I am experiencing some very exciting changes in life right now, and I’m also testing some really incredible apps to help me navigate all these changes. I thought it would be fun to note down (in brief form) my current app stack and how much it costs in April 2023, and use this as a benchmark against which to track changes and compare my thinking as I go through these life changes.

Let’s go!

Capture

Raindrop- tasks, ideas (free)

Twos- lists, offline capture (free)

Apple notes- offline capture, anything else (free)

This process is evolving as I’m currently testing Routine and Twos. The current split is tasks and thoughts-that-might-at-some-point-be-connected-to-a-date (catchy!) in Routine, and lists of things in Twos.

I love Routine’s capture process and I love how I can open Twos from anywhere and create a new list with a shortcut. I previously had loads of lists in Apple notes but I didn’t like them there. However out of muscle memory I am still using Apple notes as a catch-all. If I choose to use all three I will need to very clearly define what each is used for to reduce friction in decision-making, and I’ll need to make sure I review them regularly.

Task Management

Routine (free)

I have finally realised my chaotic self needs a proper task management system, and I’m trying with Routine*. I am loving the experience but I think I need to link it up with project management, so I’ve got work to do here. But that should be fun!

If anyone has any project management tips, please let me know!

LifeOS

Notion! ($48/year)

I track my goals (3 year plan right down to daily tracking), the recipes I want to try, my goals and projects (well, the name of them and any updates rather than actually carrying them out), my bills, the paint colours in my flat, my skincare routine, an inventory, a shopping list, places I want to visit, everything. It’s the structure that underpins my life. Love it.

Journal

Day One (£32/year)

It’s easy, low cost (for something I use every day), integrates with my calendar and photos to really take my love for the “essence of the every day” to the next level, without any effort from me! I just love it.

Browser

Arc! (free)

Fast, fun, modern, beautiful, works with all my Chrome extensions, has a command bar. Lovely!

Literature notes

Logseq, bolstered with Zotero integration (free)

Logseq and Zotero save me as a student. One of my favourite workflows. I save any academic source to Zotero, and then use the Logseq integration to pull in all the reference info and the PDF to Logseq. I open the PDF, read, highlight and annotate, then I summarise what I’ve learned. Fabulous.

Permanent Notes and more

Capacities ❤ ($12/month)

My favourite app ever, which gets better everyday. Put simply, I do knowledge work in here and it’s transformed my note-taking experience.

Other

Readwise Reader ($7.99 a month)

If Zotero is for academic reading, Reader is for other reading. That’s not to say there’s no crossover, so I have the Readwise plug in for Logseq where my highlights are imported over for me to process if I want.

It’s an incredibly smooth experience, it’s a joy to use, and I use about 2% of it’s power from what I can tell!

Spark Email (free)

Love this app, but I cannot get my [email protected] email to work on there, which is really frustrating. All my other emails are in there though, and I reach inbox zero everyday with it!

So.. based off today’s dollar to pound exchange rate, I think this system as it stands will cost me about £260 this year. That is incredibly low for the amount of value, confidence and happiness these apps bring me and my life.

Let’s see how and if this changes going forward!

What apps do you use? What’s your favourite?

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