It’s easy to forget that most apps are products. Developers and publishers aren’t trying to produce apps that will genuinely help you; they’re trying to make money.
The best apps are an effective compromise between the two, like Type Machine or BuzzKill. These offer a genuine solution to a problem for a reasonable price.
I hate making this compromise, as few apps do it well.
The biggest culprits are productivity apps, specifically task trackers and to-do lists, which try to sell you a way to improve your life.
The result is invariably an app that’s a job in itself, so you either burn out or stick with it through the sunk-cost fallacy.
I finally snapped and ditched all the to-do lists and task managers in favor of the most minimalist app of all.
While I still use a calendar, this method has made me happier and more comfortable with my responsibilities.
I turned Gmail into a lightweight task manager and finally ditched my to-do apps — here’s how
My inbox stopped feeling like a problem I had to solve separately
The idea of the never-ending file is beautiful
No need for fancy text editors and formatting options
A few years ago, I read about the “never-ending .txt file.” Created by Jeff Huang, associate Professor and associate chair of computer science at Brown University, the concept is simple.
Rather than a host of purpose-built apps, he uses a single .txt file paired with a calendar.
Jeff Huang has a simple workflow. At the end of the day, he adds all the next day’s items from his calendar to the end of a text file.
Anything that he wants to postpone, he moves to a later date on his calendar. Anything too big, he splits up into pieces and adds one to his text file.
Throughout the day, he adds notes to his text file underneath the relevant tasks. Thanks to a consistent naming system, a simple search produces the results he needs.
I read about this idea, tried it, then dropped it. I soon recognized that while this system is suitable for Jeff Huang’s life, it didn’t suit me.
But recently, after trying and giving up yet another app (it was Notion this time), I gave it another go, but this time, with tweaks.
How I adapted this method for my own life
I wasn’t going to use Remote Desktop to manage my notes
If you read my article about the unexpected utility of the Pebble app, you’ll know I already have a system in place for taking notes. My problem (which apparently doesn’t trouble Jeff Huang) is that I forget to take notes.
The simple voice-note utility of Index has helped me greatly, so I’m loath to give it up, especially when my Index ring is on its way.
So, I wasn’t giving up my Pebble app. However, all I needed to do was adapt my workflow. The updated Index app makes it easy to see all my notes, so any new thoughts I have are recorded, then I check the app later to review them.
I can then add them to my actual to-do list for the next day.
But this is where the original stumbling block made itself known again. I had two conditions for my file:
- Independent of any service.
- Accessible from any device.
- Usable offline and online.
Originally, I thought Google Docs or Proton Docs would be suitable choices. They’re straightforward, accessible from anywhere, and load equally well on my phone and computer.
However, they don’t use the standard formatting of .txt files. If I choose to cancel my subscriptions, then there’s a chance that I won’t be able to recover my notes.
Fortunately, I found an alternative.
Calmly Writer ticks all the boxes
Feature-rich, but gives me control
The solution I found was Calmly Writer. This browser-based tool is accessible from all of my devices and keeps everything simple.
I can save my files to Google Drive and my local computer, and I can also download the .txt file.
If I know I’ll be offline while traveling, I use the desktop app to access it offline on my laptop. A lovely side effect is that the desktop app comes with a variety of rich text formatting tools, so I can also use the app for my personal writing.
Yes, I use two services to access my notes, but the data is independent. I can give up Google Drive and Calmly Writer tomorrow and still have access to all my notes.
So far, Calmly Writer has replaced Google Keep, Google Docs, Notion, and Google Tasks. I’ve lost a lot of automation tools, but if anything, this has made me more aware of my tasks.
Simplicity is best
I’m still tweaking how I take my notes and set up my to-do list for the day. But thanks to Jeff Huang and his brilliant approach to note taking, I feel more in control than ever.
I knew not to trust those sleek, subscription-based apps before, but it’s nice to have proof that they are completely redundant in the face of the immortal .txt file.
