Tools are distractions
11/12 2023
We don't like to be reminded that we are less productive than we should be since life is so short. We don't like it so much that we engage in many counterintuitive activities just because they feel good. One of those is the obsessive preference we tend to have (or at least those which drive viewcounts!) is the focus on the tools that we use instead of that which we actually want to do. Instead of reading more we should be reading more efficiently, we should speed read, we should take obsessive inter-connected notes, we should hire somebody else to read for us.
Now, initially the reason why we focus on our tooling is simple: we like to focus on tools because oftentimes it is a simple lifestyle change, we switch the tools like we would physical tools, without any mental overhead. If that produces more output than previously then it was a success. That reasoning is simple, and if true, logically sound, right? Well, yeah, obviously, but that practically never happens in my experience. Firstly, the search itself is addictive (you've gotta find the best, right?) and research takes a lot of time. Secondly, and most importantly, the reason why something is hard, say the goal of reading more books, or being more productive at notetaking for university, is rarely because of the tools themselves. The reason is because we simply don't want to take the mental capacity to engage with the material so we go in search of new tools, a search which takes a lot less mental focus than trying to enforce a lifestyle change or understand something truly difficult.
Additionally, the focus on tools allows us to deflect when we don't meet a goal that we had originally set up. The reason why I didn't meet my reading goal isn't because I read too little, it is because I didn't read efficiently enough. The reason why I failed the course isn't because I spent too little time trying to understand something, it is because I didn't take a perfect network of interconnected notes that would have made it easier to study for the exam. If there's something that we as humans are good at it is deflecting and coming up with the reasons why we didn't fail was our fault but something else entirely.
Of course, tools are important. Crucial in fact. But we shouldn't confuse what they are, they are tools to get us to where we want to go, they aren't the road itself (obviously). I like tools. I like good tools. I like to get better at using tools. I think that is good. I think it's good to be good at using good tools. We should aim to get better at using good tools. But, crucially, that aim is only to be pursued in the periphery. What matters to improving in any field is the understanding and for that there are no shortcuts. Through attempting to understand the road to the best tool for you will also kind of appear, because small problems will pop up gradually ("I wish there was some way to take notes inline on webpages" etc.) that you'll gradually solve and gradually create a personal toolkit.