Technology / productivity
The App That Made Me Less Productive
Listen and choose why the app made Nathan less productive.
Why did the app make Nathan less productive?
Technology / productivity
The App That Made Me Less Productive
Type the missing exact words. Empty answers are ignored.
1. Nathan downloaded a ___ because he wanted to organise his work better.
2. The app had ___, reminders, folders, labels, and a daily score.
3. He gave each task a ___.
4. He created a list for small ___.
5. Nathan was spending more time managing his ___ than doing them.
6. He checked his ___ again.
7. Answering one email or washing a cup gave him ___.
8. Difficult tasks stayed on the list because they did not give ___.
9. Nathan turned off almost all ___.
10. A good app can help only if it stays in the ___.
Technology / productivity
The App That Made Me Less Productive
Put the ideas/events in order from 1 to 10. Empty items are ignored.
He creates many lists, categories, deadlines, and priority levels.
Nathan downloads a productivity app to organise his work better.
Important difficult tasks stay on the list for days.
He learns that a productivity tool should stay in the background, not become another distraction.
At first, the app looks perfect because it has many useful features.
He starts choosing easy tasks because they give quick points.
Nathan simplifies his system and turns off most notifications.
During the first week, Nathan uses the app constantly.
Notifications begin to interrupt him when he is focused.
Nathan notices that he is spending more time managing tasks than doing them.
Technology / productivity
📱 The App That Made Me Less Productive
B1 Upper-intermediate • 1 speaker • Transcription
Hi, I’m Nathan. Last year, I downloaded a productivity app because I wanted to organise my work better. The app promised to help me plan tasks, track habits, measure focus time, and feel more in control of my day. At first, it looked perfect. It had colourful charts, reminders, folders, labels, and a daily score that showed how productive I had been. For the first week, I used it constantly. Every morning, I opened the app before checking my messages. I added tasks, divided them into categories, chose deadlines, and gave each task a priority level. I even created separate lists for work, study, exercise, reading, and small personal errands. It felt serious and organised. But soon I noticed something strange. I was spending more time managing my tasks than doing them. If I had ten minutes free, I did not start a task. I opened the app and changed the colour of a label, moved something to another folder, or checked my progress chart again. Planning began to feel like work, but it was not real progress. The app also made small tasks look more important than they were. Answering one email, washing a cup, or reading two pages all gave me points. So I sometimes chose easy tasks because they made my score look better. Difficult tasks, the ones that really mattered, stayed on the list for days because they required more concentration and did not give quick rewards. Another problem was the reminders. At first, they helped me remember things. Later, they interrupted me all the time. When I was finally focused on writing or studying, a notification appeared and pulled my attention away. I realised that the tool I had downloaded to protect my focus was actually breaking it. After a month, I deleted most of my lists and kept only three sections: today, this week, and later. I also turned off almost all notifications. My system became less impressive, but much easier to use. I stopped trying to measure every tiny action and started asking a simpler question: what is the most important thing I need to do next? That experience taught me that productivity is not about having the most advanced tool. A good app can help, but only if it stays in the background. If the system becomes more interesting than the work itself, it is no longer helping. It is just another distraction with a nice design.