Would love to hear more of your thoughts on WorkFlowy. I’m a current user but there are some things that are just subconsciously bothering me yet I can’t find better alternatives.
I had the same feeling for as long as I can remember: just when I thought I was content with some apps, I find a new one on Product Hunt or Hacker News that promise something that I don’t know I want but after some thought think I need esp. for note taking/organization/productivity combo apps.
Still coping with it with a better clue as to how to deal with it.
The antidote for me is to figure out this (with the help of pen and paper): a list of what are the absolute basic needs I want out of productivity apps. For example, I tried to find the best tools for my personal knowledge management. My criteria (or deal breaker): cross device (iOS and MacOS); easy to export and share in common formats to others; no need for collaboration features; I can throw in any file without worrying that I need to import or convert format. Upon examining the list, I figured out that I want a tool that’s more like a file management system with full text search ability.
A bigger and prior than “basic needs for productivity tools” question that took me some time to figure out last year between October and November is what my workflows are, what kind of communication I need between different apps. For example, I need a central tool to search all my files (preferably full text) in a project, yet I need editing features in specific apps (Photoshop, Mindnode, Numbers).
Last point is to be content. I was on a constant quest for finding the holy grail of all-in-one app to no avail (I experimented with Notion on and off for almost a year but ultimately decided that it’s not for me). And when I look back, my real need disguised as “finding the perfect tool” is actually to master the knowledge that I picked up from life and work, and the best way is really just to routinely index, review and edit my knowledge scattered around in the files (adding and deleting) and write reviews of what I learned whenever possible.
P.S. I grow more skeptical of tools that need internet connection to function (i.e., beyond syncing) because: can’t cope with my need to take down notes fast (therefore I went with Drafts for times like this); files cannot be loaded in places where internet connections are not great (surprisingly a lot of places when you’re on the road a lot); you can’t control which features they add or take down (for their own reasons).