Why are To-Do Apps sold as Productivity Apps?
Spoiler alert: It's completely unethical and border-line illegal.
Full disclosure: This post started off as “Why do Accountability Apps & Mentorships Fail Within the First 30 Days?” but I soon realized that most people don’t even know the difference between an accountability app, and a productivity app.
So I changed course. Below is the result; I hope you enjoy.
We need to separate the wheat from the chaff. Accountability apps are not productivity apps; nor are they glorified to-do lists.
Wunderlist (RIP) was a glorified to-do list, and any writer than sneaks in apps like Wunderlist into a blog entitled, “40+ Best Time Management & Productivity Apps of 2020” is a fucking moron.
Why?
Because they won’t make you any more productive than you were yesterday, nor will they help you manage your time.
All they do is keep track of the massive amounts of shit you’ve got to do. Sounds fun right? NOT. The last thing we need in this world is another app to remind us of all the junk piling up in our brains. (Hint: That’s why I created The Output Stream System.)
In fact, I would argue that glorified to-do apps have not only made us less productive, but they’ve even rewired our neurons to assume that we’ve got to write it all down in order to “be productive.”
This is so dangerous.
Glorified To-Do Apps
Besides Wunderlist, there are certainly others that fall into this completely misunderstood department like:
Todoist
WeDo
Done
There are hundreds more. Maybe thousands. I’m not going to link to them because I’ve taken it upon myself to spare you the agony of using such a horrid, horrid SaaS products.
It’s not that I have a major problem with glorified to-do apps themselves, but I definitely have a problem with how they’re marketed. They’re being peddled by snake oil medicine salesmen (and women) as productivity apps, when they’re anything but.
To-do lists are an organizational technique, not a productivity system.
In a world where apps are being sold to us at a higher price than gold (literally), promising to take our productivity to unimaginable heights, we need to start asking some hard questions to the companies that flaunt their software products in front of the faces of tech startups, entrepreneurs and naive business owners.
I hinted at this in one of my latest posts on LinkedIn. I call it The Great APPocalypse.
Eventually, people like you will catch on and hold these monsters accountable for what they’ve done to us. A day will come when the wild west of app-land ceases because the FTC once-and-for-all addresses the false advertisements of SaaS products that blatantly trick users into spending their hard earned cash by making false promises of more conversions, better data, and higher productivity.
I’m looking forward to that day.
Separate your work and personal life into two completely different apps.
You’re probably thinking to yourself, “I bet this guy uses to-do list apps.” You’re right I do. But the difference is, I learned to use them in a healthy way.
Before I give you some examples of when to use your glorified to-do list app, let me first say that it’s important to keep your personal life and your work life SEPARATE.
I repeat: DO NOT MIX YOUR PERSONAL TO-DOS WITH YOUR PROFESSIONAL TO-DOS.
Shit gets real mixed up if you try this approach. My recommendation would be to use two, completely different apps altogether.
For work, use Workflowy
For personal, use Google Tasks
It doesn’t matter what app(s) you use, the point is to keep them siloed. Besides keeping things organized, there’s another added benefit of using different apps for work and your personal life. You get to try out different User Interfaces (UI), and make mental notes about what you like, and/or dislike about each one. Score!
If you’re reading this, and you’re mixing work and personal things into large braindump lists, you’re overwhelmed. I guarantee you.
If you are the person that’s mixing personal and professional to-dos into one list and you’re not overwhelmed, find me on Twitter and I’ll send you a $25 gift card to whatever store you choose. (Just make sure that you can visit that store during this COVID-19 craziness. 🤣😷)
Now that we’ve got the personal and professional thing out of the way, let me give you a few good and bad examples of to-do lists for work.
The Bad To-Do List
Sign up for that awesome newsletter I saw the other day.
Get my Twitter account started and post my first Tweet.
Finish that free trial of Calendly so I can evaluate it.
Listen, if you didn’t sign up for that “awesome” newsletter the first time you saw it, then it’s not that cool. Twitter can wait. And those free trials are a huge waste of time unless you’ve got a system in place for evaluating software with your team.
Don’t be too granular. Let the important stuff bubble-up from the ethos.
Forget the rest.
The Good To-Do List
Complete the proposal for potential client X.
Finish onboarding flow for new hires and contract workers.
Meet with CPA to determine where we can cut costs.
Do you see the difference? If you don’t then there’s no hope for you and you should just stop reading now. (Haha, I’m kidding; 🤪there’s still hope for you so read on.)
There’s one major difference between the two lists. Can you spot it?
It’s called output.
By measuring the potential output of your tasks-at-hand, you’ll be able to figure out what matters, and what doesn’t.
Productivity is forgetting.
You see, by asking yourself about potential output, you’ll start making better decisions regarding to-dos, tasks, and where to put your precious energy.
This, is called productivity.
And productivity isn’t a laundry list. After all, why do we need to make a laundry list when that’s what we have spouses for. 😅
Productivity is focus. And focus is forgetting - forgetting all the things you don’t need to be concerned about while you’re getting work done. It’s painful at times. The nagging feeling you get when you’re “forgetting” things while working on something else can be a constant source of temptation.
Don’t give in.
That’s why glorified to-do list apps are harmful, because by default (the act of writing it down), they’ve put all those “nagging” chores front-and-center in your head. Now it’s virtually impossible for you to focus.
Here’s what real productivity looks like:
It’s putting a “do not disturb” sign on your door when you’re working-from-home, to minimize the times your kids barge in asking you to get them some water. (or Oreos)
It’s using the “full-screen” effect in your browser while you’re writing or working on a particular thing.
It’s turning on focus-mode in Windows or Mac.
It’s turning OFF notifications for apps on your mobile device like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Hell, do what I do and just delete those fuckers into oblivion.
It’s buying an old-school timer like the one your mama used to use in the kitchen before we had digital timers built into the oven.
Look familiar? Notice how it only goes up to 59 minutes? Yeah, I think our not-so-distant ancestors were a bit smarter than us.
It’s using the old-school timer with the Pomodoro Technique to work in 20-25 minute increments and gain control of your output.
It’s learning how to use Root-Cause Analysis (RCA) when trying to solve any type of coding challenge, or any other difficult problem before you start.
It’s paying attention to the way certain music impacts your flow. Specific types might actually be harming your productivity. (For example: Music with words pull me away from writing creative copy because I think about the lyrics too much. So I generally put on some Chilled Cow, or Trap Wolves.)
Productivity is a lifestyle, not an app.
Ultimately, productivity isn’t an app and it’s certainly not Kanban, Agile, SRUM, or even Shapeup. It’s a lifestyle. How many times have you spoken to a Scrum Master and they’re so indoctrinated with their method that they can’t see a better way? Countless.
And since you’re still reading, I’ll be generous and throw you a bone.
Here’s what I tell my distributed team on an almost daily basis:
“We didn’t buy into Basecamp the product, we bought into Basecamp the philosophy.”
I’m not a Basecamp fanboy. There’s already plenty of those. But I’m absolutely a fan of what they teach, and how they accomplish work. Jason, David, and Ryan are my heros.
Do you know why?
Because they’re focused on the output, not the tool. Sure they make a great product and it’s only going to get better; however, if you really take the time to dig deep into what they’re saying, it will not only transform your professional life, but your personal life too.
And for that, I’m forever grateful.
Now go forth and output.