PTPL 072: I Love Keeping All My Projects and Tasks in a Single, Searchable File

PLUS The most important piece of tool-related productivity advice you’ll ever hear

Plain text, Paper, Less (PTPL) Productivity Digest, text-based image by Author

Welcome! I’m Ellane, and this is a once-a-week summary of things that are helping me to simplify and future-proof my digital-analog workflow.

Essential tool-related productivity advice: YOU are the key

The following quote is about plain text, but it can apply to any tool. Read it through, then read it again — this time replacing “plain text” with Tana, Capacities, Scrintal, RemNote, Napkin, Omnifocus, Things, ToDoist, TickTick, or whatever tool is trying to catch your eye.

Plain text isn’t a magic bullet to cure your productivity woes.

…If you don’t have that focus or discipline or work ethic, or if you don’t develop it, plain text isn’t going to help you. You’ll wind up like so many people who adopt whatever tool or system is hot at the moment. The tool or system they expect will solve all of their productivity problems. Like them, you’ll wind up abandoning plain text in frustration (maybe even disgust) after t…