Over the last week or so, I’ve introduced several new tools that I’m either trying or evaluating.

One is a tool of my own creation, based on my task journaling process, called Daily Three. The second is Claude MAX, to see what the latest and greatest actually gets me (more on that in a different piece).

The third tool I’m trying is Wispr Flow, after weeks of hearing about how great it is. This one has the potential to usurp my absolute favorite voice transcription app: Whisper Memos.

One quick note is that Wispr Flow is much more expensive than Whisper Memo, so I don’t intend on keeping both, and Wispr Flow really needs to prove its worth.

This sort of conundrum is one that solopreneurs run into all the time. We start to wonder if there’s some tool that will help us be more efficient, so we start trying new things — and upending our current workflows — without thinking about efficacy.

So what do you do when you think a tool can help you, and you want to properly evaluate it…then maybe add it into your current system?

What Job Does The Tool Have?

The very first thing you need to do is answer the question what job the new tool has. Of the three I mentioned, Wispr Flow is really the only tool that might replace a long-standing tool in my system.

The job here is “allow me to quickly capture ideas, and send it to the right place based on context.”

Once you know the job, you start making it do that job. What you should avoid is just “playing” with the tool to try and “sell” yourself on it. Actually use it in your processes instead of the current tool, and see how it goes.

Wispr Flow actually can’t do a lot of what Whisper Memos does for me…like keep the recorded audio, send it to an email address (which I then pass-on to Obsidian), or integrate with Zapier. But it can do a lot more, so I’m wondering if that could improve my process.

Is The Change Worth It?

And that’s the second part of the evaluation equation: is the change in your process worth it? As long as it does the job both efficiently, and effectively.

For example, if I can record my audio while Wispr Flow transcribes it, and I don’t need to jump through hoops, great! Maybe I can just talk directly to Obsidian this way. The fewer links in the chain, the better.

But I need to figure out quickly if it’s not going to make more work for me. I don’t want to trade efficiency — being able to talk to my computer faster — with efficacy, which would be the tool doing the job it has well.

The best-case scenario when you do this is the new tool slots right into the old tool’s spot. You’ve either saved money, or can accomplish the job faster, or have access to some new features that will help you.

Second best is you decide your old tool still works well. You’ve spent a little time evaluating, but you’ve decided your current setup is as good or better.

But the last scenario — that you should switch, and you’ll need to rework your system — is where the trouble comes in.

How to Make the Switch

What exactly to do here is nuanced and depends on how crucial the system is, and how many moving parts you have, but the goal is to not break everything.

When I switched from Dropbox to Google Drive, it was shockingly simple. I maintained both services for a bit, until I was able to update my automations.

Switching from Calendly to Cal.com was a little harder, but worth it. I had to update links, automations, and emails that went out, on top of migrating all of my calendars over.

If you’re going to do this, you should consider:

1. Every place that relies on the current tool
2. If you’ll need to update any links
3. If you can maintain both services for a while

The bigger the change, the more it has to be worth it. If I ever move podcast hosting platforms, for example, it’s a monumental change that will require lots of updates in several places, plus testing over at least 1 month to make sure nothing breaks. I’m going to need feature parity at a minimum, plus long-term cost savings and/or better features.

Wispr Flow might be different — if I decide to switch at all.

What shiny new tool are you looking at right now? Did you define a job for it? Comment and let me know!