In college, my system for staying on track was a small production in itself.
My phone timer dictated the rhythm of my study sessions: twenty-five minutes of grinding through notes, five minutes of stretching, scrolling, or staring at the ceiling. Then back at it again. The timer’s sharp buzz didn’t just mark time; it commanded me, pulled me back from distraction.
Alongside it, a paper planner hung on my desk wall, its boxes filled with due dates and reminders. And, because I feared the wall version might not be enough, I mirrored it all on my phone planner.
In hindsight, it looks a little ridiculous. Three different nudges pointing to the same tasks. Yet I needed that scaffolding. Each nudge carried a slightly different tone. The timer’s urgency, the planner’s quiet guilt, the phone’s buzz of accountability. Together, they worked. My system didn’t make me perfect, but it did move me forward.
Now, years later, I find myself using far less. These days I mostly live out of my calendar. Beyond that, I carry with me three personal markers of the day: if I do these three things, I know I’ll be alright. They’re not always grand achievements. Sometimes it’s “finish that draft,” “go for a run,” and “check in with a friend.” They anchor me. They remind me that, no matter how chaotic the day gets, there are a few essentials that make it count.
And if I don’t manage to finish all three, that’s when I pull out my funny consolation: free will. “I didn’t check off everything,” I tell myself, “but maybe that just means I still have choices. I still have free will.” A silly joke, but one that keeps the shame of incompleteness from eating at me.
It took me a while to see the shift. Back in college, I relied on nudges because my willpower was fragile and my focus scattered. Now, after years of trial and error, I’ve built habits and rhythms that don’t need as many external prods.
However, that doesn’t mean everyone should strip down their systems. Lives change. Mental states change. There are seasons when the mind feels steady, and there are seasons when even getting out of bed requires three alarms and a motivational quote taped to the wall.
That’s why productivity tools multiply. They exist because we are not all the same, and because even within one life, we are not always the same person. Some of us need more nudgers, some fewer. Often, having more nudgers really does help things get done.
It’s also worth remembering that the world itself has changed. Distraction isn’t just personal anymore; it’s cultural, even global. A 2023 Microsoft study found that 68 percent of workers said they lacked sufficient uninterrupted focus time during their workdays, pointing to constant pings, emails, and digital chatter as the culprits.
Meanwhile, a study published in Nature Communications in 2019 showed how attention spans on social media are shrinking worldwide. With every trending topic, every viral video, every new cycle of information, we’re pushed to switch faster, adapt quicker, skim more shallowly. Focus is no longer just hard. It’s systematically undermined by the way the modern world is built.
Against this backdrop, it makes sense that people lean on apps. They’re not only tools but companions, offering structure in a noisy world. A time tracker can restore a sense of control. A to-do list can serve as an external memory. A digital planner can whisper: “Here’s what matters, right here, right now.”
However, here lies the paradox. Sometimes, the very tools meant to simplify our lives end up complicating them. We pile on apps, each one promising salvation: one to track habits, another to manage deadlines, a third for collaboration, a fourth for notes, a fifth for reminders.
Before long, productivity itself becomes another task on the to-do list. It actually becomes organizing the tools before you organize your time. It’s like tidying your desk drawers while ignoring the actual report that’s due.
The hard truth is that no number of nudges, no army of apps, can replace action. Systems can guide you, remind you, or even guilt you. But if you don’t move, nothing moves. Focus is not just about having the right setup; it’s about choosing, again and again, to sit with the work and do it.
That’s why I’ve come to see productivity as less of a universal formula and more of a personal negotiation. For me right now, it’s a calendar, three daily essentials, and the occasional shrug of free will. For someone else, it might be five apps working in harmony. Neither is wrong. What matters is whether the system nudges you toward action, or whether it distracts you with its own upkeep.
That’s the point we often miss. We think the right app will transform us. We think the right setup will finally unlock discipline. But in the end, systems don’t save us. We save ourselves when we choose to act.
So, do we really need five productivity apps, or do we just need focus? The answer is both simpler and harder than it seems. Use as many nudgers as you need. Use as few as you can. But never forget: if you’re not taking action, you’re still going to be unproductive. And no amount of free will is going to change that.
