Santi Tacoronte

Every productivity app promised to organise me, and many of them added one more place to check. The tools below sit on the desk, hold one idea at a time and never send you a notification. “Simple is beautiful” is the sentence I repeat at work, and paper is still the shortest way there. This is the paper half of my own system, after 20+ years of trying the digital half. Cheap and low commitment first, bigger investments last.

Software is the cheap part. The expensive part is the hour a day you lose to friction: hunting for a file, retyping the same data, rebuilding a plan someone already changed. These are the tools I pay for out of my own pocket, grouped by the job they do: capturing what is in your head, planning the day, automating busywork, writing and recording, and protecting your focus. Efficiency is one of my 4 Productivity Vectors, and this list is where I would start training it.

Sleep is the first thing busy professionals cut and the last thing they should. One short night hits your focus, mood, and decisions the next day, and no productivity app can fix that. These are the tools I recommend to measure your sleep, set up a bedroom that helps you fall asleep, and wind down and recover after long days and hard training. Sleep and Calmness sit in the Well-being vector of my 4 Productivity Vectors framework, and this list is how I would start training them.

Your workspace decides how long you can focus before your back, your eyes or your voice give up. These are the home office upgrades I recommend to clients and to my community who work from home: a desk and chair that fit your body, light that is kind to your eyes, clear audio and video for calls, and a few small things that keep the desk calm. They cover two of my 4 Productivity Vectors, Efficiency (a clumsy setup costs you minutes every day) and Well-being, because sooner or later a bad setup ends up in your back and your eyes.

Every hour you spend copying data between apps, typing meeting notes or editing by hand is an hour you don't spend on the work only you can do. These are the AI tools I recommend to clients and to my community to take that work off their plate: automation, meeting notes, content creation and planning. Efficiency is one of my 4 Productivity Vectors, and these tools help with three of its elements: Meetings, Email and Delegation (to software, in this case).

I spent 20+ years in corporate roles, the last one leading data teams across Europe and Eurasia as Chief Data Officer. These are the books from my audiobook library that shaped how I lead. Some are about leading yourself before anyone else. Others show how to earn people who follow by choice, and how to run conversations and meetings that move a team forward. Accountability sits in the Ownership vector of my 4 Productivity Vectors framework, and these books are how I train it.

Notifications, inboxes, and chats keep me reacting to whatever feels urgent right now. These are the physical things I use to slow down, get back into my body, and decide what matters before I respond. I call it breaking the tyranny of now.

These books cover the half of productivity that no tool can touch: caring about fewer things, living in the present, keeping your ego in check and seeing the world with clearer eyes. Productivity without joy burns good people out, and that is why Well-being is one of my 4 Productivity Vectors. These are the books I recommend to train it.

My memory is not a reliable system, so every idea, meeting, task, and object needs a place to land the moment it shows up. These 15 tools do the catching: wearables and voice for ideas on the move, recorders and AI notetakers for meetings, smart paper for handwritten notes, and labels and trackers for the things I would otherwise lose. Meetings sit in the Efficiency vector of my 4 Productivity Vectors framework, and four of these exist to lighten them.

I spent 20+ years making calls with incomplete data, the last stretch as Chief Data Officer Europe & Eurasia. These are the books I go back to when a decision feels heavy. Some teach you to decide under pressure. Others help you read data without freezing, or accept that someone will dislike your call. Decision Making sits in the Effectiveness vector of my 4 Productivity Vectors framework, and these books are how I train it.

Money software does not make you richer by itself, but it does stop the slow leaks: the subscription you forgot, the invoice you never sent, the account you never look at. These are the tools I recommend for the four jobs that matter, budgeting the month, running a one-person business, tracking what you own and watching your credit. YNAB is first because the method matters more than the app.