How Many Tools Do You Need?

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Michael Schechter • 2 Comments

From Randy Murray:

A painter doesn’t have just one brush. The carpenter has screwdrivers, chisels, and similar tools of every shape and size. As a writer I could make one tool do everything, but I prefer to let the tools do the heavy lifting while I expend the minimal amount of effort to achieve the best result.

I’ve already geeked out at length about my believe in complexit-ease, the idea of finding the right amount of technology to make it easier for you to accomplish your work. However I didn’t come close to summing it up nearly as well as Randy did. For me, it has always been a matter or reducing friction in order to increase my creative momentum and that requires an array of the right tools for the right jobs.

Now as for figuring out the wrong tools and the wrong jobs, that is another post1 for another day.

  1. Or more likely a series of posts… [↩]
Filed Under: Productivity
  • http://randymurrayonline.com/ Randy Murray

    Thanks for the link love, Michael!

    • http://michaelschechter.me MSchechter

      My pleasure, really connected with your point. This has been a year of realizing the power of tools for me, especially when it comes to locking in on the right tools for the job rather than some mythical do-it-all solution.