Casey Newton many weeks ago: Three apps that made me more productive this year

A year ago this week, I wrote here about why note-taking apps don’t make us smarter. In short, it took me too long to learn, software can’t automate your thinking. But I do think it can create the conditions for improved thinking: for making new connections between ideas; for reducing the number of times during the day that your attention flits from one app to the next; and for organizing your reading and making it more useful to you in the future.

I think Casey’s realization here is applicable to most productivity software as well. No matter how good a good task manager is, it won’t do your tasks for you. That doesn’t mean it’s useless, as it can build in tools that make it easier to do those things or be reminded to do them at the right time. A read-later app won’t read for you, but if you enjoy using the app, you might make reading more an excuse to spend time with the app you enjoy.