Like others who are similarly minded, I like to try out new products and services online that are geared towards increasing my productivity.

Because I do a lot of writing, I use word processing software a lot.

When I started using Macs in 2009, I missed Microsoft Word. I didn't want to pay for it though, having already splurged on a MacBook Pro, and so I started with Open Office.

My next stops were Google Docs and then, Apple's Pages.

These word processing programs never kept pace with our evolving skills of course, so before too long, I began writing directly on CMSes like Medium. This, even when the end goal was NOT to publish on Medium. I just liked its WYSWYG interface (When I was at The Quint, I used Quintype.

There's a huge difference between word processing software like Word, Pages and Docs of course, and Medium and Quintype.

A few weeks ago though, I was introduced to a service that combines the best of everything: Notion. It's the new Docs. (Just like Airtable is the new Sheets/Excel.)

Notion is ridiculously easy to use and you can do a lot of interesting things with it. Its capabilities are such that the company has more than a 100 videos on its YouTube channel!

Here's one I found particularly useful:

No doubt a more useful tool will come round in a year or two. There will likely be a number of uses cases for it.

However, a few questions worth asking yourself are: Are these new tools really helping you or are they further complicating your life? Are they just a new toy for you to play with?

After all, the goal of using each new generation of word processing software is always the same: are you getting stuff done?

If not, consider using a pencil, eraser and paper. Or a typewriter.