One of the positives of modern technology is that “they” keep coming up with cool new tools to play with, which are supposed to help us streamline our workday, increasing both productivity and efficiency. One of the negatives is that the people who create these tools rarely listen to the people who actually use them. I found that especially true working for a library, when the regional system changed software systems which created more work instead of streamlined it.
I love playing with new tools when they come on the market. I’m also far enough into my professional life that I know what I need and want in order to support the work, and few tools actually support it. Far too many get in the way of it.
Scheduling and project management tools are a good example. There are so many of them now: ToDoist, Asana, ClickUp, the list goes on and on. I tried a bunch of them, because I do love planning projects, I love calendars, and I have a system that works well for me about planning back from deadlines.
However, when I tracked the time these tools ate up, it turned out they cost me time (which means money), rather than saved it. First, I had to plan it all out and enter it into the schedule. Then, I had to go back into the tool and mark it when it was complete.
Compare that to my giant wall calendar that holds my deadlines in different colors. I add things in as they occur (5 seconds or less), plus spend maybe 20 minutes once a month adding in things like the serial episode release dates and the column deadlines. No need to wait for a computer to boot up, find the site, sign into the site, and then add it in the way the site deems it should be entered. No need to switch sites at the end of the day, sign in, and then update, which can take 20 minutes or more each day. I can pick up a pen and put a checkmark beside the task (1 second).
For me, it is a much more efficient use of time. When I tracked my time, I literally saved a few hours a week not using project management software. I work independently most of the time, rather than in a team situation, which is a whole different ballgame, and which we’ll discuss in a future column.
If I need the calendar on my computer because I’m moving between locations, I can take a photo and upload it. Or print it out and carry it with me. I often work in places without internet connection, so everything I need must be WITH me, not just in the cloud.
All much more efficient than all of these tools. I mean, ToDoist crossed a line when it told me to vacuum my house one day (something I did not enter into the schedule). I have a regular vacuuming schedule, thank you very much, and don’t need to be managed that way.
My rule of thumb with a tool is that if it takes longer to enter and update the information than to do the task, I ditch the tool.
When I draft my work, I draft in the format in which it will be submitted. In other words, I draft prose in standard manuscript format, which is evenly double-spaced all the way through, not the wonky spacing or single spacing most writing software uses. I draft scripts in script format. I draft poems in whatever way I want to spread out the words on the page (and I need flexibility for that).
Drafting in the format appropriate to that medium keeps me in the headspace for that medium, and allows me to use the craft of that particular medium and meet expectations better as I create it, rather than having to rework it later. It helps me create.
Being forced to draft in a software’s format that does not serve the work is just that, for me. It does not serve the work. It is, in fact, detrimental to the work.
I still love learning new tools and playing with them. Whenever a new tool comes out, I look forward to learning it. But I also know when to move on from them, when they start getting in the way of the work, rather than supporting the work.
What tools do you find useful? What have you ditched because it got in the way of the work? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
I LOVE project management tools so I try them until I find one I like.
I started with Asana, but it was buggy and glitchy and didn’t do precisely what I wanted it to do, and it was far too big and far too expensive for the benefit I did get out of it.
ClickUp was next. It did everything Asana did for half the price. But it didn’t work offline and their tech leave people complaining for years before anything is done. I cancelled my subscription a couple of months ago, but instead of continuing until the anniversary of my subscription, it went straight away. So I lost 2 months’ worth of what I’d paid for. How to make sure I NEVER go back to your product again, eh?
I tried ToDoist and a couple of others, but they wanted a monthly subscription in order to synchronise over all of my devices.
But then I found TickTick, and that does everything I want it to – EVERYTHING – and all for one reasonable annual fee. I’d love it even more if it came with a lifetime fee too. TickTick saves me a lot of time as that’s where I do my actual day to day planning once I have my deadlines on the calendar (in red). I can play around with it, really quickly, and once it’s doing something I think will work, I leave it and transfer it to the diary. It is available offline, but I still like my diary and it’s quicker to show Ian something on a wall calendar or in my diary than it is to open up an app. But it has a Pomodoro on it too, whereas all the others seem to require to you to pay for a Pomodoro add-on, on top of the sub you’re already paying.
My writing software of choice is Scrivener. But I know now how to format it to suit the mediums I work in and I have templates set up for all of them. I can export it to Word or to OpenOffice, or directly to the printer, or to ebook, or to pdf. And it keeps all of my bible, all of my research materials and websites in one place. And it works offline. Offline is the biggest thing for me.
I’m so glad you found tools that work for you. Offline capability is so important, but over here, at least, fewer and fewer tools have that option.
I check out the new tech things very carefully now after discovering some of them just don’t work.
I ditched my computer’s calendar. I tried it, but honestly it was more work then help. I went back to my old paper planner which shows me a month at a time and my steno pad To Do List and Grocery List. These three things work for me and have for years. Saves me from signing in and out and waiting for the computer to boot up.
In my computer I have a Manuscript Sample page already set up for short story writing. I just go into it, type in the story title and go. Everything else I need is there: name, address, e-mail, and setup (byline, pages numbers, headers, etc.) to start writing.
I also have a file for stories, articles, etc. I have the title, submission date, where I sent it, and the results. Just four columns in a Word file. Its simple and works.
Why change things if they aren’t broken.
Yup, so often, simple is better!