So I’m always on the look out for news tools to help me in my life and work.  Well, “on the look out” is a bit of an understatement, as I’m actually almost obsessive about it. I feel some sort of satisfaction in knowing every single way to do something and all the associated pros and cons for each way. In the past I felt this was a strength but I’m starting to realize my productivity is being negatively affected because I keep changing how I do things mid stride. Also, I’ve started to realize that a lot of the different ways of doing things are alarmingly similar and the differences in approaches mean much less than I was lead to believe.

Unsurprisingly the tool sellers are trying to sell us something that cannot be bought.

But that is way too abstract, and you likely don’t have any idea what I’m talking about so I better use an example like to-do list apps.

I don’t know if you have done any research on this but there are thousands of different to-do list apps. Apps like Evernote link into a database of everything, Apple’s reminders are seamlessly integrated into their phones, some apps are designed around seamless collaboration, and the variations go on and on. The customers are trying to buy an organized life, but the developers are just selling tools you can use to become organized. I know I have been sold and re-sold on the lie that if I only change to this new to-do list app, then my life will be organized.  But again and again I have failed.

What I’ve finally realized is there is more value in how you use a  tool then finding the right tool, and that if I would only stop looking for new tools I could actually spend some time using the ones I already have.

This has all been said before, and I’m sure it will all be said again.