Going Old-School: Why Top Achievers Shun Digital Tools for Productivity.
If you listen to interviews with incredibly productive people, you will notice that most of them are not using many digital tools to organise their work. Yes, they use a digital calendar, which makes sense as it solves a particular problem.
Before the digital revolution, we needed to carry around a diary. If you were fortunate enough to have an assistant, they needed a copy of your diary to know where you were on specific days. The digital calendar solved that by allowing assistants and family members to access their calendars.
Beyond that, very few are using the plethora of digital notes or task managers available today. Christian Horner, CEO and Team Principle of Red Bull Racing, carries around a leather-bound A4 notebook (and Mont Blanc pen), taking notes and presumably writing out his to-dos for the day. Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer, Adrian Newey, is rarely seen without his red notebook.
David Allen, the father of the modern productivity movement, still collects ideas, notes and to-dos using his notetaker wallet and, when at his desk working, will more likely scribble down a thought, idea, or to-do on a notepad on his desk for processing later than adding it to his digital task manager directly.
Warren Buffett carries his little pocket diary everywhere he goes and remains reluctant to add anything. He loves the space and flexibility of having no appointments for the day.
This does not mean you should reject digital tools. After all, digital tools do help us. It’s a lot easier to digitally write and share a document, store documents you want to share with your team, and access information relevant to your work.
However, the biggest advantage of minimising the digital tools you use is you have less to keep organised and up-to-date. You have fewer options about where something will go or what you will use to do a piece of work.
For example, when I sat down to write this article, I did not need to think about where I should write it. I’ve been using Ulysses as my writing tool for almost eight years. I have Microsoft Word, Apple’s Pages and Google Docs On my computer. Yet, I still use Ulysses. It never crossed my mind to use anything else. After eight years of almost daily use, I know how it works; I know what all the menu items do, and I have my filing system inside Ulysses for everything I have written over the last eight years. (Almost two million words!). It would be a waste of time for me to try and learn something else for minimal gain.
It becomes obvious when I analyse why these highly successful and focused people rarely use digital tools. When you decide to adopt a new digital tool, a big time cost is involved. You must first learn the basics and then move your old stuff to your new tool. After that, you will waste a lot of time organising everything; if you do not get that right, you will waste more time trying to maintain your organisational structure.
Productive people see that as a waste. You will be far more productive if you focus your efforts and time on doing the work rather than moving your work around. It’s the digital equivalent of shuffling papers on your desk. You feel like you’re doing something constructive, yet nothing meaningful is getting done.
When Walter Isaacson was writing Steve Jobs’ biography, Steve mentioned that he had all his old journal entries on his old computer from ten years ago and that he would send them to Isaacson. Several weeks passed, and these entries did not materialise. Isaacson asked Steve about them, And Steve confessed that even with all the talented engineers at Apple, they could not get the material downloaded. While they could get the old computer running, they were unable to get the material in a readable format.
Adrian Newey doesn’t have that problem. When F1 changed the regulations on aerodynamics in 2022, Newey was able to go back to the red notebook he used in the mid-1980s and get all his notes from when F1 last used ground effect aerodynamics. This gave Red Bull a considerable advantage over its competitors — who had no notes from when ground effect aerodynamics were last used.
Yes, digital tools can make our lives easier. Email and instant messaging make communicating with friends, family and teams faster, and having your calendar online allows you to set up appointments with clients and team members easily.
However, in other areas, too many digital tools can slow you down and cause overwhelm and anxiety. A lot can get missed or lost in a digital quagmire. So, stick with what you know. Keep your digital tools to a minimum, and don’t be afraid to use time-tested methods if they are likely to give you the information you need when you need it. That’s what it’s all about.
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