Tools Should Help. A Story.

The following is a quick story highlighting one time when a tool, in this case Backpack, did exactly what I wanted it to–help me remember my ideas so I can relax more, enjoy my weekend and be more productive.

As I was heading out last Friday this post from 43 Folders came through via RSS. I gave it a quick scan and knew it was something I wanted to read, but I had to get out the door and on with my weekend. I also thought it’d be something worth posting about over at Lifehacker where I’m a substitute writer for the next week or so.

So I pulled up Backpack, in which I’d created a Lifehacker page for this very thing. I added the link, a quick note that it might be worth a post, and a item to my list to review it and check if it had already been posted. In a minute or so I’d collected the link, subsequent idea and I’d put it out of my mind in a place where I could get it when I got back. Thus freeing myself up for fun times over the weekend.

There were many times in the past I’d have either spent some serious time with it right then, thus extending my week, or somehow brought it with me, thus compromising my weekend. That is, unless I just decided to forget about it entirely. Any of these would have been less than ideal and counterproductive.

This is how tools like Backpack should work, IMHO. To help you, among other things, get the most out of your weekend while keeping important things where you can easily come back to them!