole load of things I probably didn't need, and then left without the things I actually needed to get......so many times), and appointments. They just don't stay in my brain. And I'd love to say it's because I'm just so busy, busy, busy, but that would a lie. I'm not busy, that information just doesn't want to stay in my brain. I do, however, seem to be able to remember odd things like how bumble bees are able to fly in colder conditions than most other bees can. [If you're wondering it's by detaching their flight muscles from their wings and then vibrating them as if flying. It warms up their body so they can survive in the cold and they then reattach the muscles to the wings and fly off. But I digress, back to to dos and appointments.]

The strange thing is, of course, that when I do write things down and plan out my day I can be super productive. Getting a large number of my to dos ticked off and feeling very pleased with myself. I also find that by writing it down I can more efficiently spread tasks out throughout the week, increasing the chance of them actually getting done and reducing the chance of me feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelmed usually leads to me giving up and not actually getting any of them done. So writing down my to dos and appointments is definitely a must when it comes to being productive and just functioning like a normal human being.

But of course, writing everything down does come with a cost. An environmental one. There's a lot of paper and ink being used to keep up with all the things that need to go on in my life and it doesn't just include what goes on in my diary. I still make notes in paper form. Writing everything down when I'm researching and working out how I want to write things, either on this blog or doing initial scribbling for things like covering letters. All of it goes down in a notebook to be looked at later. I know that theoretically it would probably be better to do everything digitally, but it's been difficult to make the switch. And there is a sense of security by writing these things down on paper rather than using a digital format. I don't have to worry about it running out of batteries, it won't just malfunction and stop me being able to look at things (though I might loss it of course), there's no worry of me accidentally deleting everything or forgetting to hit save, and then there is, of course, the feeling that if I write it down it'll go into my head. I suppose there is also the counter argument that by using digital formats you are using up electricity which mostly uses fossil fuels to run. However, that's pretty easy to get around and make more green.

I have dipped my toe in a couple of times and already use Google calendar, which is linked to my mobile and laptop and which contains all my events like birthdays, doctors appointments, and working hours (all with reminders set for different times). And, to be, honest I've found Google calendar really easy to use and I don't feel the need to have a paper equivalent of this at all. But I haven't really taken the plunge into making all my daily activities digital and I figure it's probably time I do.

Before I had thought about this properly I had already brought a beautiful paper diary by Mairi Hedderwick for next year and I am still going to keep using this throughout 2020 to keep myself organised whilst I test out some of the digital options there are out there. And there are a few. To begin with there's the task option on the Google calendar (which will hopefully show up on the calendar on my mobile as well) and Microsoft To-Do, there's also well known software like Evernote, Todoist, Wunderlist, Habitica, and Toodledo. But I've also heard that Moleskine has brought out a popular app called Actions by Moleskine and one I've come across whilst doing my research called Any.do. The reason I want to look at these other forms of software over just the Google calendar task is that I would also like to keep my notes on there as well as they are usually connected to the to dos.  It would just make sense to have them both together.  That being said I will also test out programs like One Note and Google Keep to go with their counterparts and see if that works to.  I also still have a couple of notebooks that I will also finish before I go completely digital as I've already started using them and it seems silly to just throw them in the recycling half used.

This is, of course, all a test and it may be that I just don't do well going completely digital when it comes to organising my life. If that's the case I'll have to try and come up with a different way of reducing my waste, but it should be interesting to see how this goes. I guess going digitally organised will be one of my goals for 2020.