ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER POST
You don’t need expensive gadget to become an academic scholar, you don’t need expensive items to become a productivity expert in your field. Its is high time I address this issue or this mindset. We have become to immersed in the flashy thing of the internet. Seeing expert tech user or productivity expert setup workstation, we think we need that type of desk, lighting, equipment, to be productive.
I was at a point in my academic journey, that I really wanted tablet, that was when I was in 400lvl in university, I did research on the best student tablet, arrived on this three option, Samsung Tab S9, Honor magicpad 2 and Ipad Air/Mini (Depending on the size that suit you). I wasn’t able to get any though. I was then like “okay since you can’t get it” what are the things you can use instead. Then I remember that in my early secondary school days, I use to write a lot on blank A4 paper, so I bought a lot of A4 paper. Then doing the next semester, when I went home for holiday I bought a rim of A4 paper, quite cheap. (P.S That made me realize how much cyber café/ Internet café are really earning, It a nice venture if you have the market).
Thus, I didn’t have any fancy app, now a day, there is so many apps in the productivity/academic sphere. Many people in the academic space will make you feel like you need to know how to use this fancy app or another fancy app to improve your productivity or get good grade. One example, I can really think of is the period in which Notion was blowing, almost every academic expert and productivity youtuber was making video concerning notion like a revolutionary note taking and management tool.
While I just had my plain sheet of A4 paper, because I loved writing on paper with no line, I use it for mind mapping, and revision, so all the things I see students do on Ipads, I simply used my trusted A4 papers. I termed this system the Minimalistic workflow
The Key is Simplicity
The Minimalistic workflow is based on, the use of less gadgets/app/ai in your workspace, don’t get me wrong all this equipment are nice, what makes it’s an issue is when one thinks they can’t be productive without it, or they can’t be efficient without it. That is where the problem lies.
The Minimalistic workflow is based on simplicity, and Simplicity is the key of learning, when you start employing new gadgets/ app into your workflow all it those it creates friction in your workflow.
How I came about the simplicity factor of the minimalistic workflow, I was in church one day, and my Bishop was preaching about the simplicity of the gospel and how its centered in Christ, and that Christ has already done the work for us, and most importantly how we use our own hands or mind to complicate the process of being a Christian. I was like wow this is this same way student are, they complicate the learning process with their own hand instead of making its simple, making it minimalistic.
What to look out for When implementing gadget in your life
I still believe in the use of certain gadgets and app in improving productivity, like I love using flashcard but having a dedicated app for making flashcard make it way easier for me than manually making it.
NOW, when looking for gadget, app or any subscription based service because believing it will help improve your efficiency and effectiveness, ask yourself this two question;
- Where do I want implement the use of it?
- What are the available alternative?
This help in identifying the actual reason, you want to us that particular gadget, app or subscription service, and will help you determine the level of priority or necessity of that gadget Secondly, are there actually cheaper and available alternative to the need the gadget is trying to solve.
Example, I want an ipad for study
Where do I want implement the use of it?
I can use it for notetaking, video editing, creating my flashcard and quizzing,
What are the available alternative?
A normal A4 paper for quizzing and my Anki flashcard. While for video editing, well that doesn’t align with the core need of using it as a device to study.
Let me use another life example for this, there was a point in university when I wanted to use a new flashcard app called Remnote and I wanted to go more digital with my note so I also needed a note taking app
RemNote is an all-encompassing app note-taking and knowledge-management app designed specifically to help students, researchers, and lifelong learners study and retain information efficiently. Mainly used for note taking and flashcard creation.
Where do I want implement the use of it?
In my studies, creating digital note and creating more efficient flashcard
What are the available alternative?
Normal Anki (which is a free alternative), which I normally used, and for digital note taking normal MS word and connecting it with my WhatsApp to make it accessible on my phone. Problem solved, Plus the app wasn’t really doing it for me.
Conclusively
I genuinely feel gadget are not a bad thing, however like I said earlier, over reliance, on all this gadget, thinking we need it to be productive, is where the line is draw.
I personally subscribe to an app called forest, which I will highly recommend, its free for android user but there is a onetime payment for iPhone user. The app completely blocks all notification and lock all other app during deep work session. It also able to categories all your activity and give you a weekly breakdown of the amount of time you spent on a particular task in total. Crazy good for person who want to get more work done. It provided a service which for me there was no feasible alternative, that my do not disturb or focus mode will solve. Lastly all this youtuber desk setup, are aesthetically pleasing for the viewer, and you don’t need all that to simply get things done. Therefore, Remember to be productive.
