“What’s the best note-taking software?” used to be my favorite question.

I’ve tried a number of productivity apps. I subscribed to services like Readwise, Notion, Roam, Logseq, and Obsidian. I also searched for a better search engine than Google. So I’ve switched my default search to Kagi, You, Neeva, and DuckDuckGo. Before discovering Bear Blog, I wrote on WordPress, Ghost, Substack, and Write.as.

I cared so much about finding the best tools for my productivity. I spent too much time looking for a shortcut. When I felt stuck, I automatically handed my problems over to new trending software.

I canceled most subscriptions, but I’m more productive than ever. I stopped using read-it-later apps like Readwise Reader, Matter, and Instapaper as well. Now I read on Kindle, jot down random thoughts on a small notepad, and move these words to Bear Blog.

I don’t need to think about PKM anymore. To write and publish, I only need to make sure I’m carrying a notepad.