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Our stack at a glance
| Job | Tool | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| All-in-one workspace | Notion | Free / $10/mo |
| Personal knowledge base | Obsidian | Free (Sync $8/mo) |
| Tasks and projects | Things 3 / Todoist | $10 one-time / $4/mo |
| Calendar | Cron (acquired by Notion) | Free |
| Writing | iA Writer | $30 one-time |
| Superhuman / HEY | $25/mo / $99/yr |
How we chose
This isn’t a list of every productivity app — it’s the stack we actually use to run an independent operation in 2026. Each pick has been used daily for at least six months. We optimised for: tools that get out of the way, native apps over web apps, and a strong undo/export story so you can leave when you want to.
All-in-one workspace: Notion
Notion remains the right answer for the central operating system. Client work, internal wiki, content calendar, lightweight CRM — they all live in one workspace. The 2025 speed and offline improvements have closed the historical gap with native apps. Read our full Notion review.
Personal knowledge base: Obsidian
For a daily journal, fleeting notes, and a permanent personal archive, Obsidian beats Notion. It is local-first, fast even on a five-year-old laptop, and you own the files (plain Markdown). The plugin ecosystem is the deepest of any note-taking app. The trade-off is no real-time collaboration — which is fine for personal notes.
Tasks and projects: Things 3 or Todoist
Pick based on your platform. Things 3 ($10 one-time per platform) is the most beautifully designed task manager available, but Apple-only. Todoist ($4/month) is the cross-platform standard if you also use Windows or Android. Either is faster for daily task triage than Notion’s database approach.
Calendar: Cron
Cron is now part of Notion but remains free as a standalone calendar. It is dramatically better than Google Calendar’s native client for keyboard-driven users and remains the only calendar app with first-class command-palette navigation.
Writing: iA Writer
For long-form writing where focus matters, iA Writer is the cleanest, most opinionated environment available. The Syntax Highlight feature (colours nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs differently) genuinely improves first-draft quality.
Email: Superhuman or HEY
Email is the productivity tool we spend the most time in, and the default clients (Apple Mail, Gmail) are not optimised for high-volume processing. Superhuman ($25/mo) is fast, keyboard-first, and worth the price if email is a primary work surface. HEY ($99/yr) is opinionated — it makes you process email differently — and worth trying if you’re trapped in inbox sprawl.
What we deliberately don’t use
- Slack — too synchronous, too noisy, designed for teams.
- Asana / Monday / ClickUp — overkill for one person.
- AI "second brain" wrappers — most are thin layers over a database.
The minimum viable stack
If you’re starting from scratch and want the absolute minimum: Notion (free tier) + Things 3 (or Todoist free) + Google Calendar + Apple Mail. Total cost: $0–10. Add tools only when you hit a wall, never because someone on YouTube said you should.
Final word
The right productivity stack is the one you stop noticing. If you find yourself reading articles like this one regularly, you may be using productivity tools as procrastination. Pick a stack, use it for six months, then revisit.