I Tried 137 Productivity Tools. These Are The Best.

In this comprehensive guide, the speaker shares his meticulously curated arsenal of productivity tools, apps, and technologies, distilled from 15 years of personal experimentation. He aims to save viewers time and money by revealing the best daily practices and gadgets that keep him productive. From morning routines involving smart scales and journaling to advanced writing and video production setups, the article covers a wide array of tools. It delves into digital task management, location changes for enhanced creativity, and even surprising additions like a walking treadmill desk and online therapy. The detailed overview highlights how each tool contributes to efficiency, reduces friction, and supports a structured yet flexible workflow, emphasizing the importance of measurement, intentionality, and continuous improvement in all aspects of life and work.

Morning Routine and Health Tracking

The speaker begins his day with a focus on health and mindfulness. After a quick bathroom visit, he steps onto a Withings smart scale. These Wi-Fi-enabled scales seamlessly sync with Apple HealthKit, providing a consistent record of his weight changes over time. This practice aligns with the principle, "What gets measured gets managed," offering valuable insights into his physical well-being.

Following his shower, he makes coffee using a Clever Dripper, a preferred method for filter coffee. A crucial part of his morning is dedicated to physical journaling, a practice he considers one of his all-time favorite productivity tools. He engages in "Morning Pages," a technique from Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way. This involves writing three pages by hand, a stream of consciousness of whatever comes to mind. This exercise helps declutter his mind and often sparks new ideas for his business and personal life. Despite the prevalence of digital tools, the humble pen and paper remain a cornerstone of his productivity.

"Even though there's a lot of apps and tech on this list, the trusty pen and paper notebook is just like one of the things that I go back to so often and really levels up my productivity as well."

Digital Task Management with Things 3

A swift five-minute segment of his morning routine involves planning his day using the Things 3 to-do list app. His iOS home screen features a calendar at the top, along with two Things 3 widgets: an inbox widget and a "today" widget. He categorizes his tasks into two main lists: a general to-do list and a "today" list, which simplifies his daily focus. He reviews his "today" list for immediate actions, such as filming a video or calling his grandmother (a recurring task set to reappear two days after completion).

The app also synchronizes with his calendar, providing a holistic view of his commitments. This brief planning session ensures he has a clear understanding of his daily priorities. For additional inspiration or tasks not on his immediate radar, he consults his "anytime" list, an ongoing repository of tasks. His philosophy is to concentrate solely on what needs to be accomplished today, avoiding the trap of weekly or monthly planning, which he finds less effective.

Optimizing Work Environment and Portability

The next phase of his day depends on whether he plans to write or film. For writing, he packs his journal and an 11-inch iPad Pro into his bag and heads to a local coffee shop or restaurant. This change of location is a key productivity tool he has leveraged since medical school, making work feel more like play. This concept is further explored in his upcoming book, "Feel Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You."

His preferred bag for these excursions is the Peak Design 6 Liter Sling, a compact yet spacious bag that accommodates his iPad, journal, pen, and occasionally a camera. He highlights the utility of having two distinct bags: the sling for light writing sessions and a larger Peter McKinnon Everyday Camera Bag for his laptop and filming accessories. This strategy minimizes friction, making it easier to engage in activities he wants to do more often, like working from different locations.

Writing Workflow with Ulysses and Therapy

At his chosen remote workspace, he primarily uses Ulysses on his iPad for writing. This minimalistic, markdown-based app is where he drafts email newsletters, book projects, and video outlines. After the initial draft in Ulysses, content is transferred to Notion for videos or Google Docs for books. A notable feature of Ulysses is its daily word count tracking, which helps him meet his personal goal of 1,000 words per day.

He also introduces a powerful, albeit unconventional, "productivity tool": therapy. He shares that starting therapy with BetterHelp has been transformative in understanding his emotions and overcoming limiting beliefs that hindered his productivity. BetterHelp, the world's largest online therapy service, connects users with over 30,000 credentialed therapists through calls, video sessions, or text messages. Users can easily switch therapists if needed, emphasizing flexibility and convenience.

Workstation Setup and Email Management

Upon returning home, his desk setup becomes command central. He prefers working with ambient focused music, often sourced from YouTube videos featuring immersive soundscapes. He typically dedicates his second monitor to these videos, as he primarily operates with a single main display for core tasks. This background ambiance aids concentration.

For email management, he relies on Superhuman, an email application he has used since 2019. He praises Superhuman for its speed and extensive keyboard shortcuts, allowing him to process his inbox twice as fast as with previous apps like Gmail. After clearing his emails, he often browses newsletters, particularly Morning Brew (for tech, business, and finance) and Readwise, which sends him daily highlights from previously saved books and articles, facilitating knowledge retention.

Notion for Business Operations and Treadmill Desk

A significant portion of his workday involves writing for videos and courses, all primarily done within Notion. Since 2019, Notion has been integral to running his entire company, organizing everything from video scripts and content calendars to annual objectives and project sprints (operating in five-week cycles). He demonstrates how a video script is meticulously planned with bullet points directly in Notion, serving as a teleprompter while filming.

His workstation features a standing desk, though he often sits due to camera connections. Adjacent to his main desk is another standing desk equipped with a WalkingPad C2 treadmill underneath. He considers the treadmill to be one of the most useful additions to his productivity arsenal in the last six months, having used it for 65 days, walking 235 kilometers, and averaging twice a day. He even uses it while gaming, but primarily for work, moving his mechanical keyboard between his Mac Mini and a Windows PC, recommending this setup for anyone with a standing desk.

Time Tracking and Video Production Workflow

To accurately track his time across different platforms, he uses Rise. This automatic time-tracking app, which he has used since November 2021, monitors active applications, Chrome tabs, and Safari windows. Rise provides detailed breakdowns of his time allocation, showing hours spent on video conferencing, writing, documentation, and meetings. His affinity for Rise led him to invest in the company as an angel investor.

After a day of writing, he transitions to filming videos. To streamline this process, he has meticulously optimized his setup over six years to reduce friction. His desk features multiple camera angles: a main angle, an overhead angle (Camera B), and a shorts angle (Camera C). All cameras are connected to an ATEM Mini Pro camera switcher, allowing for seamless transitions during live sessions or video recording. Audio is captured using a Sennheiser MKH 416 microphone for main videos and an Elgato Wave 3 for podcasts, connected via an Elgato low-profile arm.

His desk organization includes an Ugmonk Gather 2.0 stand, which provides elevation for his monitor, a phone charging dock, and magnetized spaces for Post-it notes. This setup optimizes desk space, allowing his Mac Mini to sit beneath the monitor stand. All his gadgets are connected via a CalDigit TS3 Thunderbolt Dock, which powers his displays. After filming, all footage is uploaded to Google Drive, where his team utilizes 75 terabytes out of their 115 terabytes shared capacity, managed through Google Workspace.

Intentional Consumption and Calendar Management

During breaks, particularly while in the bathroom, he practices intentional consumption. Instead of mindless scrolling on Twitter or Instagram, he uses Reader, an RSS feed aggregator developed by the creators of Readwise. Articles saved to Reader can be conveniently read in one sitting, and any highlights made automatically sync with Readwise and subsequently Notion, creating a streamlined system for saving and resurfacing interesting content.

For calendar management, he relies on Fantastical, an app he has used for years, to keep track of his schedule, including filming blocks and content meetings. After completing his main writing and filming tasks, he often takes a walk, which he considers an underrated productivity tool. Walking helps him recharge, reconnect with nature, and is a rich source of new ideas.

Note-Taking and Audio Content

While walking, he uses Apple Notes for quick idea capture. Despite trying numerous note-taking apps, Apple Notes remains his go-to for its speed and simplicity. His Apple Notes inbox folder on his iPhone's home screen serves as a default capture point. Later, he processes these notes, converting them into Notion documents, Ulysses entries, or tasks in Things 3. He provides an example of taking notes from an audiobook, "The Greatness Mindset" by Louis Howes, with the intention of developing a video episode based on its content.

When listening to audio content during walks, he uses YouTube or Spotify for podcasts and Audible for audiobooks, noting that his own book will soon be available on Audible. Another helpful app he uses while walking or driving is Otto.ai, an AI-enabled voice recording and transcription app. With its widget on his phone, he can quickly record ideas, meetings, or conversations, benefiting from near-perfect transcriptions and AI summaries. This is particularly useful for capturing video ideas while on the go, eliminating the need to type on his phone.

Team Collaboration and Workout Tracking

General work stuff throughout the day heavily relies on Slack for daily communication and Loom for screen recording and updates. Loom is particularly valuable for saving meeting time, as team members can record updates that others can watch at accelerated speeds, improving communication efficiency.

On workout days, he dedicates about an hour to the gym. He tracks his workouts using a fitness app from Trainerize, which allows him to follow personalized programs from his remote fitness coach. For those working out independently, he highly recommends Strong. Strong enables users to program their own workouts or add exercises on the fly, tracking previous performance to facilitate progressive overload.

Evening Routine and Reflective Practices

At the end of the day, he often socializes over a meal with friends or colleagues. If he chooses to walk, he focuses on hitting his step count. Whether in a cab or on public transport, he makes it a rule to use his iPad for journaling in the Day One app, which he has used since 2016. Day One provides a rich history of his thoughts, feelings, and ideas spanning seven years.

Before bed, he uses an Amazon Echo to play relaxing yoga and meditation music to wind down. He also performs stretches for his hips and neck, with his Lululemon yoga mat always accessible to minimize friction for this habit. The very last steps before sleep involve setting his phone alarm and reading on his Kindle, completing a day rich with intentional productivity practices and thoughtful tool integration.

Takeaways

Holistic Productivity: True productivity extends beyond just work tasks; it includes health tracking, mental well-being (e.g., therapy), and intentional leisure.
Minimize Friction: Setting up environments and workflows to reduce the effort required for desired actions (e.g., dedicated bags, accessible yoga mat, treadmill desk) significantly increases consistency and habit formation.
Leverage Technology Smartly: Integrate apps and tools that automate tasks (e.g., Rise), streamline communication (e.g., Loom, Slack), and enhance existing routines (e.g., smart scales, Ulysses word count, Superhuman shortcuts).
Traditional Tools Endure: Despite advanced tech, fundamental tools like a physical pen and paper journal (Morning Pages) and walking remain highly effective for brainstorming, clarity, and recharging.
Optimize Your Environment: Changing work locations (coffee shops, outdoor spaces) and personalizing desk setups (monitor stands, multiple cameras, standing desks) can boost creativity and focus.
Intentional Information Consumption: Utilize tools like Reader and Readwise to deliberately consume and retain information, turning passive scrolling into active learning and resurfacing valuable insights.
Structured Planning and Flexibility: Use robust systems like Things 3 for daily task management and Notion for broad business operations, while maintaining flexibility to adapt to daily needs (e.g., knowing when to write vs. film).