Austin Brady's 10-App Minimalist Stack

Austin Brady creates content about living intentionally. Minimalism without the aesthetic flex. Productivity without the hustle glorification. Just practical systems for doing more with less.

Started building an audience in 2020 talking about reducing digital clutter and optimizing physical health. While everyone else was adding more apps and supplements and morning routines, Austin was ruthlessly cutting what didn't move the needle.

His approach is almost scientific. Track everything. Measure what matters. Cut what doesn't. The Austin Brady tools below might look like a lot for someone preaching minimalism, but each one serves a specific, measurable purpose tied to health or focus optimization.

What sets him apart is the biometric obsession. Continuous glucose monitoring. Hydration tracking. Fasting windows. Sleep optimization. Most creators focus on productivity hacks. Austin optimizes the biological foundation that makes productivity possible in the first place.

Ultrahuman is the continuous glucose monitor that changed how Austin thinks about food and focus. Real-time blood sugar data revealed patterns he never would've caught otherwise.

Oatmeal breakfast spiked glucose fast, then crashed hard 90 minutes later right when he needed focus for filming. Switched to eggs and avocado. Blood sugar stayed stable. Energy stayed consistent through 3-hour recording sessions.

Now plans pre-filming meals based on glucose response data. High protein, healthy fats, low glycemic carbs. Boring but effective. The difference in mental clarity during takes is honestly night and day.

Also tracks how sleep affects glucose regulation. Poor sleep makes the next day's blood sugar more volatile even with identical meals. The feedback loop forced better sleep hygiene because the data doesn't lie.

Cronometer tracks macros and micros with obsessive detail. Protein, fats, carbs, vitamins, minerals. Everything logged to ensure nothing critical is missing.

Revealed a magnesium deficiency that was tanking sleep quality and recovery. Added magnesium glycinate supplement. Sleep latency dropped from 45 minutes to 15. HRV improved within two weeks. Small nutrient gap, massive impact.

Also exposes protein undereating on busy days. Target is 180g daily for muscle maintenance and satiety. Without tracking, intake would drop to maybe 100g when content creation gets hectic and meals get skipped.

Waterllama handles hydration tracking with stupid simplicity. Widget shows daily intake versus 3-liter target. Dehydration tanks cognitive performance but it's easy to forget drinking water when deep in work.

Gentle reminders every 90 minutes prevent the 3pm brain fog that used to derail afternoons. Turns out staying hydrated is boring advice that actually works when you measure it.

Fastic tracks his 16:8 intermittent fasting schedule. Eating window runs 12pm to 8pm daily. Morning fasted state from 8pm to noon the next day.

The fasted morning hours are when creative work happens. Mental clarity peaks between 9am and noon without the post-breakfast glucose rollercoaster. Scripts get written. Videos get planned. Deep thinking before breaking fast at lunch.

Fastic's timer keeps the discipline honest. Tempting to break fast early when breakfast smells good, but seeing the 14-hour streak ticking toward 16 provides just enough accountability to wait.

Also pairs with Ultrahuman data. The continuous glucose monitor shows how fasting improves insulin sensitivity and keeps blood sugar stable even after breaking fast. Objective biometrics beat subjective feelings every time.

Freedom blocks distracting websites during deep work sessions. Twitter, YouTube, Reddit all blacklisted from 9am to 1pm. Can't break focus if the temptation is literally inaccessible.

Willpower fails. Systems win. Trusting himself to resist checking Twitter 47 times during a writing session never worked. Freedom removes the choice entirely. The sites just don't load. Problem solved.

Endel provides adaptive soundscapes for different work modes. Focus mode during writing. Relax mode for administrative tasks. Sleep mode before bed. The AI adjusts audio based on time of day and heart rate data from Apple Watch.

Sounds like overengineered nonsense but it genuinely helps signal state changes to his brain. When Endel's focus mode starts, brain knows it's time to work. Pavlovian conditioning through audio cues.

Notion is the minimalist content dashboard. Video ideas, reading notes, project tracking. Everything templated to reduce decision fatigue. Less visual clutter equals clearer thinking.

Heavy template usage means every new project starts from a proven structure. Video production template. Newsletter template. Coaching session template. Zero time wasted recreating wheels.

Calendly automates scheduling for coaching calls and collaborations. Prevents 15-email back-and-forth about availability. Sets mandatory 30-minute buffers between meetings so there's no back-to-back exhaustion.

Availability windows are strict. Tuesdays and Thursdays only. 10am-4pm max. Protects deep work days from getting fragmented by random calls. Async communication preferred for everything that doesn't require live discussion.

Raindrop.io organizes research bookmarks by tags and projects. Articles for upcoming videos. Inspiration for future content. Book recommendations. All searchable instead of lost in browser bookmark chaos spanning 5 years.

Strava tracks daily runs and provides social accountability. Morning cardio happens before creative work starts. Non-negotiable part of the routine.

The Strava community prevents skipping runs on low-motivation days. When followers can see your activity log, ghosting a scheduled workout feels publicly embarrassing. Peer pressure weaponized for good.

Route planning helps maintain variety. Same 5K loop every day gets mind-numbing. Strava's heat maps show popular routes nearby. Exploring new paths keeps the habit interesting instead of becoming a slog.