There is a particular kind of afternoon I know well. The work is not moving. Something feels inefficient, broken, or just hard. And somewhere in the background, a small voice starts asking: maybe there is a tool for this.

Sometimes there is. Often, there isn’t, at least not one that actually makes sense. And the difference between those two situations is harder to see in the moment than it should be.

I have added tools I did not need. I have experimented with even more and been down many rabbit holes. I have built systems that became the work. I have spent a Saturday setting up something I stopped using by Wednesday, because I hated the interface. Anyone else?

What I have learned, slowly, is that the question is rarely which tool. It is almost always best to first ask if a tool is the right answer at all. And the only way to know that is to get specific about the problem first.