The essential tools that fuel success
I'm currently reading the book "Deep Work" by Cal Newport. I've gotten to a part in the book about tools; about comparing our day-to-day tools to a farmer and a blacksmith. Back in the day, it took a lot of convincing and showcasing to make a profession change the tools they were using for their craft. Back in the day, blacksmiths used a firepit, anvil, and a hammer. Telling them to change from a hardy hot cut to a hacksaw would have taken a lot of convincing. But when it comes to our modern-day tools, we don't hesitate in adopting new technology, software, or apps. It's even praised as innovative. My question is, is that innovation truly benefiting your end goal?
When I started writing, I used the basic Notes app on my computer. I even turned off rich text to that binary font look; no bold, italic, underling, or fancy heading, just plain old text. Later, I wanted to be more sophisticated, so I moved over to the app iA Writer, a minimal text application that looked nice and stored all your text documents on the cloud for easy access. After I obtained a massive archive of documents, I needed something else, so I went over to Google Keep. But again, nothing beats the good old Notes app on everyone's computer. Now I write in Obsidian, a massively strong application to link and archive all the things I've learning, documented and written. Think of it like a second brain; that is what Obsidian is.
Now throughout that process of changing applications, I still go back to the universal Notes application that everyone has on their computer. But to get where I'm at, I tried a plethora of text-based software, from Notion to Grammarly, etc, etc. Looking back, I was wasting my time; writing doesn't need to be fancy or stored in a cloud service. All I need is access to any text-based writing software, spell check, a dictionary, and a thesaurus. Everything else is just fluff and taking away from my focus on writing.
It astonishes me the number of software applications and services companies use to track, log, invoice, document, share, and connect with their employees. I think when I started photography at the company I am currently working at, I needed to learn 10 plus different types of software. When, in truth, all I needed to know was three: Capture One (for image capturing), Photoshop (for retouching), and Premiere Pro (video editing), as I was the in-house photographer and videographer. Nothing else that I learned made the company any money. But still, I was forced to use and learn this useless software, just because.
If we break down our lives and all the tools we use, how many of them are useful to our goals? I want to become a writer, so all I need is my writing software Obsidian and a computer. I care about my health, so all I need are some dumbbells and a bench seat. And I'm also still a photographer, so I need a camera and software like Lightroom to process the photographs. Oh, and I'm a sucker for jotting down ideas and thoughts, so a pen and a notebook. Oh, and I need to read books for research and knowledge, so a physical book or my Kindle. All in all, that's two software programs and six tools and items. That isn't a lot to make a living and have a healthy lifestyle. I don't need my phone; I don't need social media; I don't need headphones; I don't need a fancy bag, or sneakers, or the newest camera. I don't need much at all to get my work done. And I don't need much to live a good life. I'm not a minimalist I'm an essentialist.
My question to you is: what do you truly need to get your work done? What do you absolutely need to live your dream life? I just need a good book, a notebook, pen and some nice food. Everything else I have is just a nice-to-have or clutter. What do you need?
