Notepad. The text editor.

Do you ever open your PC to do something productive, only to realize you're staring at your wallpaper, without opening any programs?

You could open VScode, Krita, Word or Blender, and continue your project where you left it. But then you'd have to wait through the loading screens, and think about the project, and get into the flow, and it's all just... so tiring! Opening YouTube is faster!

Well, you know what's even faster?

Opening Notepad.

Zero wait time. Zero mental barrier of entry. This app was coded to be as bare-bones as possible. It's a white rectangle where you can write words. There is NOTHING to get distracted or blocked by.

Instead of doing the next step of your project - write down the next step of your project.

The main idea is to think with your keyboard instead of your head. The moment you think of a solution - write it down. The moment you encounter a roadblock - write it down as a question.

Next, I gotta finish X...

How do I need to do Y for X to work?

Do it like B? or like A?

No, but then there's that problem...

Pros of doing A: 1, 2, 3...

Pros of doing B: 4, 5...

What if I do A with this element of B...

Your brain easily loses train of thought. It's much easier to keep it if your last ten thoughts are laid out on the screen.

And eventually, your brain vomit will be complete, and you can turn it into a list of steps you need to do for the next part of the project to be complete.

Don't plan the whole project. Plan out one step. Make a list of steps, then execute.

And the best part about Notepad? You don't even need to get it set up, like every other damn productivity app. It's on your PC right now. It came free with your fuckin Windows.

Really. Pin it to your taskbar and open it the next time you have to Do A Thing. It'll help.