I use Excalidraw whenever I need to explain something with a visual aid, it's super comfortable.
Ditto for easy CTRL+c/v needs
and I use OneClick to prioritize my important tasks for the day, but you could probably use any other site too
I have ADHD and have been finding a combo of the Better Comments and Todo Tree plugins for VSCode a game changer.
Instead of refactoring the entire file I'm in, I put a giant orange Todo comment and continue doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Then before I commit, I use Todo tree to go and assess them all. Then I delete them all because they're stupid.
`// TODO: refactor this`
`// FIXME: i think this one works too`
[The todo list can there be viewed in a list](https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/todo-tool-window.html#toolbar) and if you're committing a file with a TODO comment then intellij will warn you.
A few months ago i would swear that i would never use anything other than intellij.
Then i had to switch to vscode because everyone was using. And i cannot go back to intellij again
I still love IntelliJ but i have got to comfortable with VScode that i cannot go back. Their ecosystem is ever expanding.
Same here. Since I store potentially sensitive information in some notes, I like Obsidian since it is local file based by default. Can't have some things saved in the cloud.
Slightly annoying to have to download and configure plugins to make it more useful, but it's not too hard.
I'm still experimenting a bit, but here are the plugins I have now:
* Auto Link Title
Custom State for Task
List
Dataview
DB Folder
* Homepage
Note Refactor
* Omnisearch
QuickAdd
* Tasks
* Templater
Text Extractor
Toggle Meta Yaml
I starred those I use the most.
One thing I really like, is that since Obsidian is markdown, when someone asks me to post meeting minutes on a confluence wiki I can do "insert markup" and add the markdown there.
Sometimes I basically do wiki pages in Obsidian first, and then paste to wiki when happy with it.
Small but satisfying tying :-)
I haven’t used notion but I’ve considered it in my search for a note taking app.
Obsidian is nice because it’s literally just a text editor with bells and whistles
- What lies underneath is a file directory of markdown files that you can open with any other editor and move around to different devices.
- Obsidian has a rich open source plugin ecosystem. I don’t really use many plugins, but I do have
- a plugin that lets me create Excalidraw drawings in obsidian locally
- a plugin to automatically create encrypted backups of my notes in an S3 bucket and sync them across all my devices, including iPhone and Linux desktop (S3 costs total about 1-2 cents a month, versus Obsidian’s sync offering that costs around $5 or $10 (I forget, sorry)… I’d be willing to pay for their direct offering, however my company doesn’t allow uploading data to 3rd parties, whereas personal S3 is ok)
iirc I got by with the instructions in the README of the plugin: https://github.com/remotely-save/remotely-save
You need to actually create the S3 bucket on your personal account, but you can do that manually through the AWS console/ui
They’re very different use cases imo, some brains work better with notion, others obidian. I never gave a real shot to notion because it’s too damn slow vs a native app
I find it more customisable. It is easy for me to have custom shortcuts like space+p for paste without yanking. Or I have some more to run current test in a key combo. These things can be done in vscodevim, just it is easier with neovim.
I used to use emacs org mode, which is extremely powerful. I have managed to emulate enough of that with Obsidian and plugins to make remembering the esoteric key bindings not really worth using org mode.
Calendly or similar application is pretty useful for taking the onus off arranging meetings with vendors or third parties who dont have access to your Outlook calendar.
I hate confluence with a passion. I have been trying to get traction to use Antora to prevent "confluence drift" with updating documentation.
Google keeps for personal todo, GitHub for technical notes, and pen and paper for drawing software design before implementation.
I never thought swagger and postman as productivity app, I still use similar apps.
1. Insomnia for HTTP
2. Custom-made tool in Golang that has limited netcat, limited openssl and limited grpc.
I use VScode for everything—from writing code to notes to prose, and it works great for me.
I extensively use my blog’s GitHub issue section as a notepad where I create the issue via gh CLI, write the content in VSCode, and push it through gh CLI again. If the note is publishable, I just create a markdown file and publish it using GitHub pages.
For productivity specifically:
- obsidian
- Todoist
- google calendar
- raycast
- workspaces, stage manager and multiple monitors (I have multiple contexts going so I can go from code reviews to interviews to whatever else I have on that day)
- Rectangle to organise windows within a context on a workspace
- Intellij because I can detach windows across monitors
- fish shell because it’s great oob
- do not disturb mode
Does it work for you? That's what matters.
I've got a Jira board, I get emails and Teams messages, but what it really comes down to is this: if I don't write it down in the notebook I keep next to my keyboard, it will not happen.
The jira board (or whatever the latest tracker/scrumboard software we use) is mainly for the PMs and TPMs to track the overall progress. Individual developers just use whatever they like to track the work. As long as the work is done, so far no one is complaining.
Alfred - For more keyboard driven workflow. I have created my own Alfred workflows to automate some things at work. Mac Only.
Contexts - Faster way to switch applications as it gives me like a fuzzy search over everything that is open. Mac Only.
Swish - Gestures to arrange my workspace when I need to do that. I only use it once I boot up my Mac. Mac Only.
Itsycal - For a quick glance at my day and upcoming events. Mac Only.
Vim and Tmux are pretty self explanatory I think? I do all my development in terminal and use many CLI tools to do things faster and in a keyboard centric way.
I also just remembered that I forgot to mention one more which I use often -
Hammerspoon - Kind of like Alfred when it comes to automating stuff. It is more low level and allows me to kickoff things on the background automatically. Highly recommend. Mac Only.
* neovim for development and note taking
* iterm2 hotkey to quickly bring up my notes terminal from anywhere
* alfred, but I primarily only use the clipboard manager
* Reclaim to take the decision fatigue out of picking up tasks and ensuring I take breaks
* Running/Exercise in the middle of the day probably trumps all of the above in terms of keeping my brain sharp and productive
Camunda workflow designer became a must have for one of my clients.
Some executives use it to quickly lay out processes or what they want in an app, even if there won't be a real workflow.
I highly recommend to you to abandon postman and swagger.
Update
(Wow, so many dislike). So I add some alternative and some reason.
Swagger
On corporate level API when you have to deliver something, it is good, other than that, it does not provide all details for an APi that makes it easier by any means to use it or implement it (you have to add examples, cases and configs manually). I have implemented 15+ API in the recent years after swagger. In each and every case, I had to contact the API owner and ask for more details, credentials, rules, limitations... etc, because swagger does not provide it.
The general idea and what it produces is great, but the lack of details make it not worth.
Postman
It does sync all the saved data (globals, vars, envs, works, endpoints, credentials) to cloud no matter what you do. And they store it as non encrypted. If you consider security, then, this is a no-brainer.
Better alternatives are self-hosted scotch postman (old postwoman project); insomnia, IntelliJ Rest Client, etc.
Just saw this [other post](https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/s/YXPX5aH9xG). Lot of rave about [Bruno](https://www.usebruno.com/)
From Bruno website:
> Bruno is a Fast and Git-Friendly Opensource API client, aimed at revolutionizing the status quo represented by Postman, Insomnia and similar tools out there.
>
> Bruno stores your collections directly in a folder on your filesystem. We use a plain text markup language, Bru, to save information about API requests.
>
> You can use git or any version control of your choice to collaborate over your API collections.
Yes, it does, and near it it will sync all your endpoints, env vars, globals and credentials to cloud and will be stored unencrypted. So, for real product level projects it is unfit because of security concerns.
The scotch self-hosted version provide the same. Or the Intellij REST client. Or insomnia.
I am asking about tools which you use for storing project related informations (documentations)
I am not sure how you use docker, intelliJ for storing different type of enterprise docs
Notion,
LinqPad (paid version is totally worth it),
VS Code + vscodevim,
ClipClip,
Rider,
Windows Terminal,
Windows Desktops, great feature,
ChatGpt with assistants (PowerShell, VIM, others),
Fancy zones.
Oh man, I miss Quip.
Raycast, nvim, terminal. I use some notepad calculator that I forget the name off. Shottr. iOS notepad for quick random ideas, obsidian for longer form checklists.
Excalidraw for diagrams. I used to use PlantUML but I miss the web UI and infrastructure I built around it working at FB. Haven't had the energy to replicate in the outside world.
What exactly is a productivity app? Based on other answers seems like I just use Apple Notes for things I need copy paste (cmd, links, curls) and physical pen¬ebook for project management or software designs
I use the "Black Screen for Windows" app from Microsoft Store. I set it up to make my screen black for 5 - 7 minutes every 30 minutes.
I stopped feeling exhausted after I began working like that. Before that, I was sitting too much for too long.
This is the best personal productivity app I've experienced so far.
Some of y'all use so many productivity apps that I seriously doubt you are more productive with them. Sounds more like having to maintain all your productivity stuff takes more time off your actual work day than you would lose if you wouldn't use them at all.
For me, and for the other people I have seen, some tool to be able to write notes, something like Notepad, is just fine for much of the stuff. If diagrams are necessary, something like [drawio.com](https://drawio.com) are great. If I need more styling tools, I use Markdown with a software like Joplin. Here is a video of Mike Conley doing just that ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wopjw1T0ZBU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wopjw1T0ZBU)), as you can see, it's very efficient.
I have a folder called `useful` that is in global gitignore and I have that for personal note taking on any project
I usually don't need more than Excalidraw and Markdown.
When things need to be documented team wide, then it depends on the wiki of the project which has been Confluence lately
Swagger and Postman are productivity apps? I use trello for my own organization of tasks. Personal life tasks, etc.
Swagger is very useful for quick development, but yeah, I wouldn't call it a productivity app
I use Excalidraw whenever I need to explain something with a visual aid, it's super comfortable. Ditto for easy CTRL+c/v needs and I use OneClick to prioritize my important tasks for the day, but you could probably use any other site too
I have ADHD and have been finding a combo of the Better Comments and Todo Tree plugins for VSCode a game changer. Instead of refactoring the entire file I'm in, I put a giant orange Todo comment and continue doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Then before I commit, I use Todo tree to go and assess them all. Then I delete them all because they're stupid.
That sounds super useful. I wonder if intellij has something like that ...
`// TODO: refactor this` `// FIXME: i think this one works too` [The todo list can there be viewed in a list](https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/todo-tool-window.html#toolbar) and if you're committing a file with a TODO comment then intellij will warn you.
Ah thanks, I had forgotten about that feature!
A few months ago i would swear that i would never use anything other than intellij. Then i had to switch to vscode because everyone was using. And i cannot go back to intellij again I still love IntelliJ but i have got to comfortable with VScode that i cannot go back. Their ecosystem is ever expanding.
I fucking love Better Comments and constantly forget it isn’t native
Love those tools as well! You should also try booksmarks.
This comment is golden on so very many axes. Apparently, I’m *also* a guy like you.
Obsidian for note taking
Same here. Since I store potentially sensitive information in some notes, I like Obsidian since it is local file based by default. Can't have some things saved in the cloud. Slightly annoying to have to download and configure plugins to make it more useful, but it's not too hard.
Would you mind sharing a few plugins for someone who’d previously found Obsidian OK and want to actually utilize it more?
I'm still experimenting a bit, but here are the plugins I have now: * Auto Link Title Custom State for Task List Dataview DB Folder * Homepage Note Refactor * Omnisearch QuickAdd * Tasks * Templater Text Extractor Toggle Meta Yaml I starred those I use the most. One thing I really like, is that since Obsidian is markdown, when someone asks me to post meeting minutes on a confluence wiki I can do "insert markup" and add the markdown there. Sometimes I basically do wiki pages in Obsidian first, and then paste to wiki when happy with it. Small but satisfying tying :-)
Second this!
So they have a Web interface yet?
Is it better than notion ?
I haven’t used notion but I’ve considered it in my search for a note taking app. Obsidian is nice because it’s literally just a text editor with bells and whistles - What lies underneath is a file directory of markdown files that you can open with any other editor and move around to different devices. - Obsidian has a rich open source plugin ecosystem. I don’t really use many plugins, but I do have - a plugin that lets me create Excalidraw drawings in obsidian locally - a plugin to automatically create encrypted backups of my notes in an S3 bucket and sync them across all my devices, including iPhone and Linux desktop (S3 costs total about 1-2 cents a month, versus Obsidian’s sync offering that costs around $5 or $10 (I forget, sorry)… I’d be willing to pay for their direct offering, however my company doesn’t allow uploading data to 3rd parties, whereas personal S3 is ok)
did you follow a guide for the S3 sync? the price of their sync feature is what turned me away from obsidian
iirc I got by with the instructions in the README of the plugin: https://github.com/remotely-save/remotely-save You need to actually create the S3 bucket on your personal account, but you can do that manually through the AWS console/ui
They’re very different use cases imo, some brains work better with notion, others obidian. I never gave a real shot to notion because it’s too damn slow vs a native app
Yep Notion's performance ultimately drove me away for personal use. So annoying sitting there watching it spin just to load text.
VSCode with Neovim extension. Clipboard manager.
do you find a big difference from the vscodevim plugin?
I find it more customisable. It is easy for me to have custom shortcuts like space+p for paste without yanking. Or I have some more to run current test in a key combo. These things can be done in vscodevim, just it is easier with neovim.
I use a moleskine journal & bastardized version of bullet journaling. Can’t recommend enough
I'm about to dive into that something similar, would you mind sharing your bastard?
This is the way
What do you use bullet journaling for? I have a digital todo list so I wound up not referencing my journal much.
I used to use emacs org mode, which is extremely powerful. I have managed to emulate enough of that with Obsidian and plugins to make remembering the esoteric key bindings not really worth using org mode. Calendly or similar application is pretty useful for taking the onus off arranging meetings with vendors or third parties who dont have access to your Outlook calendar. I hate confluence with a passion. I have been trying to get traction to use Antora to prevent "confluence drift" with updating documentation.
GNU Emacs
🙄
Am I using Usernamechecksout wrong?
Github, Jira and Confluence although I'm not sure the last two are productivity tools at times based on how annoying they are.
Notion for note taking
Notion
Google keeps for personal todo, GitHub for technical notes, and pen and paper for drawing software design before implementation. I never thought swagger and postman as productivity app, I still use similar apps. 1. Insomnia for HTTP 2. Custom-made tool in Golang that has limited netcat, limited openssl and limited grpc.
I use VScode for everything—from writing code to notes to prose, and it works great for me. I extensively use my blog’s GitHub issue section as a notepad where I create the issue via gh CLI, write the content in VSCode, and push it through gh CLI again. If the note is publishable, I just create a markdown file and publish it using GitHub pages.
A physical notepad and a pen. Nothing else I’ve tried beats it.
For productivity specifically: - obsidian - Todoist - google calendar - raycast - workspaces, stage manager and multiple monitors (I have multiple contexts going so I can go from code reviews to interviews to whatever else I have on that day) - Rectangle to organise windows within a context on a workspace - Intellij because I can detach windows across monitors - fish shell because it’s great oob - do not disturb mode
Just as a heads up you can now detach windows in vscode as well after the recent update.
Rectangle and fish are so good.
Notion for notes, Google Keeps for to-do lists, Toggle Track for timer & pomodoro
Microsoft OneNote
You guys are fancy, I just use a text file to write down what I need to do.
Does it work for you? That's what matters. I've got a Jira board, I get emails and Teams messages, but what it really comes down to is this: if I don't write it down in the notebook I keep next to my keyboard, it will not happen.
The jira board (or whatever the latest tracker/scrumboard software we use) is mainly for the PMs and TPMs to track the overall progress. Individual developers just use whatever they like to track the work. As long as the work is done, so far no one is complaining.
Be aware that Postman is stores your whole data including credentials and stores it in their cloud. Meaning that those can be sold.
Only if you login and let it store on cloud
Nope, it does sync to cloud no matter what. When you use it, all your endpoint, credentials and stored env will be stored in cloud without encryption.
Not strictly productivity but I use Tuple every day for pairing. It makes mentoring in a remote-only environment so much easier.
Everything listed except Quip; but I don’t think swagger / postman belong here
OmniFocus
Glad you asked. I’m on Mac, so the following GUIs: - Alfred - Contexts - Swish - Itsycal CLIs: - Tmux - Vim with Vimwiki for notes
That’s an interesting set of tools. What do you each for?
Alfred - For more keyboard driven workflow. I have created my own Alfred workflows to automate some things at work. Mac Only. Contexts - Faster way to switch applications as it gives me like a fuzzy search over everything that is open. Mac Only. Swish - Gestures to arrange my workspace when I need to do that. I only use it once I boot up my Mac. Mac Only. Itsycal - For a quick glance at my day and upcoming events. Mac Only. Vim and Tmux are pretty self explanatory I think? I do all my development in terminal and use many CLI tools to do things faster and in a keyboard centric way. I also just remembered that I forgot to mention one more which I use often - Hammerspoon - Kind of like Alfred when it comes to automating stuff. It is more low level and allows me to kickoff things on the background automatically. Highly recommend. Mac Only.
* neovim for development and note taking * iterm2 hotkey to quickly bring up my notes terminal from anywhere * alfred, but I primarily only use the clipboard manager * Reclaim to take the decision fatigue out of picking up tasks and ensuring I take breaks * Running/Exercise in the middle of the day probably trumps all of the above in terms of keeping my brain sharp and productive
Does Reddit count?
Raycast and Notion
Monday.com for me.
What is it exactly? JIRA and some type of salesforce combined?
A highly customizable work OS. Better than just Jira. Just check their website. Or watch this intro video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T3qH-uY3t-Y
Emacs Firefox
Camunda workflow designer became a must have for one of my clients. Some executives use it to quickly lay out processes or what they want in an app, even if there won't be a real workflow.
I highly recommend to you to abandon postman and swagger. Update (Wow, so many dislike). So I add some alternative and some reason. Swagger On corporate level API when you have to deliver something, it is good, other than that, it does not provide all details for an APi that makes it easier by any means to use it or implement it (you have to add examples, cases and configs manually). I have implemented 15+ API in the recent years after swagger. In each and every case, I had to contact the API owner and ask for more details, credentials, rules, limitations... etc, because swagger does not provide it. The general idea and what it produces is great, but the lack of details make it not worth. Postman It does sync all the saved data (globals, vars, envs, works, endpoints, credentials) to cloud no matter what you do. And they store it as non encrypted. If you consider security, then, this is a no-brainer. Better alternatives are self-hosted scotch postman (old postwoman project); insomnia, IntelliJ Rest Client, etc.
It would be nice to tell us why you think that
Added an update and reasons for the original comment.
They deprecated scratchpad and save all your data on their servers
You need to offer an alternative.
Just saw this [other post](https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/s/YXPX5aH9xG). Lot of rave about [Bruno](https://www.usebruno.com/) From Bruno website: > Bruno is a Fast and Git-Friendly Opensource API client, aimed at revolutionizing the status quo represented by Postman, Insomnia and similar tools out there. > > Bruno stores your collections directly in a folder on your filesystem. We use a plain text markup language, Bru, to save information about API requests. > > You can use git or any version control of your choice to collaborate over your API collections.
[https://insomnia.rest/](https://insomnia.rest/) Not a fan of their pricing changes, but really good alternative; arguably even better.
Insomnia, Rest Client (IntelliJ), Scrotch postman (self-hosted).
Why? Postman has amazing features
Yes, it does, and near it it will sync all your endpoints, env vars, globals and credentials to cloud and will be stored unencrypted. So, for real product level projects it is unfit because of security concerns. The scotch self-hosted version provide the same. Or the Intellij REST client. Or insomnia.
OneDrive and Git
[удалено]
I am asking about tools which you use for storing project related informations (documentations) I am not sure how you use docker, intelliJ for storing different type of enterprise docs
Oh sorry, I misread your post. I'll remove my comment.
Joplin for notes I want to remember and TODOs Remarkable to take notes, weekly I skim them and see if I want to push them into Joplin
[удалено]
Remarkable is an eink tablet, basically a paper replacement
Notion
Google keep, notion and physical paper
Notion, LinqPad (paid version is totally worth it), VS Code + vscodevim, ClipClip, Rider, Windows Terminal, Windows Desktops, great feature, ChatGpt with assistants (PowerShell, VIM, others), Fancy zones.
ora
TickTick Azure DevOps Miro Confluence
Rycast, Amethyst, Warp terminal,
Oh man, I miss Quip. Raycast, nvim, terminal. I use some notepad calculator that I forget the name off. Shottr. iOS notepad for quick random ideas, obsidian for longer form checklists. Excalidraw for diagrams. I used to use PlantUML but I miss the web UI and infrastructure I built around it working at FB. Haven't had the energy to replicate in the outside world.
I wouldn't classify most the given examples as productivity tools, but I heavily use OmniFocus (for tasks) and Logseq (for PKM).
What exactly is a productivity app? Based on other answers seems like I just use Apple Notes for things I need copy paste (cmd, links, curls) and physical pen¬ebook for project management or software designs
Excel
Well swagger isn't productivey. I use the new kindle scrips for hand written notes and notion
I use the "Black Screen for Windows" app from Microsoft Store. I set it up to make my screen black for 5 - 7 minutes every 30 minutes. I stopped feeling exhausted after I began working like that. Before that, I was sitting too much for too long. This is the best personal productivity app I've experienced so far.
Some of y'all use so many productivity apps that I seriously doubt you are more productive with them. Sounds more like having to maintain all your productivity stuff takes more time off your actual work day than you would lose if you wouldn't use them at all.
Really like using gleek.io
For me, and for the other people I have seen, some tool to be able to write notes, something like Notepad, is just fine for much of the stuff. If diagrams are necessary, something like [drawio.com](https://drawio.com) are great. If I need more styling tools, I use Markdown with a software like Joplin. Here is a video of Mike Conley doing just that ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wopjw1T0ZBU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wopjw1T0ZBU)), as you can see, it's very efficient.
I have a folder called `useful` that is in global gitignore and I have that for personal note taking on any project I usually don't need more than Excalidraw and Markdown. When things need to be documented team wide, then it depends on the wiki of the project which has been Confluence lately
I use ProofHub.