Avoid the Toggle Tax with Zapier

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

—Leonardo da Vinci

‍

You don’t want to save time. 

‍

What you really want is freedom. But, how do you get that? 

‍

One way is to simplify. 

‍

You could live off-grid, plant a garden, and build an underground house made of dirt.

‍

Or you could start with simplifying the apps you use.

‍

But here’s your predicament: you want to keep the apps you love but you also want to reduce the number of places, apps, and tabs you need to get things done.

‍

Good news. You can have the best of both worlds.

‍

Today I’m going to teach you how to simplify your tech using Zapier’s Interfaces and Tables without getting rid of the apps you love.

‍

Let’s eat cake.

‍

The Toggle Tax

How many apps do you have open right now in your browser? 

‍

If I told you each app cost $0.01 each time you navigate to its open tab, would that change anything? The cost adds up. 

‍

It’s called the Toggle Tax.

‍

The Toggle Tax is a term coined by Rohan Narayana Murty, Sandeep Dadlani, and Rajath B. Das that refers to the cost of context switching between apps.

‍

The Harvard Business Review released their study where they analyzed 137 workers over 3,200 days of work and found that the workers “...spent just under four hours a week reorienting themselves after toggling to a new application. Over the course of a year, that adds up to five working weeks, or 9% of their annual time at work.”

‍

You get the point—the number of apps you use and switch to throughout the day costs you. 

‍

What are you to do? 

‍

If you want to simplify, you have two options:

‍

1. Use fewer apps but lose functionality
2. Use the same apps, but centralize how you interact with them
3. Go off-grid and become super crunchy

‍

(I lied—there are three options)

‍

Until recently, you couldn’t (easily and affordably) centralize how you interact with your apps. 

‍

But Zapier made it possible.

‍

Zapier as Your Hub

Zapier’s Tables and Interfaces give you the ability to build a home for your work while letting you freely integrate and use other apps.

‍

Use Zapier to simplify operations, but let focused and simple apps continue to do their job. 

‍

Use Tables and Interfaces to unify your operations, minimize context switching, and maximize your output.

‍

Tie it all together with Zaps and Zapier becomes the perfect hub.

‍

Simplification and “The Hub” in Practice

Here’s how I use Zapier to simplify.

‍

I created a Zapier Interface that serves as my Content Hub.

‍

Before I created my Content Hub in Zapier I would:

• Put ideas down in Notion or email myself
• Navigate to my website to look at old posts looking for an opportunity to repurpose
• Duplicate an older Google Doc blog post I had written and remove most of the content
• Manually write blog post excerpts in Webflow

‍

I would play a game of digital hopscotch with my tabs and apps. It wore me out.

‍

But now I’ve simplified.

‍

With my Zapier Content Hub I:

• Capture all ideas in one place
• Automatically generate blog post excerpts using AI
• Automatically create the Google Doc when I’m ready to write
• Automatically surface old posts after four months for repurposing
• Automatically input AI-generated ideas based on published posts

‍

‍

When it’s time to write, I go to Google Docs. When it’s time to publish, I go to Mailchimp. But when it’s time to develop ideas or manage the process, I go to my Content Hub in Zapier.

‍

I eliminate distraction, reduce the Toggle Tax, and gain a little more freedom in my life. 

‍

Crunchy.

‍

To recap:

• Toggling and context switching between apps taxes your time and energy.
• Keep the apps you love, but reduce the constant switching by building in Zapier.
• Zapier’s Interfaces and Tables can serve as a hub for your operations.

‍

That’s all for this week!

‍

Happy Building,

Bryce