#115: Why I Gave up on My Search for The One (Ultimate Productivity App)

Do you wish there was one app that can do it all?

An app that flawlessly offers all the features to help you get more things done and feel productive everyday.

Well, I can relate.

After all, finding that one super app can save us so much time, money, and energy and help us focus on our high-impact tasks.

So I've been hopping from one productivity app to another for years, desperately in search for that one app that caters to all my needs and preferences. But just a few days after the euphoria of trying a shiny new app, I'd usually start to notice the features it lacks and all the ways it falls short of my standards. And I know it's not just me, because in the communities of apps that I've joined, I always notice people in the #feature-request channels asking to add more and more features to suit their working style. Sometimes these feature requests even contradict the app's founding principles.

I guess searching for that one super app that can do it all is much like putting the pressure on a romantic relationship to fill every void in your life (went off on a tangent here—happy Valentine's day, by the way 😉). It's quite impossible and unfair to do so.

That's why today, I look at my productivity tech stack as if it's an ecosystem. Each app has its own purpose and its strengths, and they build up on one another through the power of integrations, which reduce friction and seamlessly sync important data. I stopped expecting one app to deliver all the features I need to be productive.

Similarly, in relationships (just to continue the analogy haha), we can't expect romantic love (eros) to fulfill all our emotional needs. In his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis explains the four kinds of love (found in the Bible) that we long for and experience. All four kinds of love enrich our lives in their own unique ways.

P.S. I feel like this post took a weird turn, but bear with me and my healing heart. 😂

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Hi, and thanks for reading! I’m Kishly, cheerleader of creatives and copywriter turned digital marketing strategist. Bookmark this blog to read my daily atomic posts on creative living, compassionate productivity, lifelong learning, and everything else that fascinates me. Or subscribe to Process, my weekly-ish newsletter for multi-passionate young adults (and the young at heart) in pursuit of wisdom and wonder. ✨