Tools for small changes
Going into 2020, I knew I wanted to be more creative. My problem was that I couldn’t figure out how to go about it, thinking that I had wasted too much time to ever catch up (to who, I’m still not sure). So I’d build up all these big plans in my mind that would propel me ahead, and then I’d get so overwhelmed that I’d never do them.
It’s simple but not-so-obvious that small consistent steps add up much quicker than big sweeping moves every once in a while— but new habits are tricky to stick with.
These are a few things that have helped me move the needle and stay consistent over the last year or so, and I highly recommend them.
Instapaper
What is it? Instapaper is a platform that saves all the little gems you find on the internet and want to read later in one place so you can easily come back to it later.
Why I love it: I used to end each day with no less than 27 Chrome tabs of things I wanted to read or come back to later. Sometimes I’d save them to the ever-growing bookmarks folder I had of articles to read, or sometimes they’d end up untitled in my Notes app, never to be seen again— much less read.
Instapaper streamlined all that into one place. I just click the little icon when I want to read an article, and it saves it for me to come back to later. I can read it in Instapaper’s clean interface, highlighting and making notes as I go.
Readwise
What is it? Readwise is a tool that helps you remember what you’ve read. It aggregates all your notes and highlights from different reading apps like Instapaper, Kindle, and even Twitter— saving those insights so you can review them later.
Why I love it: What I really love are the emails that resurface all those notes and highlights so you remember what you’ve read. I get mine weekly on Sunday’s, and spend just a few minutes reviewing them. This also syncs up with another favorite tool of mine, Roam Research so I can process notes and insights later.
The Artist’s Way
What is it? A book and twelve week course to connect and recover your creativity.
Why I love it: Anyone I’ve talked to in the last 12 or so weeks has had to listen to me talk about this book/course. I can’t recommend it enough to anyone that’s feeling stuck creatively, or just doesn’t know exactly what they want to do next. If you are skeptical of self-help/personal development, you’re not alone. Don’t just take my word for it.
Ness Labs
What is it? Ness Labs is “a virtual gym” for your mind with content that focuses on metacognition and mindful productivity.
Why I love it: I started following Anne-Laure Le Cunff, the founder of Ness Labs, on Twitter around February of last year. She had written something that I struggled with— mindful productivity. I loved every article she was publishing, and signed up for her newsletter, Maker Mind. I signed up for the annual membership to get access to a course she was running— and still am blown away by the value for just $50 annually.
A few favorite articles:
Roam Research
What is it? A note taking tool for networked thought.
Why I love it: It’s hard to fully explain the magic of Roam as a tool for writing and creativity. There’s no shortage of note taking and productivity tools on the market, but they mostly function like filing cabinets— it’s hard to extract information unless you know exactly what you’re looking for. Roam’s secret sauce is bi-directional linking, where you can link pages and ideas together and eliminate that silo.
Peloton
What is it? Fitness hardware and classes.
Why I love it: All jokes about the Peloton wife aside, this was one of the best purchases of 2020. But even if we hadn’t gotten the bike, I’d still opt for the classes on their digital app. At the beginning of quarantine I’d used classpass to try to stick with my routines, but quickly fell out of it. The game changer for me was the super short class options on the app— 10 minutes of spin or yoga, 15 minutes of barre or strength training. The bar for time commitment was so low I’ve exercised much more frequently than I had when I was pumping myself up for 45-60 minute classes. Most of the time I’ll do more than 10/15 minutes, but on the days where I’m really not feeling it, a 10 minute option gets me to the mat.
Sunsama
What is it? A daily planning and productivity app.
Why I love it: There are SO many productivity apps out now that help you map out projects and store endless to do lists— but few of them actually help me get things done. Sunsama has made a huge difference in how I plan my days and stay focused on what I actually need to get done during the day. It also helps me track time spent on tasks (helpful when you’re terrible at judging how long things take). It pulls in from a number of integrations like gmail, slack, todoist, etc, making keeping track of tasks centralized and easy.