The Tools We Use

At the beginning of each semester, I try and take a moment out to reflect on what I did in the last one and how I can improve on the work that I accomplished. The most important thing that I view and criticize with the most scrutiny is my workflow. What was I doing last semester that I can modify, simplify, and use to make this semester better? What made my life easier, and what drove me insane? What tools was I using, and what should I change about how I use those tools?

In the basic definition of the word, tools are things that humans use to accomplish certain tasks. From the beginning of our existence as a species, what set us apart from others was our ingenuity in creating tools that made our lives easier. Famous examples such as the wheel, the hammer, the rope, among others, have shown just what our minds can create to help us accomplish even the most mundane of tasks.

In our modern society, tools have evolved to become much more than physical and have expanded into the digital world. Most of our work takes place at a computer where we can create, share, and modify digital content that can only be viewed online. These are still considered tools, and learning your way around these tools can get you very far in this increasingly digital age.

When it came time to keep up-to-date with the blog and compel myself to comment at least once every other week, I knew that I needed something to nag me to get it done. Keeping up to date on the next thing to do is something that I struggle with, which is why I have a tendency to use task managers and note-taking applications heavily. So, once again, I turned to what I knew best—my digital tools.

I did some digging around the Blogger site, and although the ability to receive notifications each time a blog post was made was available to administrators, no such tool was available to the minions the admins devoted to creating content for the site. So, I made a trigger* using a free online service called If This Then That (IFTTT) that would constantly monitor the Blogger website and fire off an email to me whenever a new post was created and published. This way, I could read each post as they came in instead of all at once, commenting on them as I saw fit.

This process is something that comes naturally for me (as I’m sure it does to others). I find a problem, I look for a way to make this problem work with me instead of against me, and I create a way to fix it. In this case, IFTTT was the best tool for me to get the job done, but there are a multitude of automation devices and services out there that can make your life considerably less complex. Applications on your phone, your computer, and your tablet can all be used to automate the things you are doing and get ahead of the curve as far as productivity goes. They are all just tools—a means to an end of your choosing.

At the risk of sounding crazy, I think that I’ll end this post with a small rant. I know that there is someone out there that is lamenting the use of all of this technology in a way that makes me unengaged with the material. You could twist this on your parade to show the fact that my initiative needs some shaping and that my memory is terrible because of how much I rely on technology to accomplish things for me. But to be honest, those arguments sound like kids who grow up and complain that “this new generation just isn’t getting it”. I know that I work better with these tools up my sleeve, and so what if that rustles your jimmies? I am not on a march towards some singularity where everything in my life will be automated and there will be nothing left for me to do. Humans are alone in their ability to not be satisfied with what they have. I am confident that in the future, this will never change.

*I published the trigger that I use to see all of your blog posts. You can grab it here.