Thoughts on Things' 7-App Creative Stack

Creative filmmaker making productivity content that actually looks beautiful. Most productivity YouTubers film in home offices with ring lights. Thoughts on Things shoots outdoors with cinematic framing and color grading that makes you forget you're watching a video about task managers.

The channel focuses on intentional living, minimalist design, and productivity systems that don't suck the creativity out of life. Videos cover everything from desk setups to time blocking strategies, but the production quality sets it apart from typical talking-head content.

Started uploading around 2017 as a creative outlet while working client video projects. The YouTube channel grew slowly but consistently. By 2021 it was pulling enough AdSense and sponsor revenue to reduce client work and focus more on personal content.

As of late 2024, the balance is about 50-50 between YouTube content and paid client work for brands. Juggling both requires serious calendar management because filming windows are tight and client deadlines don't move.

Everything below comes from setup videos and productivity workflow breakdowns shared on the channel. Fair warning: this stack is calendar-heavy because filmmaking lives and dies by schedule management.

Filmmaking is time-based work. Weather windows for outdoor shoots. Client availability for interviews. Equipment rental periods. Golden hour lighting. You can't just work on tasks whenever motivation strikes like knowledge workers do.

Fantastical is the primary calendar handling all production schedules and client shoots. Natural language input is clutch when booking filming blocks on the fly. Type 'shoot B-roll at park next Thursday 6am to 8am' and it parses instantly without clicking through date pickers.

Calendar sets keep work visually separate from personal commitments. The color coding makes it obvious at a glance whether a week is overbooked with client work or has breathing room for creative projects.

The week view shows availability instantly when clients ask about shoot dates. No scrolling through multiple calendars or checking different apps. Just one clean view showing exactly when filming windows exist.

Apple Calendar exists as a backup for quick glances on iPhone when Fantastical's extra features aren't needed. Maybe 20 percent usage compared to Fantastical. Everything syncs through iCloud so events added in Apple Calendar still appear in Fantastical.

Microsoft Outlook gets used specifically for corporate client work. Larger production companies and agencies require Outlook for calendar sharing and Teams meeting coordination. Keeps corporate obligations isolated in a separate app from creative projects.

Todoist handles task management for pre-production checklists and post-production workflows. Each video project gets its own Todoist project breaking down every step from concept to delivery.

Tasks cover equipment prep, shot list creation, filming day checklists, editing milestones, color grading passes, sound design, client review rounds, final delivery. Having it all written out prevents forgetting critical steps when juggling multiple projects simultaneously.

Recurring tasks for weekly content planning sessions. Every Sunday night reviews upcoming shoots, checks equipment availability, confirms client schedules. The routine prevents scrambling Monday morning trying to figure out what needs doing.

Labels organize tasks by context. At Computer for editing work. On Location for filming tasks. Waiting For when blocked by client feedback or equipment rentals. The context separation helps batch similar work instead of constant context switching.

In a workflow video from June 2024, Thoughts on Things mentioned trying Notion for project management. Lasted about two months before switching back to Todoist. Notion's flexibility became overwhelming when simple task lists were all that was actually needed.

Spark Mail is the primary email client for creative correspondence and client communication. The smart inbox automatically separates important client emails from newsletters and notification spam.

Quick replies let you acknowledge messages during shoots without typing full responses. Send a thumbs up or 'Got it, will respond tonight' while on set instead of leaving clients hanging for 8 hours.

Team collaboration features handle shared email threads for production coordination. When working with other crew members, everyone can see client communication without forwarding chains that get messy fast.

Snooze function reschedules emails to reappear after shoots wrap. Client question comes in at 10am during filming? Snooze it to 6pm when there's actually time to write a proper response instead of rushing a half-assed reply between takes.

In a productivity setup video from September 2024, Spark replaced Apple Mail completely after about 6 months of testing. The smart inbox alone saved probably 15 minutes daily of sorting through garbage to find actual important messages.

Evernote is the central repository for shot ideas, location scouting notes, and creative inspiration. Been using it since around 2018, so years of production knowledge live in there now.

Each video project gets its own notebook. Mood boards with reference images. Equipment lists for specific shoots. Script outlines and shot lists. Lighting diagrams. Everything related to that project lives in one searchable place.

The web clipper saves articles and videos for research. See an interesting color grading technique on Vimeo? Clip it to the relevant project notebook. Read an article about minimal desk setups? Goes into the content ideas notebook for future videos.

Search function pulls up anything instantly. Need that lighting setup from a shoot 2 years ago? Search the location name and Evernote surfaces the notebook with diagrams and settings. Faster than digging through folders on external drives.

Voice memos get recorded directly into Evernote when ideas hit while driving or walking. Those random shower thoughts that turn into full videos six months later all start as quick voice notes that get transcribed and organized later.

Frame.io revolutionized the client review process. Before Frame.io, feedback came through vague emails. 'Can we change the music around the 2 minute mark?' Which 2 minute mark? The raw footage timeline or the edited sequence timeline?

Now clients comment directly on specific frames. Timestamp-based feedback eliminates ambiguity. They click the exact moment they want changed, leave a comment, done. No more email tennis trying to decipher vague descriptions.

Version control tracks every revision automatically. Clients can compare V1 to V3 side-by-side to see exactly what changed. Eliminates the nightmare of 'final_v3_FINAL_actualfinal.mp4' file naming chaos across email attachments and Dropbox folders.

Status tracking shows who's reviewed what and which comments are still unresolved. When multiple stakeholders are involved, Frame.io prevents conflicting feedback from different departments arriving at different times.

In a client workflow video from March 2024, Thoughts on Things said Frame.io cut revision rounds from an average of 4-5 down to 2-3. Clearer feedback means fewer misunderstandings and faster project completion. Worth every penny of the subscription.