My productivity stack now uses three apps, not one; I've never been more organized

Published Sep 2, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT Jon Gilbert is a Features Writer for Android Police. I've covered Android since 2021, focusing on writing features and guides about Android apps and features that directly affect users. I've attended CES to uncover powerful hardware that isn't dominated by Google like the Mudita Kompakt. I trawl through Android news daily, hunting for stories that have real-world consequences. I hold a BA in History & Classics. I use an unconventional method for taking notes, writing to-do lists, and planning my day. It's a single document I update daily with everything I need in a simple bullet-point format. No fancy to-do apps, no advanced editing tools, just a daily document I keep updated. Over two months after I adopted this method, I still use it, but I've noticed an unexpected change. The note-taking apps I abandoned have crept back into my life, but it's not a problem. Contrary to my expectations, juggling multiple apps is the best solution. There is no one-size-fits-all solution No app or system is perfect The philosophy behind my current note-taking solution is structuring my life around a single .txt file. It's fantastically simple, and shows how unnecessary most subscription-based note apps are. However, from the start of the project, I needed more than a single document. Requiring instant access from any device meant I had to adopt two extra services: Calmly Writer and Google Drive. I was already using Google Drive, but I wanted to detach my notes from any account. Thus, the first problem was born. How do I stay in control with minimal hassle? For months, I tried to make it work, but I only solved the problem when I accepted its limitations. For example, I also use Calmly Writer to write the words you're reading right now. It's a fantastic tool that solved many of the problems I had with Google Docs and is perfect for personal writing. But I don't need it for shopping lists, and it's terrible for collaboration. Keeping my notes and articles stored in .txt form is useful, but I still needed collaboration tools. Why was I going through all this effort for notes I only needed to reference once? When I realized I couldn't exclusively use my single solution Projects got messy fast For a separate work project, I was jotting down ideas through my usual process on my phone. I ended up with a page and a half of notes. Next, I needed to open the file in a text editor, format it, make edits, save it as a PDF, and access it on a work computer. Unfortunately, my project needed two rounds of edits after I had brought it to work. Coworkers wanted to make comments. I needed to check the revision history. Extra formatting was needed. If I were working on a single computer on a single account, it wouldn't have been a problem. But I was forced to constantly reshare and reupload my notes. This was only the start of my issues. Friends wanted to collaborate on personal projects. My partner likes using a specific shopping list. My mom wanted to leave comments on a document. Credit: The solution was to use Google Docs and Google Keep. I could convert my notes into documents and share them so I could access them at work and from home. But that was causing fragmentation. Now my notes were split across three separate apps (four if you count Docs and Keep as separate), which was the problem I was trying to solve. Fortunately, I solved the issue. Here's how. Different notes have different value So a different solution for each was required I now use the shopping app Bring! which is a useful tool. It's got great collaborative features, and the UI is perfect for ticking off items one-handed. Let's say Bring! shut down right now, and I lost all my shopping lists. It wouldn't matter at all. I don't mind tying my shopping lists to an account because I don't care if I lose them. After that revelation, I realized I needed to organize my notes. I divided my written work into three categories: Personal, Collaborative, and Junk. My personal notes exist in my .txt file. This keeps them secure, backed up, and I don't have to change my system. Collaborative notes live in Google Docs and Keep. I can share and collaborate with a single button press. Yes, they're tied to an account, but these notes are linked to short-term projects. Junk notes live wherever I feel like at the time. These include shopping lists and notes I'm typing to show a friend when the music is too loud. I don't care about losing them. There's no point trying to find the perfect note-taking app I'm much happier with my note-taking and to-do list setup now. While I lament losing a one-size-fits-all solution, I recognize that dream was impossible. Some productivity apps try to do it all, but they all fail eventually. What solved my problem was mentally dividing my notes into separate categories. It was silly to try to force projects into a space that didn't work for them. Best of all? I'm still not spending a penny.