The Myth of the Universal Productivity App
It’s not unusual for us productivity nerds to hear about a highly rated or recommended productivity app or system and assume it will work great for us. We think that because it worked well for the designer or the person recommending it, it will produce the same results for us.
We buy the app or system and transfer all of our previous systems to the new app. We invest a lot of time, but ultimately, we find that it doesn’t improve on what we were doing before, or perhaps is missing some of the features we need.
It turns out to be a big waste of time and a distraction from doing what’s important to us. We spend more time working on the system than doing the work that matters. Later, we often abandon the app or system and beat ourselves up, feeling like the problem is us and that we’re failures.
We’re All Different: Productivity is Personal
A great app or system doesn’t work for you because we’re all different. We all know that, but for some reason, we keep making the same mistake and assuming that what worked for others will work equally well for us.
Shane Parrish wrote in the Farnham Street Newsletter recently, “In business, finance, and everyday life, a great decision for me might be a terrible decision for you and vice versa. … The difference in how you and I want to live our lives – what our own definition of success might be – can be 10 miles wide.”
Although this quote refers primarily to financial planning, it equally applies to using productivity apps and systems. We need to find what works best for us and not assume that what works for someone else will be a good fit for us. We need to learn to pick and choose what works for us.
Run ‘Tiny Experiments’ to Find Your Perfect Fit
How do we find what works best for us instead of just guessing? By conducting a “tiny experiment” with it before committing to it. Before assuming an app will improve your life and spending hours moving to a new productivity app or system, we need to test it to determine if it fits us well.
One of the advantages of using a tiny experiment to test out an app is that it’s a win-win scenario. Whether you learn the app is a good fit and decide to adopt it, or decide it’s not a good fit, you’ve learned more about yourself and make a decision based on the evidence from an experiment. Otherwise, you’re just guessing what worked for someone else will work for you.
How To Conduct A Tiny Experiment
Anne-Laure Le Cunff recently released her excellent new book, Tiny Experiments, How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World. In it, she describes the tiny experiment process:
• Step one: make a pact with yourself. “I will [action] for [duration].” Set the specific action you plan to take and list the time you will spend running your experiment and gathering evidence.
When I learned about the NotePlan app, I experimented with it for two weeks. I tested the task management, calendaring, time blocking, and template system for reviewing. I used it daily to plan out my day. After two weeks of experimenting, I had enough evidence to decide whether I wanted to use this system and app. If I’d known about the format for tiny experiments, I would have written this pact with myself, “I will use NotePlan for two weeks as my daily productivity app.”
How long to experiment is a subjective decision. It could be based on many factors, such as the app’s complexity, your unique needs, and the time you have to experiment with it. Pick a duration that seems reasonable to you and complete it. If you need more time, you can always extend the experiment.
• Step two: as you go through your experiment, periodically reflect on your progress Look at the pluses after the first few days. What went well? What did you enjoy? Next, the minuses. What didn’t work? What felt off? What minor tweaks can you make to improve the experiment based on what you’ve learned?
• Step three is to decide what’s next. When you finish your experiment’s duration, thoroughly review and decide what’s next. Look at the external signals like the facts, the context, and the practical limitations of the app or system you’re testing. You see whether it really meets your needs in all areas or not.
Also, check in with your internal signals, such as emotions. How do you feel about the experience you’ve had? Do you not enjoy working in the app? Is there something about the app or system that turns you off or makes you feel negative about it? Think about your motivations and beliefs.
Once you consider both the external and the internal signals, you can decide what step to take next. You can choose to:
• Persist. Maybe your experiment proved the app was a good fit, so you decide to continue with the app and move all of your information over to it.
• Pivot. You learn from what you did, but maybe go forward in a slightly different direction or decide you need more experimenting.
• Pause. In other words, stop. You decide that that app or system isn’t a good fit for you, and go back to what you did before. That’s not a failure or a defeat; you learned something valuable by conducting your tiny experiment.
As a result of my two-week experiment with NotePlan, I decided it was a much better fit than what I was using before (a collection of separate apps for notes, calendars, tasks, reviews, and daily planning) and decided to commit to using it. For the details of why I made the switch, see my blog post Why I’m Making the Switch: A Two-Week Journey with NotePlan.
Make Productivity Systems and Apps Work for You—Not the Other Way Around
Recently, I participated in the first webinar for the 12025 edition of the Productivity Field Guide. The author and webinar leader, David Sparks, said he gives examples of how he does things as he goes through his lessons regarding his system, but he encourages participants to find what works for them. Don’t use an app just because he uses it.
David Sparks’ advice from the Productivity Field Guide underscores an important truth: just because an app or system works well for one person doesn’t mean it’s universally effective.
Use others’ productivity setups as inspiration, not blueprints. Conduct “tiny experiments,” reflect intentionally, and choose the methods that genuinely support your unique workflow and goals. By remaining curious but focused, you’ll develop a system tailored perfectly to you.
AI Note: I wrote this blog post myself, using my own words for the initial draft. I used AI only to suggest headlines, section headings, and improvements to the text.
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