Each of us relies on a set of tools to help us be as efficient as possible and keep all of our tasks in order. Some of us are paper notebook aficionados, others swear by endless Google docs, and still others are always looking for the latest app that will make them more productive.

But the truth is there isn’t a magic bullet.

And chances are, it won’t be just one perfect application or planner that solves your organizational needs. It will be a personalized and cultivated combination of tools—much like the tech stacks that organizations rely on to build a website.

Think of it as your personal productivity stack.

One of our team members found his magic combination of a moleskine notebook, Basecamp, Spark email, Google Keep, Slack, and Feedly.

Another relies on a paper planner, Google Drive, Slack, Basecamp, Teamline, Buffer, and daily “hot lists” written on notecards.

It’s taken our team years to figure out what works for us. We’ve experimented and iterated and downloaded every cool new app with the hope that it will bring something new and wonderful to our stack. (Most don’t. Let’s be honest.)

Some tools help us collaborate. Some help us focus. And some just keep our many disparate tasks and links and documents in order.

And in all the testing and exploring, we’ve landed where we are now: With very personal, carefully curated collections of digital and analog tools that work for us.

If you’re looking to evaluate your own stack—or simply need help getting started—reach out! We’d love to schedule a few minutes (for free!) to help you problem solve and find your own secret stack sauce. Shoot us an email at [email protected] and let’s find some time to chat.

Last week, we told you about an interview question we love to ask job applicants.

In addition to asking candidates where lettuce comes from (yes, really) and what animal most represents their personality (again, we aren’t making this up) and what they are currently reading (still waiting for someone to say “the back of the cereal box”), we ask prospective team members to tell us about something they have learned recently.

Because here is what we have discovered to be almost universally true:

Curious people are the best people.

I don’t know the last time you played the “wiki game” or went all-in on an extremely random topic, but we are here to remind you that there is joy down the rabbit hole. There is value in learning about random issues of interest, regardless of how disparate the topics feel from your “real” job.

Learning for the sake of learning matters.

Recently, we’ve read about AI language generator GPT-3, a man who spent a year living in a hollowed-out Redwood tree, and this bananas story about a tenant who refuses to leave. We learned that Shakespeare likely spoke more like an American Southerner than a modern-day Brit (yes, our minds were blown, too) and that sharks are eating the internet (one of our favorite stories to drop at parties…also, remember parties?!).

Getting lost in exploration is fun — and it makes us better at our jobs. Because that habit of asking what? and how? and why? — well it turns out that habit is good for business. We are more compelling storytellers when we chase down the entire story. We are better advocates when we are willing to wade fully into an issue. And best of all, we never run out of things to talk about at the (Zoom) office lunch table!

What have you learned recently? We’d love to hear from you!

Let’s talk for a minute about your schedule.

Maybe you’re a parent trying to also be a homeschool teacher while working from home. Or maybe you live alone and every single one of your activities was canceled last March so you’ve made it through the entirety of the Netflix catalog. You might be working less than normal, trying to make ends meet—or perhaps you’re working more than ever without the boundaries of “home” and “office,” so the two have bled into a mishmashed mess that involves you responding to emails at 9 p.m. (You know, hypothetically…)

If you’re anything like us, the pandemic has done a real number on your calendar. So here’s this week’s challenge: It’s time to take back control of your time.

Work-from-home life is here to stay (for awhile, at any rate) and after a year of pandemic life, I think we can safely say that this is our “normal,” at least for now. So it’s time to own it.

What do you want your day to look like? And what do you need to do to make it happen?

Do you want to wake up early and knock out your big projects? Or do you want to eat breakfast with your kids before they log on to school? When will you go outside? (Sidenote: Go outside every day. It helps.) When are you officially offline? How many meetings can you cancel?

There is an art and a science to a good schedule, but it starts with you controlling it instead of it controlling you.

We’re learning this right along with you—it’s incredibly hard when the projects pile up and people send requests at all hours. But in our new work environment, it’s more important than ever to draw your own boundaries and then actually stick to them.

Sometimes, this requires a heavy dose of accountability and encouragement. So tell us what your calendar goals are—and then tell your team, too!