Like any engineer, I think a lot about the tools I use to do my work. Here's where I geek out about them.
thinking
Lots of my work is thinking. The first thing to do is get things out of my head and onto something else. I like steno pads for one-off items on paper. For long form writing and notes, I use a ringed notebook with good paper and a good pen.
A lot of my work is in front of, and with, a computer, and I find myself replicating paper tooling there. I've unfortunately become skilled at notion databases, and use one to track todo items that I put into the computer. I use a separate database to track long range initiatives; instead of checking off items, I use the document entry to track my notes for the work.
Most of the value in writing-as-thinking is from intentionality. The act of putting it down somewhere reinforces the thinking, which makes it more likely I'll do it. Re-reading the words also helps. Exactly where the things are written matters less to me than writing them down.
programming
I still like to write into a text editor and then ask computers to do things.
I'm a long time vim user (for over 20 years). Before that, I used XEmacs (may it rest in peace). These days, I'm testing out zed, which has a shockingly good vim mode. Vim key bindings are a language that makes me more efficient.
I prefer statically-typed languages over dynamically-typed languages.