Most AI tools are productivity theatre. Expensive digital fidget spinners for people who'd rather tinker than work.

You know the drill: someone on LinkedIn discovers ChatGPT can write emails, suddenly they're running "AI automation workshops" for $2,997. Meanwhile, you're still doing real work while drowning in tools that promise everything and deliver sweet bugger all.

Here's the truth: 90% of AI tools solve problems you don't have. The other 10%? Actually worth your time.

AI Tool Directory Hell - 15,000+ AI tools and counting. Perfect if you enjoy analysis paralysis and want to spend three hours finding an app that does what Excel already does.

Simon Willison's AI Updates - The only AI newsletter that doesn't sound like it was written by a chatbot having a stroke. Willison cuts through the hype and actually explains what matters.

The Batch by Andrew Ng - Weekly AI roundup from someone who built actual AI systems instead of just selling courses about them. Shocking concept, I know.

AI Snake Oil - Two Princeton professors explaining why your "AI-powered" tool is probably just fancy autocomplete. Brutal but necessary reading.

The 48-Hour AI Tool Test

Before you subscribe to another AI miracle cure:

Most AI tools fail this test because they're solutions looking for problems. The ones that pass? Those are worth paying for.

Real talk: If an AI tool doesn't save you at least 2 hours per week within 48 hours, it's digital junk food.

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I used to burn thousands per month on tools—AI or otherwise. Subscription death by a thousand cuts.

The worst part? Most of them just sat there making me feel productive. Like having a gym membership you never use, except the gym charges you monthly and sends you motivational emails about "unlocking your potential."

I had tools for everything: AI content generators, smart schedulers, automated this, optimised that. My bank statement looked like I was running a tech startup. My actual work output? Same as always.

Here's the brutal truth: if you're not using it for something genuinely productive and it's just hanging around to make you feel like you're "staying ahead," it's digital hoarding. Expensive digital hoarding.

The tools that actually work? They're boring. They do one thing well without requiring a PhD in prompt engineering or a vision board about "workflow optimisation."

Claude (Anthropic) - $20/month Actually understands context without 47 follow-up questions. Best for writing that doesn't sound like a robot having an existential crisis.

Perplexity Pro - $20/month
Google with footnotes. Saves hours of research rabbit holes. Actually cites sources instead of hallucinating facts.

Otter.ai - $17/month Transcribes meetings without drama. Works. That's it. Revolutionary concept in AI land.

Grammarly - $12/month Spell check that doesn't hate you. Been around forever, works everywhere, no blockchain nonsense.

Canva Magic Studio - $15/month Makes decent graphics without requiring a design degree. The AI features actually enhance the tool instead of replacing your brain.

90% of "AI Assistants" They're chatbots with fancy names. If it needs 20 prompts to book a meeting, just use a calendar.

AI Content Generators Produce SEO spam that makes your website sound like it was written by an alien studying human business language.

"AI-Powered" Project Management Takes your simple task list and turns it into a complexity circus. Notion with AI features? Still Notion, but now it argues with you.

AI Email Writers Create emails so robotic that recipients know you couldn't be bothered typing 50 words. Professional suicide in digital form.

"Smart" Social Media Schedulers Post generic content at "optimal times" determined by algorithms that peaked in 2019. Your engagement dies, but hey, it's automated.

Sick of tools that promise everything and deliver nothing? The Time Flux Method helps you audit what's actually worth your time—including AI tools that might be sabotaging your productivity.

It's a simple calendar audit that reveals where you're bleeding time and what's actually worth automating. No AI required, just brutal honesty about where your hours go.

Want access? Refer a mate to this newsletter and I'll send it over. Use the refer button at the bottom of this email. When they subscribe, you get the Time Flux Method. Simple.

P.S. If you're using an AI tool that actually saves time without creating new headaches, hit reply and tell me about it. I'm always hunting for the rare ones that don't suck.

Enjoy this post, refer new subscribers and get the Time Flux Method - what I use to help people save 2+ hours a day.