I have a loud mind. The kind where generic productivity tools feel like wearing someone else's shoes - beautiful, maybe, but pinching in all the wrong places. For years I tried them all. Notion, Todoist, Things, and countless others. Each eventually became another tab I'd avoid, another window I don't look at.
But this isn't really about how my brain works. It's about something bigger: the cost of building custom software just collapsed, and most people haven't realized what that means yet.
The shift
For decades, software has been one-size-fits-most. You adapt to Salesforce. You learn Notion's way of thinking. You organize your brain around Todoist's paradigms.
Building something custom meant hiring a developer, explaining your needs, iterating for weeks, and paying thousands. So you didn't. You adapted.
That equation just broke.
What this looks like now
A few weeks ago, I set up a Mac Mini running Clawdbot, Moltbot, OpenClaw, an AI assistant I can talk to via Telegram. I named him Carl.
I am building a SaaS and some client projects with my co-developer Ivan. We track tasks in Linear. My old workflow for picking up a ticket:
- See Linear ticket
- Switch to terminal
- Create git worktree
- Open Claude Code
- Work on task
- Refine to my taste
- Create PR
Seven context switches. Now I message Carl: "Pick up CC-273." He creates the worktree, spins up Claude Code, monitors the work, and pings me when it's done. Two context switches. The queue runs while I'm on my morning walk.
The 30-minute tools
Last week I needed a dashboard to track revision history across client projects. Old world: evaluate five SaaS options, sign up for three, get overwhelmed by features I don't need, build a spreadsheet instead.
New world: I described what I wanted. Thirty minutes later - SQLite database, simple HTML frontend, exactly the fields I need. No login. No subscription. No features I'll never use.
The same thing happened with a personal CRM. I kept losing track of when I last talked to friends. Every CRM I tried was built for salespeople: pipelines, deals, revenue. I just wanted: person, last contact, notes, and next nudge.
Carl built it in 30 minutes. It pings me when I've been quiet too long with someone I care about. It's ugly. It's perfect. It's mine.
The gap collapsed
The distance between "I wish this existed" and "this exists" used to be months and thousands of dollars. Now it's a conversation and an afternoon.
If you're technical enough to describe what you want clearly, you can have it. Not a bastardized version squeezed into someone else's paradigm. The actual thing, built around how you actually work.
Still rough
Carl misunderstands sometimes. Things break. I'm learning what works.
But every week, another friction point disappears. Another workflow becomes mine instead of theirs.
The point
This isn't about AI being smart. It's about the cost of custom dropping to nearly zero.
For the first time, software can be personal. Not personalized, a dashboard you can rearrange. Personal - built from scratch around your brain, your workflow, and your weird preferences that no product manager would ever prioritize.
You don't have to adapt to the tool anymore. The tool can be born adapted to you.
If you're still using software that doesn't quite fit, ask yourself: is it because that's the best option, or because building your own used to be impossible?
It's not impossible anymore.