Why relying on productivity tools can backfire

Global sales of wearable devices that track daily activity and allow users to get notifications will reach $1bn by 2022.

One neuroscientist says part of the attraction for users is the way many of these apps 'reward' users. When you see your step count or sleep hours in an app, it creates a feedback loop where you experience an immediate reward. Progress badges can become more important than the outcome itself.

Data suggests that employees are struggling with software overload. Productivity is declining while burnout is rising. Research from 2018 shows that the average operational support worker changed 1,100 times between 35 applications during a working day.

While good productivity apps can help, there is still a question of whether we really want to become more productive, or just seem to be more effective.

Before the pandemic people were non-stop on the go, now people are rethinking the qualitative aspect of being productive. Instead of seeing how many items we can tick off our list, we have an opportunity to ask if it was more innovative, purpose-driven or socially-driven.

And some of the solutions linked to discipline can be solved even without technology.