The Number 1 App to help you with your work

“There’s an app for that!”, is a phrase I hear a lot. And people are right, there is an app for almost anything you can think of. And probably not just one, but many that do the same thing but slightly differently from each of its competitor.

But is the app always the full solution that we’ve been looking for? On my Inbox Zero and Get Stuff Done workshops I regularly hear about people trying different applications (either on their device or PC). Apps to help them sort their email inbox, or to manage their 200 To-do’s.

Are algorithms the answer?

Whilst they can help with organisation of information there’s one thing they can’t do, and that is be fully human. Sure some have clever algorithms that second guess what it thinks you want to do with a piece of information, but it will never replace real human decision making.

That’s the thing that we really want it to do and replace, but I don’t think it truly can. Take incoming emails. I regularly talk about the 6 D’s in Decision making; Do it Now, Defer it, Do it Later, Delegate it, Delete (or archive) it, or Decide to track. You can only do one of these things with an email when it comes into your Inbox, and how can an app help you here with making a decision?

Human brain work

The only thing the software can help with is deleting (eg It sticks it in your junk folder), or archiving (ie it puts it in a folder that you’ve told it to put it into). Your human brain has to do the work and decide what each piece of information means to you, and then you need to decide what to do with it.

When your colleague sends you that 500 word email, you have to do the processing and find any actions that you will then decide what to do with. It’s human brain processing power that will work that out, and in particular, it’s your own unique brain.

I love technology and love seeing all the new shiny stuff that people invent. But I’m also a fan of the best computer out there, and that’s the human brain. Maybe we should start using the phrase “Psychology before Technology”.