Elli

You find me in my dreams

[lenagua]

I've Used 15+ Productivity Apps and I'm STILL Unproductive a thread 🧵

Tati...

I am annoyed! Can someone please me? Oppa!

okay so i'm a 26 year old girl who loves traveling, cooking, and the productivity niche

and i have a PROBLEM

i've been using productivity apps for 15 YEARS

and i'm STILL a mess 😭

let me take you on a journey through my toxic relationship with apps

THE EX-BOYFRIEND ERA

Notion — my cute ex

we had good times. REALLY good times. i built databases for EVERYTHING. recipes. travel itineraries. life goals. i felt like a productivity GODDESS

but then... it got too simple. too basic. the magic faded

now it's just... cute. and that's all

girl, be proud, be great — but Notion isn't doing it for me anymore

Obsidian — the "smart" one who's actually just complicated

all those backlinks! all that markdown! it SEEMS so intelligent

spoiler: it's not. it's just making your life hard for no reason

i spent more time learning how to use it than actually being productive

that's not intelligence — that's a gaslighting situation

AnyType — interesting but annoying

that person who seems fascinating at first. different. unique

then you realize they're just... challenging. for the sake of being challenging

and don't get me started on the design. it ANNOYS me. deeply. viscerally

THE "WHY DO YOU EVEN EXIST" CATEGORY

OneNote — the OG that lost its way

was amazing for many years. i have MEMORIES

but the workspace movement is too sparsed. too scattered

it's like trying to find your keys in a messy room — you KNOW they're there somewhere, but why is everything so CHAOTIC?!

Evernote — seriously, WHY?!

why does this app even exist?!

interesting concept. just... existing. not actually useful

it's the app equivalent of that friend who shows up to the party and just stands there. you know they're there. you don't know why

THE "TOO SIMPLE" EPIDEMIC

Todoist — what is wrong with you people?!

too simple. for a DO-DO app

i don't want basic checkboxes. i want STRUCTURE. i want DEPTH. i want my brain to feel organized, not my grocery list

Sunsama — sweet but too simple

sweet. really sweet. like that dessert that looks amazing but leaves you hungry 10 minutes later

too simple. next

TickTick — knock knock... where is my workspace?!

TICKTICK DARLING WHERE IS MY WORKSPACE?!

there's a knock at the door. it's my need for actual organizational structure. TickTick isn't answering

Akiflow — not so ninja

sounds like it should be this sleek ninja of productivity

turns out, it's not so ninja as it sounds. more like... a slightly faster turtle

THE HEARTBREAKERS

Apple Notes — they lost all my data

WTF APPLE!

all my notes. all my thoughts. all my carefully organized chaos. GONE

i trusted you. and you betrayed me. Apple Notes, we're done

Tana — new, beautiful, but lazy

tana is new. tana is beautiful. tana makes my heart flutter

but tana is too complex AND too simple at the same time. how is that possible?!

lazy devs. really. make up your mind

brain.fm — too expensive?

are you too expensive? or am i just cheap?

the jury's out. but my wallet is crying

Toggl Track — another todo too simple

you're just another todo app pretending to be special

too simple. NEXT

WHAT I ACTUALLY WANT

listen, i'm a 26-year-old girl who loves traveling, cooking, and the productivity niche

maybe these are my favorites. maybe i'm just picky

but here's what i believe:

I believe that humans are not capable of "GI" (Generalized Intelligence).

we're limited. subjective. i can't know JavaScript AND HTML AND chemical elements AND how to use a hoe AND a hundred languages. but an AI can

AI has PhD-level knowledge but the behavioral intelligence of a 5-year-old

sound familiar? that's how i feel about productivity apps

they have all this knowledge, all these features, but they can't seem to just... work. for ME. the actual human

SO WHAT NOW?

i'll keep searching. i'll keep trying new apps. i'll keep getting disappointed

because i believe in being productive. i believe in self-growth. i believe in finding systems that actually work

and maybe, just maybe, i'll find the one

or i'll just use a bullet journal like some kind of productivity caveman

Tati... I am annoyed!

MY THINGS

Productivity & self-growth | Camping & cooking lover 🌲🍴

Tips, adventures, recipes

DM me for app ideas or campfire stories! i'm always down to talk productivity, travel, or share my latest camping recipe

girl, be proud, be great!

now if you'll excuse me, i need to go reorganize my Notion database for the 47th time this month

because i'm a ✨productivity girlie✨ and that's just what we do

what app did i miss? what app do you swear by?

reblog and let's fight about it (lovingly) in the tags

P.S. — if you're a developer reading this, please just make an app that works. i'm begging you

Oppa!

[gif of someone dramatically throwing a notebook]

[gif of a girl staring at a screen with 47 tabs open]

[gif of someone screaming into a pillow]

until next time, stay productive (or don't, i'm not your boss), stay curious, and always bring extra marshmallows on your camping trips

🌲🍴✨

[lenagua]

Being somehow, maked me be alive.

[lenagua]

Holla cuties

[lenagua]

5 posts!

[lenagua]

Tati...

I am annoyed! Can someone please tell me why Notion decided to become ✨that girl✨ who used to be so simple and relatable and now she's wearing designer labels and speaking in riddles? Like girl, I loved you when you were just a cute little workspace where I could organize my life. Now I open you up and there's like 47 different views, databases nested inside databases, and I need a whole university degree just to make a grocery list.

Okay, fine. Maybe I'm being dramatic. But I can't be the only one feeling this way, right? RIGHT?

Anyway, since I've been getting SO many DMs about what I actually use day-to-day (thanks for that, by the way, you guys are honestly the sweetest), I figured I'd share my current rotation. These are the apps that haven't betrayed me. Yet.

📝 MY HOLY TRINITY:

TickTick — hear me out. I was a Todoist girl for YEARS but TickTick just... gets me? The habit tracker, the pomodoro timer, the little calendar view. It's like having a tiny Korean oppa in my phone telling me to get my life together but in a nice way.

Forest — because I am a child who needs a dopamine hit to stay off Instagram. Plant a tree, focus for 25 minutes, watch it grow. If you leave the app, the tree DIES. The GUILT. It's honestly more effective than any productivity system I've ever tried.

Google Keep — I KNOW it's basic but for quick capture? For random recipe ideas? For that thing I need to remember but don't have time to categorize? She's reliable. She's simple. She doesn't ask me to watch a 30-minute YouTube tutorial just to change my font size.

🗂️ THE NOTION SITUATION:

Okay here's the thing. I still use Notion. I'm not a monster. But I've stripped it DOWN. No more dashboards with 15 linked views. No more complex formulas that I copy-pasted from somewhere and don't actually understand. Just:

A simple master task list

My travel planning board (very cute, very pink, minimal)

A recipe database (because I'm a cooking girlie and I need to remember that one pasta dish from that one trip)

That's IT. I'm not building a second brain anymore, I'm building a functional one. I'm not trying to impress anyone with my workspace. I'm trying to actually GET THINGS DONE.

✨ BONUS MENTIONS:

Pocket — for all those articles I swear I'll read. (I will. Eventually. Probably.)

Spotify — specifically for my "deep focus" playlist that's just lo-fi and nature sounds. Essential.

Day One — because journaling is productivity too, actually. Processing emotions is work. I said what I said.

So let me know in the comments or DMs: What are YOU using right now? What apps have you broken up with? What's your current obsession?

Also, if anyone wants to see my actual Notion setup (the ~stripped back~ version) or my recipe collection, just say the word. I'll do a part two with screenshots.

Girl, be proud, be great!

You don't need a complex system. You need a system that WORKS for YOU. And if that means bullet journaling on sticky notes or using three different apps because nothing does everything perfectly—that's valid. That's productivity in its truest form.

Now go drink some water and maybe start that thing you've been procrastinating. I believe in you.

(And yes, I'm currently procrastinating writing this instead of doing my actual work. We're all works in progress okay.)

What about your... productivity things?

[lenagua]

I feel the sun,

I feel the orange,

I feel you.

[lenagua]

Tati...

I am annoyed! Can someone please me? Oppa!

[lenagua]

Girl, be proud, be great!

[lenagua]

Hi ^_^

Hey... little tumblers. I am Elena.

My things? Productivity & self-growth | Camping & cooking lover 🌲🍴 Tips, adventures, recipes. DM for app ideas or campfire stories!