I’m using Kagi for quite some time now and it’s awesome. But recently I was using a different machine and did not have my login credentials at hand so I used Google and holy shit I didn’t remember Google giving such aweful results. I was not able to find what I was looking for. Then searched the same thing on my phone through Kagi and the solution was in the first three results. So yes I also feel that Google search is getting worse.
Gamechanger for me was automation with home assistant. I attached sensors everywhere and wrote scripts that nag me with notifications on my phone. For example I have a smart wall plug where the washer is attached to. If the power draw first rises over a threshold it means, that I started the washer. If it goes below a theeshold that means it’s finished and it sends a notification. To make sure I don’t ignore it, I attached a door/window sensor to the washer’s door. So it reminds me every 5 minutes until I open that fucking door.
And I tried to identify as many situations like these as possible so it takes care of reminding me. It’s not perfect and many things are not feasible to automate. But it helps me a lot!