Words: 545
Time to read: 3 minutes
I’m always looking to improve my productivity and find ways to better remember things to do. That’s saying a lot because I’m not very organized by default and over the years I’ve adapted various ways to put it all together.
Iterating to find the right solution for me as my needs evolve is always a risk. I can find any number of ways to get organized or be more efficient but then I get so excited about it that I want to deep-dive into making it work, all the while, I’m not doing any of it.
For me, I’ve learned to use several tools that work for me.
It all starts with a simple pen and paper journal. Not for productivity but for clarity. I can readily dump thoughts from yesterday on paper, life that’s happening, and problems that I encounter.
For my daily tasks, I’ve used a system I’ve adapted from Bullet Journaling. Again this is pen and paper. For me personally writing tasks, ideas, and projects down physically is a way for me to engrain in my mind the particulars of the task. I don’t do it perfectly, I’ve never bought a Bullet product, and I certainly don’t say that it’s going to fit your parameters. I’ve also used Trello over the years and recently have gotten using it again for more long-term projects.
Writing this is still a developing project for me. I recently started using Scrivener. I’ve considered other products that are perhaps a bit more beautiful and technologically current, but for the simplicity and focus of writing, I do enjoy it. I have used Evernote for well over a decade. I like it but I recognize that there are other systems that are better. I’ve even played with other capture systems but with well over 5,000 notes in store, I’m so embedded in its ecosystem I likely will continue with it. Exporting and importing that amount of data plus learning a new syntax and system just isn’t something I’m looking to do at this point. I still use this daily. It allows me to digitally organize ideas, writings, and research that I’ve done over the years.
Cal Newport’s system of time-blocking is great and I’m working to better integrate that as my daily driver. I really like his work and I’ve implemented many of his findings in my work as best as I can.
Here’s the thing though—the options are endless. There are thousands of notebooks, methods, books, podcasts, YouTube videos, and blogs dedicated to this topic. I can easily get sucked into the vortex of researching to find something that meets my needs. Make no mistake—do your research. Find the system that you can use. Iterate. Reiterate. Make it yours. Just do it. We quickly get ready, aim, aim, aim… All the while there’s important work to be done. Valuable contributions that you could be making and I mean above and beyond your line of business or outside of your daily assignments. How much more could we contribute and create if we simply got organized? Find your system. Adapt it. Use it. Ready. Aim. Fire. Don’t succumb to the easy trap of the paralysis of analysis when there’s so much more that you could be doing and contributing.