Incident Record: Productivity Stack Purchase
Seven applications were purchased during a single weekend with the aim of working less effortfully. The setup took eleven hours.
Annual Review: Productivity Stack Purchase Incident Record, April 2022
Incident Summary
During a weekend in early April, the subject purchased seven productivity applications following a period of dissatisfaction with their existing workflow. Total expenditure: $214. Setup and configuration time: eleven hours across Saturday and Sunday.
The workflow problem that prompted the purchases has not been definitively resolved.
Applications Acquired
Task Manager (third in three years): Imported tasks from the previous task manager. Spent two hours organizing the import. The tasks in the new manager are the same tasks that were in the old one.
Calendar Replacement: Integrates with the task manager. Requires subscription. The integration works. The calendar also shows the same appointments as the previous calendar.
Note-taking Application: Features a graph view of connected notes. The subject spent four hours connecting existing notes. The graph is visually appealing. The notes are the same notes.
Time-tracking Tool: Logs time spent in each application. The subject has been notified that 23% of tracked time is spent in the time-tracking tool.
Focus Timer: Replaced the focus timer that was already installed. The new one has better sounds.
Automation Tool: Designed to connect all other applications. Currently in setup. Estimated completion: this weekend.
Password Manager: This one was actually needed.
Root Cause Analysis
The workflow problem was inefficiency in moving between tasks. The purchased applications address this by creating a unified system. The unified system requires that all components be correctly configured and maintained.
Correct configuration required eleven hours. Maintenance is ongoing.
The optimization process consumed more hours than the inefficiency it was designed to address would have consumed in a month.
Forensic Finding
The subject knew, at the point of purchase, that setup would take time. The subject estimated four hours. The estimate was incorrect.
The subject also knew that previous productivity stack overhauls in 2019 and 2021 had not produced lasting improvements. This information was available. It was weighed against the appeal of the graph view.
The graph view is genuinely well-designed.
Status
The stack is installed. Integration is partial. The original workflow problem is being held until setup is complete.