Ask someone to list every digital tool they use and they’ll say five or six. The ones they’re aware of, the ones they open every day. But when they sit down to do the exercise properly — opening every folder on their phone, reviewing every browser tab, going through every active subscription — the real number is usually between twenty and forty. Sometimes more. That gap between what you think you use and what you actually have is the first symptom of a problem you can’t solve if you can’t see it.
The Exercise Nobody Does
The tool inventory is the simplest and most revealing exercise in digital minimalism. And almost nobody does it because it seems too basic. “I already know what I use” — except you don’t. Not fully.
The inventory consists of listing absolutely everything: every application installed on your phone and computer, every web service you have an account with, every browser extension, every paid subscription, every tool you use even once a month. Everything.
It’s not an intellectual exercise. It’s an exercise in awareness. When you see the complete list in front of you — no excuses, no exceptions — two things happen. First, you’re surprised by the quantity. Second, you start seeing patterns that were invisible from inside the system.
Most people who do this exercise discover they have between two and four tools fulfilling the same function. Two note-taking apps. Three places to store tasks. Four sites for file storage. That redundancy isn’t intentional — it’s accumulated tool by tool, without anyone sitting down to see the full picture.
How To Do Your Inventory
The inventory is done in one session, without rushing, with a document open to record things. You don’t need any special tool — a spreadsheet or even pen and paper works perfectly.
Step 1: Go through your devices. Open every screen on your phone, every folder. Open the application list on your computer. Open the browser’s extension manager. Note every tool you find, without filtering.
Step 2: Review your accounts. Open your password manager (if you have one) and go through the registered services. Search your email for registration confirmations and subscription receipts. Check your card statements for recurring software charges.
Step 3: Classify by function. For each tool, write what function it serves in one or two words: “notes,” “tasks,” “calendar,” “email,” “communication,” “storage,” “writing,” “reading,” “design,” “automation.” This classification is what reveals the redundancies.
Step 4: Mark the frequency. For each tool, indicate when you last used it: today, this week, this month, over a month ago, can’t remember. That last category — “can’t remember” — is the most important.
Step 5: Note the cost. If the tool is paid, note how much you pay and how often. Add up the total at the end. That number is usually higher than expected.
What The Inventory Reveals
Once you have the complete list, the patterns emerge on their own:
Clear redundancies. Tools that do exactly the same thing. Two note apps, two task managers, three cloud storage services. You didn’t adopt them as duplicates — each entered through its own door at a different time — but the result is that you have multiple pieces doing the same job and none does it fully well because your information is split.
Ghost tools. Apps you pay for but don’t use. Services that have your email but not your attention. Extensions you installed for a specific project that ended six months ago. These tools don’t just cost money — they cost mental space. While they exist, they’re a latent maintenance burden.
Dependency chains. Tools that only exist because another tool doesn’t do something well. A plugin to fill a gap, a patch to cover a hole, a bridge tool between two others that don’t integrate. These chains are a sign that your system is over-engineered.
Total cost. When you add up all the subscriptions, the number typically ranges between £30 and £150 per month on productivity tools. That’s between £360 and £1,800 per year. The question isn’t whether you can afford it — it’s whether you’re receiving proportional value.
The First Filter
With the inventory in front of you, the first filter is simple. For each tool, ask yourself one question: “What would happen if I stopped using this tomorrow?”
If the answer is “nothing would change” — it’s a candidate for immediate elimination.
If the answer is “I’d have to do the same thing in another tool I already have” — it’s a redundancy that can be consolidated.
If the answer is “I’d lose a function I need and don’t have elsewhere” — it stays, for now.
Don’t eliminate anything yet. Just mark things. The aim at this stage is to see, not to act. The action will come later, when you have clear criteria for deciding what stays and what goes. But seeing — really seeing — how many tools you have and what they do is the step that transforms the problem from something vague and abstract into something concrete and manageable.
The inventory isn’t the most exciting moment of this course. But it’s the most important. Because you can’t simplify what you can’t see. And the first time you put your entire digital life onto a list, you see with uncomfortable clarity how much you’ve accumulated without realising.
