9 (AI) Tools I Use Every Day For Productivity and Creativity
Some of them are AI, while others are not. I use most of them every day, except for the meditation app, which I use maybe every other day. 🙃
1. brain.fm
Brain.fm provides music that is scientifically designed to enhance focus, relaxation, and sleep by aligning neural activity with the desired mental state.
It’s really cool! Before, I usually listened to some of Spotify’s LoFi playlists, but now I’ve switched to Brain.fm, and I can definitely notice a difference in how it affects me.
The downside is that it costs a few dollars a month (and yes, I’m definitely someone who tries to minimize subscriptions), but for me, it’s worth it right now.
There are a few main categories to choose from. I’ve primarily used the “Focus” category, but I also occasionally utilize “Relax.”
Within each of these categories, you can select a subcategory. For instance, in the “Focus” category, I can choose from the following subcategories:
2. fabric
Fabric is an open-source tool that enables you to perform tasks enhanced by AI. I use it primarily to quickly consume valuable content. For instance, I can run a command to extract all the useful insights from a YouTube video that’s over two hours long.
The output appears as follows:
# SUMMARY
The Cursor Team founders discuss AI's role in programming through their VS Code-based AI-assisted code editor, Cursor, on the Lex Fridman Podcast.
# IDEAS
- Speculative decoding and caching strategies improve AI model performance and speed.
- Programming benchmarks can be misaligned with real-world coding, complicating model evaluation.
- Code review could benefit from AI by emphasizing relevant diffs and guiding users efficiently.
MORE OUTPUT HERE
# INSIGHTS
- AI in code editors transforms programming through speed, structure, and fun.
- Predictive models anticipate entire coding actions, enhancing efficiency.
- AI models require task-specific training to excel in programming environments.
MORE BULLET POINTS
# QUOTES
- "Cursor Tab is let's eliminate all the low entropy actions you take inside of the editor."
- "The goal of Cursor Tab is to jump you forward in time."
- "We're making it for ourselves."
- "Copilot pretty quickly started to feel stale."
MORE OUTPUT HERE
# HABITS
- Explore homomorphic encryption for privacy in AI-driven tasks.
- Encourage collaboration between UI and model training teams.
- Keep abreast of advancements in AI models and their applications.
- Use AI models to enhance, not replace, traditional coding practices.
MORE OUTPUT HERE
# FACTS
- Homomorphic encryption offers privacy solutions in AI tasks.
- Automatic context retrieval balances model accuracy and prompt size.
- AI programming models require continuous innovation.
- Human intent remains crucial in AI-assisted programming.
- AI-driven programming won't fully replace code; both coexist.
- Future programming emphasizes human-AI collaboration, not replacement.
MORE OUTPUT HERE
# REFERENCES
- Shadow Workspace
- Multi-head attention
- Multi-query attention
- Group query attention
- Multi-latent attention
MORE OUTPUT HERE
# ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY
AI-assisted code editors like Cursor transform programming by enhancing speed, structure, and collaboration, emphasizing human-AI synergy.
# RECOMMENDATIONS
- Balance accuracy and prompt size in automatic context retrieval.
- Consider cloud-based solutions for handling large codebases.
- Explore homomorphic encryption for privacy in AI-driven tasks.
- Encourage collaboration between UI and model training teams.
- Keep abreast of advancements in AI models and their applications.
MORE OUTPUT HERETo keep it brief, I shortened the output. Now, as you can see, I no longer need to watch a two-hour YouTube video to get the most relevant content.
The extract_wisdom pattern I used to generate the output above is just one of many patterns that Fabric offers.
3. FridayGPT
FridayGPT lets you run “Actions” on highlighted text. For example, I use it to correct grammar mistakes in my English or to summarize selected text.
I define an action this way:
By pressing the CMD + SHIFT + G shortcut, FridayGPT will execute the prompt and replace the inline text.
4. Web Search Navigator
A useful Chrome extension that allows me to navigate Google Search results using just my keyboard. It’s a bit less relevant now due to GPT, but it still saves me a few seconds every day.
5. Rearrange Tabs
A helpful Chrome extension for rearranging tabs using the keyboard.
❗❗Short break
I created a Notion document called “Everything I Learned About Life.” It’s filled with lessons that can help you navigate your own journey, everyday tools for maximum productivity, and content that I engage with to grow.
You will find the resource here.
6. Portfolio Performance
Portfolio Performance is an incredibly useful open-source tool for tracking my investment portfolio. Since I have lived in Austria, Germany, and now the UAE, I have several investment accounts to manage.
Although there is definitely a learning curve, the tool provides valuable insights. If you enjoy working with numbers, charts, and statistics, and want to determine which of your investments perform well over the long term, I highly recommend Portfolio Performance.
By the way, I also use it to track my cryptocurrency investments.
7. Excalidraw
Excalidraw is a free tool that allows you to create drawings that have a handwritten appearance. I enjoy using it to visually sketch out ideas or quickly design a feature I’m working on.
For example, I would sketch something like this:
You can also use it to design various systems:
8. Balance
About a year ago, Balance offered a one-year free trial of their app and I have been using it ever since. Balance is an amazing meditation app — it’s better than Headspace, in my opinion. I believe they still provide a generous free tier.
9. Medium Insights
A free tool that allows you to look up the statistics of all writers on Medium. It’s my own creation, and I use it to brainstorm article ideas, see what content performs well for other authors, search for effective headlines, and evaluate the engagement of other writers. For example, when considering collaborations, I find it helpful to check whether someone’s articles resonate with their audience. This insight enables me to make more informed decisions about potential partnerships.
Very useful. Thank you for sharing.