Why digital productivity tools require being tech-savvy

I am often asked how I am organizing myself to deliver on sometimes diverse and often complex tasks. My short answer: Prepare yourself before even starting to work on a task, a project or to create digital content. Only then you’ll deliver what you promise without getting overwhelmed, because excellence is a habit.

For the long answer I am now dedicating this article.

With a quite democratized access to information and technology, the challenge today is more often taking the right choice in an abundant environment of tools and systems, offered by tech-oriented providers, who are looking at differentiating with rich features rather than an appropriate UX. The result? We tend to use only a fraction of an employed tool or system and it’s then no surprise that the frustration increases with every new feature deployed to a system which hasn’t been mastered properly from the beginning. In these cases, chances are that people are not really clear about how to design THEIR ideal working system, if they are aware at all to actually have one!

I found that there is a direct connection between having an ideal working system and being productive, which led me to having my own productivity approach (For more ??https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/how-i-gained-fulfilling-working-environment-while-my-perea-marquez ): focusing on a “perfect day”, communication styles and use of technology to make your work place an ideal environment for creativity and fulfillment.

In this article I’ll share the importance of understanding technological concepts to take the right choice when selecting digital tools for creating working systems, which are raising efficiency and fulfillment rather than frustration. I’ll give some insights how to create a working system and share some sources which may help you digging into this wonderful digital world of aids, tools and systems which, when properly employed, can be definitely helpful.

Stop using digital tools, if you don't understand them - otherwise: prepare for getting frustrated

We are surrounded by technology supposed to make our lives easier - but why is it that we perceive technology employment as a cumbersome endeavor? I have found two main reasons for it:

???Tools are not used as intended (my most prominent example: use an e-mail-system as chat-tool - or use MS Word / Google Docs as a digital typewriter)

???The technology concept, specially regarding data storage and information retrieval behind a tool isn’t entirely understood.

The latter one often leads to copycat the analogue step instead of really transforming a process and create an innovation. What happened successfully in historical economy with the different industrialization phases, can be adapted to us as individual users as well: we only get to an optimal exploitation of a tool, if we understand how to actually use it.

Let’s take #notion as an example: #notion is a no-code platform allowing users to organize projects, collaborate in teams and manage tasks even in different domains, which is basically achieved by a relational database to organize the content stored in notion. I recently found a #LinkedIn post exactly explaining the benefit of a relational database: “Relations are a powerful way to link database content — useful for task tracking and project management ? Now, you can choose to display them in a dedicated section at the top of a page. (…)” (https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/notionhq_relations-are-a-powerful-way-to-link-database-activity-6970454542127697920-vAs9?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop )

So, if you don’t understand the benefits regarding the efficiency in information retrieval in relational databases, chances are, that for you #notion is simply another note-taking app and you most probably do fear any migration effort from other more simple note-taking apps.

What was the reluctance to read device user manuals in the past is today to gain the understanding of how a technology behind a tool actually works.?

Let me also emphasize the importance of communities for those SaaS tool providers: time-2-market is key today, which translates into the reliance of user feedback for improvement and features creation (for more on growth strategies of SaaS and other service models: ??https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/everything-service-ultimate-business-model-digital-perea-marquez ). While this externalized development activities are initially targeted at power users, tool providers are increasingly integrating respective #slack channels, #discord servers and other platforms to onboard new users and facilitate them easy-to-use how-to guides to use the tool.??

Take away

???Get your working system in place (see next chapter for more)

???Choose an appropriate digital tool supporting your working system

???Understand the technological concept used in the selected digital tool

???Join the communities to get first hand user experiences and inspiration for your own tool usage

What's a working system?

I am sure there has been a situation, where someone has asked you the admiring question: “How the hell did you manage [xyz]?” - and you were thinking, that’s the way how I am used to do things. And THIS is exactly your working system: it’s a structure with a set of rules and aids that empower you to easily deliver on your promises and always with a smile on your face (and to the magic perception of outsiders).?

A working system is a structure with a set of rules and aids that empower you to easily deliver on your promises with a smile on your face and to the magic perception of outsiders.?

While this can lead to allow you outsmarting your direct peers, this is not the target of a working system in the first place. It’s more about giving you a high degree of freedom to plan your activities according to your energy level, individual purpose and circumstances you want to adapt.?

Related to #notion I found this WSJ article pointing directly to the main topics: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-use-notion-the-do-it-yourself-productivity-app-gen-z-is-going-gaga-over-11660820667

Let’s take content creation as an example! I am sure you’re using any digital system to type your thoughts: Google Docs, MS Word or a simple note-taking app. Now, how do you ensure, that your text snippets are synced for several appliances: like in a post, in an article, in a rationale for a new offering of a digital (learning) product etc. Via copy & paste? This is one option… but frankly speaking, not the best one.

Let me give you another option, again with #notion as an example: with so-called synced blocks #notion allows you, to have an automatic synchronization across multiple locations, whenever you edit your text block at one place, it’s being synchronized at all other locations automatically.

I found, that this specific help article (in the beautifully designed notion reference guide) is nicely describing the synced block feature ???https://www.notion.so/help/synced-blocks .

What does it mean for your working system related to content creation: this particular feature (among many others) allows you to atomize as much as you want your content, so that you can easily compose new deliverables in a modular way - and I don’t need to advocate for how efficient this can be …

Now let’s take another example - and I already know this is a controversial one: reading! Are you reading electronically, listening to audio books or still enjoying the haptic feeling of holding a hardcopy in your hands? Beside the practical advantages of carrying several books with you, capturing insights can be done digitally without interruption and by tagging the content for seamless access later.

I read non-fiction books on my #kindle app and directly take the notes I deem to be useful for a later edit. Articles instead are being collected in a dedicated #notion template - and while reading the article I am taking notes and concluding eventually text components, which I use in my content creation activities (as described above). I have taken one of the #notion templates (from the publicly available gallery - ???in next paragraph ??) and adapted it to my own requirements.

There are a lot more similar examples, resources and guides which can help you create your individual working system. However, starting from scratch can easily overwhelm you and become a challenging endeavor.

Before going to the next paragraph, where I’ll share some sources, which I found very helpful, I am asking you to look at other people who have mastered already parts or even the entire journey of becoming more productive and thus fulfilled in delivering professionally - ask them how they’re doing it.

If this is not possible or your current confidence level is not allowing you to take such an action, follow them on social media, as most of them are actively sharing their learning journey with their community. Why they’re doing this so openly? Because most of these guys were at some point in the same situation like you now and do opine that sharing experiences and incremental improvement are important accelerators to become more productive - and give back to the community what they once have taken.

Take away

???Raising productivity is first and foremost for gaining more freedom for things that matters to you

???Follow your productivity role models and if possible engage with them

???Once you have started, share your learning experience with your community

How to start or accelerate your journey - helpful sources

When I started to raise my efficiency and to use entirely digital tools, I explored what I call productivity maniacs first: these are individuals who have dedicated time, passion and efforts to strive every single day. They are trying a lot of new things, constantly adapting and of course sharing what they’ve experienced.

And here are some interesting sources you may consider in your own productivity transformation:

#Notion

To start with: ???https://www.notion.so/help

To explore single features: ???https://www.youtube.com/c/WilliamNutt

Example to create your reading list: ???https://www.notion.so/templates/categories/reading-and-writing

To find a template (doesn’t matter what - list is very comprehensive): ???https://www.notion.so/templates

A comprehensive notion toturials suite: ???https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx65qkgCWNJJrHB-nLdOvTTUOM4xEo4dZ

To setup an entire life (not just work) system (and get additional help on self-organization): ?? https://www.youtube.com/user/augustbradley

Advanced productivity sources and other tools

I am constantly looking at other tools, where you might find your better companion:

My personal favorite on productivity is Ali Abdaal. And here shared his 2022 Edition on useful productivity tools: ?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6hmdrsLQj8

The team management version of productivity: ???https://basecamp.com/

The project management version of productivity: ???https://clickup.com/

Helpful source for exploring other tools: ???https://www.forthought.tools/ (for access to their #discord server)

I am a great supporter of sharing knowledge - only if we understand us as a community of individuals supporting each other and making experience flow into a network, value is being created and the whole community is developing further. As a content creator, sharing first before taking is an important attitude.

Continuous learning: the digital lifeblood of any individual to stay focused and avoid overwhelming

While many still believe that digitalization is the contemporary challenge in society and economy, I believe we are already on the verge of the Exponential Age. And the difference to the digital age: speed in technology adoption is increasing. Digital literacy is becoming ever more important, that no one is left behind, just because of a limited access to digital tools or a missing facilitation how to use digital aids.

It’s my strongest belief, that by being a role model in continuous learning, I can make a contribution to an educated community and let individuals feel how deliberating the mastery of technology can be. I am not shying away from exploring new approaches, latest digital tools and experimenting how to use them.

So, be sure I‘ll continue my learning journey. I am currently exploring how to automate certain aspects of content creation and its distribution, so that my focus can be on the creative part and its curation. If you want to be part of this, just turn on the ???on my profile.