[TOOL] Evernote Vs. iOS Notes
I just caught myself looking at a comparison review of Evernote and the iOS Notes app.
I pay $8/month for Evernote and I have been for years.
But I’ve noticed that I haven’t really used Evernote over the past few months. I had exclusively been using iOS Notes.
That money is being wasted!
But why?
Evernote has always been better.
- Evernote could record your voice and save it as a note.
- Evernote could scan your whiteboard notes and make THOSE searchable.
- Evernote could upload everywhere and do everything.
Over the past few years, they built more apps, more extensions, and more features.
Scannable. Skitch. Web Clipper. And many others.
It became a brain.
And then . . . I realized I didn’t actually want a brain.
I wanted a note taker.
The number one feature that mattered to me was how quickly I could get my notes app launched so I could capture my thought.
That was it.
None of those other sexy features actually mattered!
iOS Notes has fewer features, looks less sexy, and doesn't scan anything.
But it does what I need it to do.
What a lesson about productivity and business!
It’s so easy to get distracted by features and extensions and compatibilities.
It’s harder to focus on the minimum viable feature.
The one thing that actually solves the problem.
Time to unsubscribe to Evernote.iOS Notes wins!
2 Minute Action
If you could only get one thing done today, what would it be?
What other things will definitely happen and impede this from getting finished?
Is this one thing dependent on anything else (like someone else’s work) to get done?
How can you get around it?
Just thinking like this for 2 minutes will make all the difference in actually checking things off.
Focus like this makes you immune to distraction.
And if you fall into the vortex of sexy app features (like I just did), it’s this learned habit of thinking that will get you out.
A Surefire Way To Never Achieve A Goal
I recently heard someone report on a project they were working on."Today, I'm working on this," they said. "I'm getting there."This is the kiss of death in the Agile framework.It's not specific, it doesn't give you any new information, and it doesn't tell you when it will be done.It's easy to see that it's a pretty useless sentence.So why do so many managers accept this from their teams?There are probably a lot of reasons. There's a lot going on, it's a long process and takes time, there are many variables in the way, it's not something tangible we can just measure or chart.The truth is that these are all excuses for lazy project management.
The truth is that this is usually the cause of one of two things:
- A conscious or non-conscious desire to avoid accountability. OR
- A vaguely defined goal or objective.
Let's break this down for a second.A vague goal would sound like "losing weight" or "speaking better Spanish."A clearly defined goal would sound like "losing 10 pounds by March" or "having a 30-minute conversation with a native speaker."
So where's the breakdown?
The secret is in the "-ing."It's the tell-tale symptom.There's no clear beginning or end. You can't check off the box.You're not sure where it starts or stops.It's the trouble with all gerunds.They used to be verbs, but now they're nouns.They used to be actionable, but now they're just there.This means that goals, progress reports, and project plans should all paranoically scan for "-ing" before finalizing.If you have one, it will likely end in an uncomfortable or unhappy failure.
2 Minute Action:
Here are the 3 questions I ask my team every, single day.Take 2 minutes and ask yourself:What did you accomplish yesterday?What will you accomplish today?Do you have any dependencies (things you're waiting on) to get these done?What are the impediments that will stop you from checking off these boxes?By focusing on what boxes are checked and which ones aren't you can avoid falling into the trap of eternally "working toward" something that may never have a finish line.Pro-tip: if your impediments are "not enough hours in the day" or "not enough coffee," you need to step back and look at your process/goals/expectations/standards. You might have a disaster right in front of you.
The 3 Questions That Will Change Your Productivity For Life
You've heard of Scrum, right?
I used it to run a software company that helped the Department of Defense build satellite constellations around the globe.I used it in my consulting work with Johnson & Johnson.And I still use it in my work, today.Without getting into all the principles, terms and details, I want you to focus on 3 specific questions that are the core of Scrum.
- What did I do yesterday?
- What will I do today?
- What are my impediments?
These questions are powerful because they require you to focus on what you actually FINISHED--not what you worked on. The difference is that finishing something moves you closer to your goal. If the task is too big, it requires that you break it down into a do-able piece. This means you're finishing more tasks, building confidence, momentum, and a trackable trajectory. The most important question of all, of course, is the last one.
What are your impediments?
Too many meetings ramble on about status, what-ifs, or about how some new feature will be put into place. For most people in the room, the status won't matter as much as where you're feeling friction.If you want to live a productive life, start asking yourself these three questions every day.They'll force you to stay focused on what matters, they'll give you constant feedback, and will help you break down impossibly large goals into manageable pieces.