I'm a pretty bad procrastinator. I'll say I'll do something or have plans for another thing and then they just never seem to go anywhere. Since I've been trying to get back into writing I have been browsing around quite a bit for some note taking software. On top of that, I was mainly looking for something that was multi-platform as well since I have mostly switched over to Linux for my workload. Sure, I could just open up Nano in my terminal and type in whatever I want, but sometimes I just want to leave a program open on a separate workspace with everything I need.
Source: Itch
For my search, I decided that I would go with Itch as my storefront of choice. Nothing against Steam, but I really need a reason to use Itch more and this is a perfect time for it. After setting up my filters for the Tools section I started scrolling. Luckily, Mad Productivity was near the top of the list for me.
Right off the bat Mad comes with a nightmode as standard. It might be something small, but it really is the little things. The colors are nice and complimentary; not straining on the eyes at all. Upon opening the application, you're greeted with a clock counting in real time with a randomized quote.
The next tab is for your notes. Plain and simple. Enter your title and then whatever you wish to write. I love being able to just click the plus button and creating new notes. This is great for someone like me who tries to do too many things at once and likes to jump around. Your notes do auto save, so there is no worry if you click on another note to reference something or add and it all disappears. My one big complaint is that I am unable to export notes as a txt file. Not a complete deal breaker, but it would be nice if I was able to export it to a shared drive or folder.
Following that is the time tracking tab. All you have to do is fill in the project name you want to work on and click play. From then on it will keep counting until you stop it. I find it extremely useful for freelancers looking for something to track their hours or just wanting to grind something out.
There's the Reminders tab which let's you set reminders. Self explanatory. Something I constantly say I need but never end up using. My own fault. I do like how you can set up links inside of your reminds. Clinking on the little link icon opens up your default browser of choice and takes you to the page you set in the link tab.
Below that is the to do list. Great to see visually all you have gotten done as you can check down the list. I do wish that you would be able to have different to do tasks by days or make them continuous until completed.
Finally, there's just the profile tab which let's you set your name and title. Oh, and a random button at the bottom that sends you to a random tab.
While it's not the most perfect program, there's not a whole lot I think I can really ask of a note application. Everything I would ask for would be just some quality of life changes, such as more keyboard shortcuts.
A quick run down of the pros and cons:
Pros:
- Free
- Multi OS
- Minimalist and straight forward
- Built in timer useful for timed writing challenges
Neutral:
- Uses roughly 2gb of ram
- no theme options
Cons:
- Can't export text files
- Currently no syncing functionality
- Can't import images to view
- Lacking keyboard shortcuts
If you have found this post useful or interesting, feel free to go check them out on Itch: Mad Productivity
I’ve been looking for a decent productivity tool lately and this seems like it has everything I’m looking for except for syncing and exporting. I’m gonna give this a go when I’m at my computer anyway. Maybe they’ll add some of the missing “obvious” stuff in future updates.
From the look of it on their page they're talking about an update coming soon that does address some things, such as theming and maybe some additional functions like a pomodoro timer. Maybe we'll see something for exporting at least relatively quickly since they did say they were going to make it open source. I just hope that doesn't mean "leave it to the community for any future updates"