What are the 5 tools you simply couldn't do your work without?

Figma — obviously, it's basically an extension of my brain at this point. I think in frames.

Claude — not just for copy, honestly use it as a thinking partner when I'm stuck on a design decision or trying to articulate why something feels off.

Loom — async is underrated. I'd rather record a 3-minute walkthrough than write a 10-minute spec that nobody reads.

Linear — keeps the chaos at bay. As a founder you're always fighting fires, it at least tells you which fire is most important.

Arc browser — sounds boring but the way it handles tabs changed how I research and context-switch. Feels like it was designed for the way I actually think.

The common thread: tools that reduce friction between thinking and doing. Anything that slows that loop down gets cut eventually.

Funny how the list is never just the obvious five. It's those plus the three more you bolt on to make them talk to each other. The ones I genuinely couldn't drop are the editor, the place I actually talk to customers, and whatever holds payments. Everything else is negotiable. I build DukieX because that "plus three more to connect them" part is where most of my time used to leak.

my 5:
1. Claude - as a personal Operating System
2. Findable - to optimize AEO for my clients & our business
3. Superhuman - for faster, more organized e-mails
4. WhatsApp - for communication with my clients, and leads
5. my phone - to make actual phone calls and close deals

1. ChatGPT - chat for brainstorming/ regular searching, codex for coding my own project.

2. GitHub Copilot - for day to day coding work at company.

3. Teams - our company chose this for work, I don't really have a choice, outlook the same.

4. Figma - our UI designer uses this, I need it to check the UI designs(for daily work as well).

5. Notes(from macOS) - its like my todo list, memo, clipboard, text viewer ...

• Claude - half my brain lives here at this point. briefs, emails, brainstorming, even thinking through strategy

• Notion - where every content plan goes to either thrive or quietly die

• Sales Navigator - cold outreach without it is just guessing

• Figma - I can't design but I can at least leave comments in the right place

• Google Sheets - boring answer but nothing else lets me track 10 things at once without losing my mind

If I had to pick five tools that would hurt the most to lose for knowledge work:

1. ChatGPT – thinking partner, research assistant, first-draft machine.

2. Claude – long-form writing, document analysis, and nuanced brainstorming.

3. Gmail – communication, notes-to-self, reminders, and surprisingly good search.

4. Notion – second brain for projects, ideas, and documentation.

5. Figma – because being able to quickly visualize an idea saves endless explanation.

Your list actually highlights something interesting: four of the five aren't about creating. They're about reducing friction. Proofreading, translating, organizing, communicating. The less energy spent on mechanics, the more energy available for thinking.

1. Claude

2. Google

3. Granola

4. Codex

5. Cursor

Mine changes a bit but right it's Notion, Claude, Figma, Gmail and GoogleDocs. Docs is boring but somehow still ends up being where everything important lives

mine would be, a plain text file with no sync or formatting for zero-friction capture, terminal for anything that actually matters, Claude when i need a draft that still sounds like me, a browser tab i never close, and probably Gmail for the same reason you listed. the tools that don't make these lists are usually the invisible ones you only notice when they're gone.

It really depends on what part of the business I am focused on at any moment in time, but most used in general:

1. Gmail / Google
2. XAPP - Managing / grouping all messaging
3. Pigeon Link - Secure Communications
4. PostXtra - social posts across our 14 corporate web sites
5. Stripe - watching sales transactions and cash flow in real time