Stop Tweaking Your Tools and Start Using Them

6 hours ago 3

In this article, I want to discuss about a pitfalls that I see so many people fall into: overcomplicating the way they use everything, keeping busy with futilities, and actually avoiding the meaningful work.

Introduction

"Last week, I spent 3 hours customizing my ...". "The week before? 2 hours tweaking my ...". Sound familiar? 🤔

The nice thing about Obsidian is that it's not very opinionated. It's like a blank sheet of paper. You can do almost whatever you want with it. When I started using it a few years back, I wanted to set it up "correctly". I wanted to align it with the way I work. It required careful design, and a lot of time and attention. But at some point, there were diminishing returns. I could have continued tweaking the settings, changing the visual styles, adding plugins, etc. But once I reached a certain level, what was initially a useful activity could have turned into an fruitless obsession.

And that's a trap that so many people fall into. Everytime I visit the Obsidian sub-reddit, the PKMS one, the Obsidian Discord server, and many other places, I keep seeing the same kinds of posts, over and over. Posts such as these:

And that's just from the last few days. There are thousands of similar posts. And that's just for Obsidian. It's the same story with many other tools out there. And it's BAD.

Far less often, do I see posts like this one: Finally I'm satisfied with my Obsidian customization and stopped the endless customization loop.

There's a point where useful setup turns into fruitless obsession. And most of us cross that line without even realizing it.

What's the problem exactly?

As a matter of fact, there are many problems to consider. And those run deeper than you might think.

The Perfection Trap

Nothing is ever perfect. As one of the commenters mentioned in one of those posts:

You don't find a solution without having a problem first

Most of us are creating solutions for problems that don't actually exist. We're solving puzzles, not real issues.

The Avoidance Mechanism

Our brains are addicted to tweaking stuff. It's like solving puzzles. It's not only addictive, it's actually an avoidance mechanism.

Whenever we're busy tweaking things, we're not doing other things. And maybe the reason we prefer to tweak our toys is actually to avoid the other things that feel boring, scary or daunting. And the cycle repeats ad nauseam. It's just procrastination in disguise.

My first question is: Are you fiddling with your tools because you have an actual problem, or just to avoid doing something else? If so, what are you avoiding, and why? 🤷

The Productivity Illusion

Some people are also convinced that all the fiddling and tweaking will ultimately lead to massive boosts in productivity. But in reality, that's rarely the case. Oftentimes people just waste their time.

My second question is: Do you actually measure what you gain from all this tweaking? If you're not, then you're not really serious about boosting your productivity. Because:

You don't know what you don't measure

The Readiness Myth

Also, consider that your productivity level is much more heavily influenced by the priorities you set than the way you use your tools. Yes, tools do have an impact, as any developer knowing their shortcuts by heart will know.

At the end of the day, your priorities, focus, and approach will impact your productivity in much more profound ways than all the tweaking in the world ever could

Forget about productivity porn. Real productivity comes from having clarity, knowing what matters, and the right focus; spending your energy on the 20% of the tasks that deliver 80% of the impact (cfr the Pareto Principle).

You might also consciously or unconsciously thinking that if you don't configure everything perfectly, then you're not ready to actually use the tool. Tons of people fall into that trap as well. They delay actually using the tool until they have the "perfect" setup. And it's all an illusion. It never happens. And once too many "optimization" loops are completed, the tool is just abandoned.

You might be thinking: "If I don't configure everything perfectly, I'm not ready to actually use the tool."

Tons of people fall into that trap. They delay actually using the tool until they have the "perfect" setup. And guess what? It never happens. After too many "optimization" loops, the tool is simply abandoned.

Smoke and Mirrors

Some people also spend insane amounts of time improving the visual aspect of whatever they're using. They change fonts, styles, add images, emojis and whatever else. Yes, it's visually pleasing, and yes, it can be useful and helpful too. But oftentimes, it's just another way to waste time. And don't misinterpret me. It's perfectly fine if you just want to have fun, whether that's visually or functionally. But only if it's your end goal.

Think carefully before you waste your time moving pixels around. Don't you have something more valuable to do?

Addiction to Complexity (and Chaos)

Sometimes, people also build monstrous creatures made of intertwined tools, services, and complex configurations. To me, those are the absolute worst. They believe that by combining X, Y and Z, they're creating the holy grail of productivity. In reality, all they're doing is creating a complex system, and setting themselves up for integration and maintenance nightmares.

People often don't realize how brittle apps, services and integrations can be. Services change, go down or even disappear. Integrations break. Tweaks built on top of all those are hard and costly to maintain. And maintaining it all is a headache. And don't get me started on security, privacy, vendor lock-in, price hikes and migration nightmares. It's an actual horror show.

Use as few tools as you can. The fewer tools you use, the fewer problems you can have. Avoid vendor lock-in. Choose open platforms, open data formats, etc. Your systems will be much more robust.

Impending Disasters

Finally, there are also Second-order effects caused by all the above, or variations/combinations thereof.

For instance, if you add plugins or extensions for whatever reason, then you might make your tools unstable, introduce issues that weren't there in the first place, or you might put your data at risk (e.g., availability, integrity, privacy, etc). You could also lock yourself in, and be unable to move elsewhere later on. Last but not least, the people behind those might lose interest and stop maintaining what you rely on, turning your "beautiful system" into a pile of garbage.

And the list goes on. There are many more problems to consider. These are just the ones I have in mind right now...

A bit of basic math

Let me share some numbers that might make you uncomfortable:

If you spend just 30 minutes a day tweaking your tools instead of using them, that's:

3.5 hours per week
15 hours per month
182 hours per year

That's over 4 work weeks. Gone. Vanished. 💨

And for what? A marginally more efficient workflow? A slightly prettier dashboard? Be honest: when was the last time those tweaks and customizations actually led to a real productivity breakthrough?

How to avoid the main pitfalls

Tools are nothing but tools. They only exist to help you achieve something meaningful (apart from games, obviously). Don't conflate tweaking your tools and making progress. Those are two completely different things. If you chose a tool, then stick with it for long enough (cfr pick a tool and stick with it). Hopping from tool to tool is just another symptom hiding deeper issues with how you approach your work.

You should use the right tools, and yes, use those tools the right way. But focus on simplicity and actual progress first. Embrace Digital Minimalism. Try to use as few tools as you can get away with. This will not only reduce the costs, the mental overhead, but also the integration and maintenance issues.

As you go along, keep track of what bugs you, the issues you find, the things that actually prevent you from achieving your goals. But ignore those problems for as long as you can. And if you can't, then it may be time to ask yourself a few important questions:

Is it actually the "right" tool?
Isn't the way you're using the tool the actual problem?

Moreover, consider that if you have to bend something too much, then it may not be the right tool for the job. But it usually takes time to reach that conclusion. Importantly, you also need to actually use the tool for long-enough to be sure.

Assuming that you got this far, and still think that you need to fiddle with your tool or its configuration, then you need to prioritize your efforts. If you're going to spend time making changes to better suit you, then that time should be well spent. You need to evaluate the effort and potential impact of the changes you intend to make. Then, you need to weigh the pros and cons. Are the benefits going to be large enough that it justifies the amount of work required? If not, then you should just postpone that.

Again, whatever you decide to do or think you need, apply the Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) principle. Stick to the basics. Avoid advanced features unless those dramatically improve the way you work. And if you can avoid installing/using extensions, then do so, you'll thank me later.

For many years I've been a so-called "power user". I mastered the tools I used to the point that I knew every single shortcut, settings, and ways to make better use of my tools (e.g., my software development environment). I customized tons of things, and even wrote scripts to apply some tweaks. Some of that still serves me to this day. But the vast majority of it all has been long forgotten. And it never really made a big difference. Yes, I felt proud in the moment, but it was mostly about ego. At the end of the day, it only had a tiny impact, compared to actually working on the right things at the right time.

For example, if your goal is to write, then pick something that looks both popular and stable, and start writing!. When you start something new, you need to focus on the goal, not on the means. Build the habit first, then make it stick. Then and only then should you try and improve your practice, your workflow, ...

Everyday, I see people who take pride in the (often) complex solutions and workflows they've created. But at the same time, all they have to share is the complexity, and no concrete output or outcome. That's not an achievement in any way, shape, or form. It's just productivity porn.

On the other hand, some people do share proven solutions, systems and approaches that they've actually used for long-enough, and can demonstrate the benefits of. And that's a different story. Those are the things you do want to take a look at once you're further along the path. Take advantage of those who have been there for longer than you, have faced all the issues you're facing, and have found solutions because they had to. Reuse proven systems and solutions. Don't reinvent the wheel.

To take a concrete example, as I said, I started using Obsidian a few years ago. When I started, I already had thousands of notes from the previous system I was using, split between Evernote and a wiki. I had crystal clear goals with Obsidian: centralize all my notes/knowledge in ONE place, connect it all together, and use that as my home for writing everything.

Even though my goal was clear, I didn't spend a year setting it up. I imported my existing content, and focused on my actual goal: writing. And, after a while, I noticed different issues. I could've spent months fiddling with the configuration, creating custom styles, writing scripts and whatnot. After all, I've been writing code for 30 years, so it's not like it was out of reach for me. Instead, I decided to take a look at what the experts I could find had to say. And I found a few examples based on experience, and with proven results. I integrated the approaches that felt right to me, and evolved my system from there. Ultimately, I ended up with a limited set of customizations (e.g., folder structure, tags, naming conventions, etc).

I did not spend that time in vain. It was valuable, and it helped me make more progress toward my goals. It still serves me to this day, and it doesn't require a lot of maintenance. Why? Because I focused on simplicity, and removing friction. Not just tweaking things for the sake of tweaking things. I never felt into the trap of trying to make it "perfect". That was never the goal.

As a matter of fact, I actually ended up turning my system into a product that hundreds of people are now using: the Obsidian Starter Kit. And those people have saved a huge amount of time. IMHO they did the right thing. They stopped fiddling with their tool, and used a proven system. That doesn't mean they can't go further over time, but at least, they're focusing on what matters most.

And if you're one of the rare people who are a point where they know for a fact that they NEED to get more out of their tools, then what you need is to buy or build a system, not fiddle with tools. But that's a topic for another day...

Conclusion

I know that this article is abstract/generic. It's on purpose, because these ideas apply to countless tools you might be using. Your task management tool. Your calendar. Your email. Your note-taking app. Your software development environment. . Whatever!

More people need to embrace digital minimalism, stop chasing the latest and greatest, fiddling with tools endlessly, and not achieving anything truly meaningful.

I'll leave you with this:

What matters is not the tools, but what you achieve with those

That's it for today ✨

About Sébastien

I'm Sébastien Dubois, and I'm on a mission to help knowledge workers escape information overload. After 20+ years in IT and seeing too many brilliant minds drowning in digital chaos, I've decided to help people build systems that actually work Through the Knowii Community, my courses, my products and my Website, I share practical and battle-tested systems. You can follow me on X 🐦 and on BlueSky 🦋.

I am an author, founder, and coach. I write books and articles about Knowledge Work, Personal Knowledge Management, Note-taking, Lifelong Learning, Personal Organization, and Zen Productivity. I also craft lovely digital products.

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