Curating a Modular Productivity System for ADHD
There are a ton of productivity tools out there. And if you’re anything like me, you’ve probably wasted countless hours trying to find the best one for your needs—oh, the irony.
Don’t get me wrong: there are tools that can serve as a one-stop-shop for all of your needs. In fact, there are dedicated communities who vehemently argue that platforms like Notion and Obsidian can fill that role. Having tried both platforms, I can see how that might be the case; however, I found that I’d eventually hit a point where my productivity would wane again.
Time and time again, my ADHD (and the limitations of each platform) led me to encounter the same problems:
- I got bored of using the same platform
- There were too many customization options that it became distracting
- I had difficulties bridging my digital and analog workflow
- A platform wasn’t nuanced enough to meet my (often changing) needs
My first problem was perhaps the most compelling one. Whenever I got tired of using one platform, I’d research a new platform and then start the laborious process of migrating all of my information (e.g. tasks, projects, notes, etc.) from one platform to another. So bit by bit, I began to disentangle myself from my “all-in-one” platform and outsource different elements of my productivity system.
This resulted in a suite of platforms, where I could swap each platform out for another as my needs (or whims) changed. This is what my productivity stack looks like now.
Notion — Project & Personal Knowledge Management
Notion is the only platform on here that doesn’t have an analog. That’s because I use Notion as a hub to connect all of my notes, project information, tasks, etc. It’s generally here that projects originate and are managed. Any usable or relevant information that I acquire throughout the day will eventually end up here. Notion also serves as a bridge between my digital and analog (i.e. Remarkable 2) workflows.
