habit tracking
even though i like atomic habits and consider it recommended reading for self-help and productivity, the core method for setting habits it presents is not my favorite. the rigidity of it does not quite jive with my mental, does not sync with my unstable schedule, and just kind of falls apart too much for me. i cannot set a specific time and specific place for myself to do a specific thing because i don’t even consistently brush my teeth at the set time [i still do it twice a day, so at least that works well enough]
rigid pkm systems
i have an allergy for cloud-based pkm systems in general [the only one i’d be shilling for is roam, which is a huge influence on pkms like obsidian and a direct inspiration of logseq, but it is paid now and i cannot pay xd], but notion is a particular PITA in my case. it’s too rigid, too complicated, feels like a puzzle to assemble and breaks one of the golden rules that I mentioned by being a game in its own, a procrastination driver to end all procrastination drivers. the reason i prefer more roam-like setup is bc of how seamless the process of authoring ends up being: it’s all largely text, and it is all text-driven. [keen-eyed readers will probably draw parallels with how my original vision of the site is pretty much primarily text-based], and making connections is about as seamless as writing text. my experiment with logseq kinda failed tho, largely due to the cloud providers making the whole git sync prospect an absolute utter mess.
overly elaborate gamification
i want to shout out habitica specifically with how often it appears in recommendations, because i bounced quite hard from that. it’s too open-ended, too freeform, too complex, there’s not enough rigidity to string things together in a cohesion that holds me accountable to whatever i have set for myself. there is a bit of a meaningful motivation-based element here, and it does not quite suit me. although i guess if ppl like thomas frank made it work for themselves to the point of making multiple detailed tutorials for them, then it might actually work for someone other than me.