My Productivity Apps Suite for 2024

Last year I shared a post with the 5 Apps I use for my productivity system. Like a company’s yearly employee performance review, I evaluate the performance of my productivity system. I perform this activity on 31st December and 1st January every year. This gives me the flexibility to experiment with fresh and innovative tools in the market and also embrace life changes. If you know me by now, I get bored very easily and am always on the lookout for changes.

I look at the following aspects while reviewing my system:

• Usability — How easy was it for me to use? Was I able to access it as quickly and conveniently as I expected?
• Happiness — How happy am I using it? Is the app aesthetically pleasing? Would I personally recommend it to someone starting their personal productivity journey?
• Performance — Are the transitions and actions smooth?
• Features — Does the application provided all that I need from it?
• Worthiness — Is using or paying for the application worth it?

Last year, I highlighted 4 major components of my productivity system:

• Calendar
• To-do list
• Writing
• Information and media storage

After diving deeper into my routine, I realised that there are more equally important elements that contribute to my productivity system:

• Browser
• Email client
• Password manager
• Music

Based on these aspects, I have added and retained some applications in my productivity system.

Calendar — Google Calendar

I have been using Google Calendar for years now. But, like a good productivity enthusiast, I experiment with almost all the new and old calendar applications in the market I can (afford to) get my hands on. Last year I tried a couple of them — Apple Calendar, Amie, Cron, and Microsoft Outlook. I made them my primary Calendar application but somehow, I kept missing the user experience and flexibility of Google Calendar. Maybe it is my familiarity bias but I have not yet come across a Calendar application that is simple, yet powerful and smooth.

To-do list — Apple Reminders

Ok, I tried being a super To-do list user but I confess — I couldn’t pretend any longer. I used Things 3 last year. I used all the advanced features such as Projects and Areas. The application is beautiful. I still believe it to be one of the most beautiful ones on the market. But, the more I populated my lists and added projects and areas, the more I realised that I was just spending time on the application because I love using it rather than making real use of it to improve my productivity. I spent a lot of time to setup tasks which hardly took any time to execute. I felt the same with Todoist, Any.do and a few other applications I tried.

I realised that I am not a ‘power’ To-do list user and can work with just a simple list with no fancy requirements. Well, why pay for an application then? I went back to the default Apple Reminders app on my Apple devices. As for the non-Apple devices, I simply access it via iCloud on a web browser. One feature that I like and make use of is the family list. It is very easy for my partner and I to add our common tasks to this list. For example, plan date nights, get groceries, pay bills, etc. Either one of us can perform these tasks and mark them complete so the other person doesn’t have to do it. It feels like teamwork.

Writing — Apple Notes & Ulysses: Writing App

I love taking notes. Most of the time, I take notes simply to capture and understand the information better rather than documenting it for future reference. The act of taking notes helps me understand the topic/discussion better. My brain retains information better when I physically write things down on paper. I was glad to know that it is not just me, it is a well-researched fact. So my process goes like this:

1. In meetings, I write everything down on a physical notepad.
2. If there is information that I need to document for future reference, I then type everything into a digital platform. While typing here, I add more to the points, add links, media, charts, etc.

Now, coming to the digital platform, this is my most experimented space. Last year, I started using Bear Notes 2.0. I loved the minimal interface with nice themes and fonts. The platform has got quite an upgrade in recent times and is soon expected to come up with a browser version. Then I started trying other platforms like Obsidian, Notion, Microsoft OneNote, and finally the latest version of Apple Notes.

To be honest, they are all cool and very powerful tools, but I didn’t like the required learning curve of Obsidian and the old-school typical design of Microsoft OneNote. Since I keep experimenting with applications and transferring all my notes from one platform to another, I noticed that the text format changes when there is Notion involved. Also, when it came to accessing notes or writing quick notes on a mobile device, I didn’t enjoy Notion’s experience.

Finally, I heard that Apple Notes has recently made some major upgrades so I thought I’ll give it a try. I must say I was quite impressed by the new functionalities like smart folders, tags, ability to scan and store documents. It being a native Apple application, it was convenient for me to create quick notes and access them via iCloud on non-Apple devices via a browser. Since then, I have decided to stick to Apple Notes for now for day-to-day notes.

While experimenting with applications, I came across Ulysses. I fell in love with this platform. I signed up for a 7-day free trial and then started the paid subscription. I loved the distraction-free, simple yet powerful interface. Now you must be wondering why am I using two note-taking applications.

Essentially, Ulysses is an application built for authors. It is not meant for your day-to-day regular notes. Hence, I use Ulysses only for my writing work such as this post. It has been drafted on Ulysses and then exported directly to Medium and other platforms. Yes, you read it right. You can directly export and publish content onto Medium via Ulysses.

This system so far has kept things neat and hassle-free for me.

Information & media storage — Google Drive

Last year I used Google Drive and Skiff Drive as cloud storage platforms for all my files and media. I have ditched Skiff Drive for now as it is in an early development stage and also, it was a bit of a hassle maintaining data in two different drives and keeping track of what is where. Instead, I have increased the capacity of my Google Drive to 2 TB and have been using this as my second brain. I will continue to use it unless I come across something revolutionary.

Browser — Arc

Why Arc browser? Simply because I am bored of Safari, all clones of Google Chrome, all clones of Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Vivaldi and Microsoft Edge. The Arc browser has a fresh look and feel to a browser. I had signed up for its Beta program and ever since I have not gone back to any of the other browsers. I highly recommend this browser.

Email client — Gmail & Proton Mail

I have a couple of Gmail IDs. Hence, I started using the Gmail application on my phone as the email client. I have been using it for a while now and have gotten very used to it. Another popular application that I might try soon is Spark Mail.

I have an email ID with Proton Mail. I am currently using the free version which doesn’t allow me to configure Proton on any other email client and hence, I use the Proton Mail application on my phone just for that one email ID. I highly recommend Proton to everyone concerned about their email security.

Password manager — 1Password

I recently realised the importance of having a password generator and manager. With the increase in cyber-attacks and crimes, it has become essential to have extremely strong passwords and security mechanisms such as 2-factor authentication in place. I did a bit of research into applications providing these functionalities and was impressed by 1Password. They have never been breached. Their premium plans are affordable and the application is available on almost all mobile and operating system platforms as well as web browsers.

Music — Spotify

Music helps me focus while performing all my tasks. I enjoy listening to all kinds of music from all over the world. I chose Spotify because it fulfils all my music and podcast requirements. My wife and I wanted a Dual-plan and Spotify provided the cheapest option. Apple Music is also nice but doesn’t cover a lot of Indian regional language songs. YouTube Premium is too expensive for us (we can live with ads, for now). I believe Amazon Music has a long way to go to make itself as good as the other platforms.

I would love to know your productivity systems and recommendations. If you like my content and would like to know more about me, please visit ank1t.com to get in touch.