Tools that make me Productive - As a Startup Founder + Family Man+ Musician
Productivity is a topic that is very important to me. We all have the same 24 hours. The goal has always been to get the best use of my time. However, my life has drastically changed over time.
The way I used to work when I was a student would never worked the way I have worked at the beginning of my career. And the way I used to work during the beginning of my career, it will certainly not work now.
People love to give productivity advice. However, I strongly think one has to figure out their productive routine, rhythm, and needed tools based on their life situation and goals. Everyone is different.
Being a founder of a growing start-up, father, and a musician, someone’s 10-step routine and their recommended tools are not going to work.
The intention is the main fuel to get most of the work done. Tools can support productivity — but they can’t replace clarity. Some of the tools I use, which are helpful to me. In this blog, I’ll share the tools and methods that actually help me stay productive in my current phase of life
Google Calendar
Things become messy for me very quickly if I don’t have one place where I can see my week and orient myself.
Right now, I need enough time for my startup. Since it’s still in an early phase, I have to be involved in almost everything. Google Calendar is the backbone of how I organize my life.
I use it to:
Mirror events from my business calendar
Time-block deep work for the startup
Plan weekends, family time, doctor’s appointments, shopping, etc.
Block time for practicing guitar
The key is flexibility.
I regularly adjust time blocks based on reality: Sometimes I need a big uninterrupted deep work block. Sometimes the work can be done in shorter chunks. And sometimes my daughter simply needs my attention.
Those factors decide how I prioritize my blocks — not some perfect schedule.
Simple Pen and a Notebook
Nothing can replace it for me.
I use it for brain dumping, drawing rough sketches, or ideas, etc. I use it when I feel I am stuck with an idea or concept, learning a new topic, writing it, and expelling it to myself really helps, that’s a Feynman Technique. I have been using this method since I was a student, and it still helps me a lot.
I’ve tried digital notebooks many times, but they never worked the same way for me. I get much better results when I slow down, write by hand, and reflect.
I’ve been doing this since I was a student — and it still helps me today.
Notion
Notion is my digital workspace for documents.
I use Notion to
Keep development documentations
Keep marketing copies
Draft any sort of idea when it is ready for it
Draft my blogs and posts
Draft my book which I am currently working on
It is clean, minimal, and does exactly what I need.
A Pomodoro timer
I use a simple Pomodoro timer app on my Mac and phone.
It’s not magic — but it’s a surprisingly effective tool for discipline, especially on days when I need to get something done but don’t feel like doing it.
You know those days. 😄
The timer helps me start. And once I start, I usually get into flow.
Most of the time, I don’t even stop after 25 minutes. I just continue until I naturally need a break.
My Own App: Task Finder, Reminders, and To-Dos
Most of my tasks don’t come from a to-do list.
They come from emails and group chats.
Bills. Appointments. Deadline announcements. Customer meetings. Customer questions. Team questions. Small urgent things. Important follow-ups.
And when your days are full, it’s surprisingly easy to miss something important — not because you’re careless, but because the information is scattered.
I tried many tools: Todoist, ClickUp, Asana, and different combinations of them.
Nothing really worked for me.
So I built my own app.
What I needed was simple:
Something that scans my sources (email + chats),
detects tasks
checks for deadlines,
turns them into reminders
and keeps reminding me until I mark them as done.
The key part:
This system does not require me to open an app and search for tasks.
It finds what needs attention and pushes it to me — because my phone is always close.
I can also add tasks manually, but the main reason I built this was to reduce the chance of missing important things.
Right now, I’m working on the next step: Helping the app find the best time slot for certain tasks automatically. I might expand it and release it publicly soon
These are the tools that matter most to me right now — and they help me get more done without losing control of my time.
