Empowered by Innovation: How Technology Transformed My Everyday Life

    Since I was a child, I was already quite intrigued by technology. Such small yet capable powerhouses that run modern society, may it be business, communication, medicine and even daily life. Personally, I was intrigued by video games but as time passed, I began to see technology as more than just entertainment; it can be a tool to give you near superhuman levels of productivity. I will delve mostly into how technology has changed how I do my work and study to make me a much more efficient individual.

I have a digital system that I use in my daily life:

Notion

  
    Notion is akin to an invasive species that has dominated the productivity space of the internet, and for good reason. It is free software available on all platforms. It does have a paid subscription but it is only optional for teams and people who collaborate on large-scale projects, so if you are solo, you can access it without spending a dime.

    It goes without saying why this is a preferred choice, what makes it special, however is its thorough unbeatable customization features with its usage of databases and formulas to manipulate information to create a system that would automate everything for you as long as you created it properly. No need for prior coding skills whatsoever. 

    It is quite overwhelming for a beginner so people can use free or paid premade templates most notably used for trackers for finance, tracking your habits, projects, and in my case, all of the above but specifically to track projects, tests and events to manage and prioritize them for easy task management to have a more seamless and mindful working session to make sure you are doing the right things at the right time. I personally took the time to learn how Notion works to create my own template taking inspiration and using concepts like the Eisenhower matrix and implementing it into my template. 

    After all the best tool you can use is one that is specifically personalized for you alone. The user knows best, after all. That's the beauty of Notion. The software allows users to choose how they want to use it freely without limit. A super application in the making.

Obsidian

    Obsidian, the PKM king of note-taking, is, a project created by two for a decade to be the face of PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) bases used by novelists, writers, journalists, students, and the general audience of creative minds who seek to record, connect, manipulate, and customize information using it to create, innovate and use information in its truest form.

    Obsidian has a special place in my heart for being a place where creatives can thrive to create their own magnum opuses. 

    Most people often compare Obsidian to Notion and for good reason as they are competitors in the productivity space especially on PKM capabilities. Notion obviously has it beat in many aspects but there are things that make Obsidian stand out.

    Being an offline-first software, though syncing abilities are limited and not as seamless as Notion, some people prefer this style for an impenetrable privacy PKM system which can be important especially for sensitive information and creative work can easily be accessed without you knowing.

    Another perk is its fast loading times, unlike Notion where you can only access your notes online, Obsidian gives you access without needing the internet which can help you work on the go, as well as not needing to load, which makes Obsidian much faster and more likable to use compared to Notion. Speed and accessibility can be major factors for a PKM which Obsidian provides like no other. An additional perk is its aesthetics, even though Obsidian lacks the over-the-top customization of Notion, it is still pretty customizable especially through the community plugins and themes where you can customize your Obsidian and add various features all for free made by many of its users so you won't really miss out when it comes to that department.

    I mainly put my class notes and lessons in Obsidian for easy access, linking and studying my notes in any given situation, using the plugins that provide me with enough tools and features for daily note-taking.

Why use both?

    Notion is good for tracking and syncing important information like events, assignments and projects to easily plan and prioritize work.

    Obsidian is good for the work itself; being offline and fast makes it ideal for any work environment without needing internet connectivity to make meaningful progress toward your goals.

    To me, there is no number one software, some software is better at one thing than others. It's bad to limit yourself to software with limited capabilities when you can use the best software for a specific task. Choose what's best and choose carefully. It's also bad to use many different software programs for many different tasks. But if what you do does not need to sync at all then they are better off separated for maximum effectiveness.

Honorable mentions

    And finally Google workspace apps like Google Calendar, Google Tasks for daily planning, Google Keep for on-the-go capturing on my phone and easy sync to my laptop for later use, NotebookLM for research and many more I am unable to mention that are pretty niche for specific tasks that I am unable to cover. 

    I have been using this software for a couple of months and it has made my life much easier to manage; of course, it's not perfect but we must always strive to optimize whenever the opportunity comes our way.