My Minimalist Producitiy Tech Stack
Simple but effective tools that work for me
What is a productivity stack?
If you’re looking to increase your productivity and streamline your workflow, consider building a tech stack specifically tailored to your needs. A productivity tech stack is a combination of tools and technologies that work together to help you organize your tasks, manage your time, and boost your overall productivity.
There are countless productivity tools available, so it can be overwhelming to figure out which ones are worth your time and money. To help you get started, here are some popular options to consider for your tech stack:
- Task management tools: These tools help you organize your tasks, prioritize your workload, and keep track of your progress. Some popular options include Trello, Asana, and Todoist.
- Time tracking tools: These tools allow you to track how much time you spend on each task, helping you identify areas where you might be wasting time and allowing you to make adjustments to your workflow. Some popular options include Toggl and RescueTime.
- Productivity apps: These are tools that help you stay focused and avoid distractions. Some popular options include Forest and Freedom.
- Note-taking and writing tools: These tools help you capture your thoughts, ideas, and notes in an organized manner. Some popular options include Evernote and Google Docs.
- Communication and collaboration tools: These tools allow you to communicate and collaborate with your team in real-time. Some popular options include Slack and Google Hangouts.
Once you’ve selected the tools that you want to include in your tech stack, the next step is to figure out how to integrate them for maximum efficiency. Many productivity tools offer integrations with other tools, so be sure to explore these options to see how you can connect your tools and make them work together seamlessly.
For example, you might use Trello to manage your tasks and Toggl to track your time, and then integrate the two tools so that you can see how much time you’re spending on each task in Trello. Or, you might use Evernote to take notes and Slack to communicate with your team, and then integrate the two tools so that you can share your notes with your team directly in Slack.
By building a tech stack that is tailored to your needs and integrating your tools for maximum efficiency, you can significantly boost your productivity and streamline your workflow. Take the time to research and experiment with different tools to find the combination that works best for you.
My Productivity Tech Stack
Things 3
Things3 is a popular task management app for Mac that helps users organize their tasks and stay on top of their to-do lists. It offers a clean and intuitive interface, allowing users to easily create and manage their tasks and projects.
One of the key features of Things3 is its ability to help users stay organized by allowing them to create to-do lists, set due dates and reminders, and categorize their tasks into different projects or areas of focus. This allows users to easily see what they need to do and prioritize their tasks accordingly.
Another key feature of Things3 is its integration with other productivity tools. For example, it can be used in conjunction with the built-in calendar app on Mac to create events and reminders that automatically sync with your to-do lists. It can also be used with other popular apps such as Evernote and Dropbox, allowing users to easily attach related notes and files to their tasks.
Overall, Things3 is a powerful task management app that can help Mac users stay organized and be more productive. With its clean interface, flexible organization tools, and integration with other productivity apps, it is a valuable tool for anyone looking to improve their time management skills.
Why I use Things3 in my Productivity Stack: DESIGN and Aesthetics.
I basically live inside this app and make use of its various features to quickly note down tasks and projects to complete. I use it over something like Apple Reminders or Todoist because the design and implementation is so good it forces me to use this app.
Obsidian
Obsidian is a powerful note-taking app for Mac that allows users to create and organize their notes in a flexible and intuitive way. It is built on the principles of “markdown,” which is a simple syntax for formatting plain text, allowing users to easily create rich and formatted notes without the need for complex word processing tools.
One of the key features of Obsidian is its ability to link notes together using a process called “graph visualization.” This allows users to create connections between their notes and see how different ideas and thoughts are related to each other. This can be a powerful tool for organizing complex information and making connections between different ideas.
Another key feature of Obsidian is its support for external databases and plugins. This allows users to easily integrate their notes with other tools and resources, such as databases and online research, and expand the functionality of the app.
Overall, Obsidian is a powerful note-taking app for Mac that offers a flexible and intuitive way to organize and manage your notes. With its support for markdown formatting, graph visualization, and external databases, it is a valuable tool for anyone looking to improve their note-taking and organization skills.
Why I use Obsidian in my Productivity Stack: Control, Speed, and Security.
My files are stored locally, and in a format that can be used in countless other apps. Its speed and the availability to be used offline are crucial for me and the markdown format is something that I prefer over an app like Notion that converts your notes into ‘blocks’.
Zotero
Zotero is a free, open-source reference management tool for Mac that allows users to easily collect, organize, and cite research sources. It is particularly useful for academic researchers, students, and anyone working on a project that requires the use of a large number of sources.
One of the key features of Zotero is its ability to automatically capture research sources from the web. When you come across an article, book, or other research source that you want to save, you can simply click on the Zotero bookmarklet in your web browser, and Zotero will automatically save the reference information and any associated files or PDFs.
Another key feature of Zotero is its support for a wide range of citation styles. This allows users to easily format their bibliographies and citations according to the style guidelines of their chosen field or publication. Zotero comes with many common citation styles pre-installed, and users can also create their own custom styles or download additional styles from the Zotero website.
Overall, Zotero is a powerful and user-friendly tool for managing research sources on Mac. Its ability to automatically capture references from the web and support for a wide range of citation styles make it a valuable tool for academic researchers and students.
Why I use Zotero in my Productivity Stack: Open Source and Integrations.
Zotero is quicker and much more intuitive than things like EndNote. Its free to use and extensions like Better Bibtex and Zotfile make data and annotation easy to work with.
VSCode
I am a big fan of a single IDE for everything. For little to moderate programming needs, mostly in Python and R, I prefer to use VSCode for its flexibility and speed.
