How I built the perfect productivity system
I wrote this on Medium in October 2022. Since then, I’ve gone through several other productivity tools and techniques, and I’m redesigning my workday as we speak. It’s all a work in progress, and I’m happy that the one constant has been the lesson in this post.
I’m currently using the perfect productivity system. Perfect for me, and probably for a handful of others, but unlikely to be perfect for most, for myself a year ago or a month from now.
It takes time to build a great productivity system that actually works and makes you work. We often judge results after a shorter amount of time than it takes to see results, and we often want to adopt “out of the box” systems rather than build our own. In this post I want to make the case that growing your system over time takes time and needs to be cobbled together using bits of a large number of productivity metodologies.
The “productivity in a box” approach doesn’t work
I started to really get into the concept of productivity while in my early 20s, once I started my first full time job and had to juggle between work, side projects, and the rest of my life. Like many, my brain wasn’t great at holding everything in and things started to fall through the cracks.
And like many taking their first steps in this journey, I started to explore the productivity methods that pop up in every “Top 10” post you google. Pomodoro, time blocking, time tracking, eating frogs, and building Eisenhower matrixes, I tried them all. Not just that, I fully committed to them all.
I inevitably found myself repeating the same cycle:
1. Hype. I found a new productivity method, this is it! This is what’s been missing from my life, I can’t wait to learn all its secrets and finally get things done. No more scrolling through social media for me, this is going to keep me focused and determined!
2. Tweak. Okay, the novelty wore off a bit, I’m still as determined as ever, but now that I’ve used this for a little while I have a better inside view and know what I need to tweak to make it perfect across all of my apps and accounts.
3. Dwindle. I’ve been using this new productivity method for a few weeks now and finally got into a rhythm. Recently I can’t seem to make it to the end of the week, though. I start off pumped on Monday, but by Thursday my whole system devolves into a mass of postponed tasks and unseen notes. Maybe this just isn’t for me.
4. Quit. Productivity is overrated, maybe I’m just not meant to get things done. I’m just going to take things slow for a while, I hear there’s something good on Netflix…
Looking back through my decade and a half of notes, projects, and correspondence I can trace the stages above and map out my productivity learning path. Nothing seemed to work for me, and the rock bottom I hit at the end of every cycle felt progressively worse.
But that’s just it, every time I quit a new productivity sprint I felt worse. Going back at it every time I started to incorporate more and more of my previous learnings to my new approach. From small tricks to big ideas, I started to make the transition from trying out new things to adding new things to my system.
This was the biggest breakthrough in my adult life: no system is perfect but your own. It’s only perfect in this instant, and it doesn’t need to be great forever. You’ll keep working on it.
It’s been a big change in mindset, and it led me to quit quitting as often. I expect things to break down, and I am constantly looking at ways to fix broken down areas of my system.
If you’re stuck in a rut as well, just Frankenstein your way to productivity and don’t use productivity itself as a way to slack off. Give it time, and your work will pay off.
System growth best practices
Realizing that your productivity system is one big project you’ll never stop working on is just the first step. Actually building and nurturing it requires time and effort — after some reflection, here are a few best practices that I found routinely help me:
Think in weeks and months, not just days. It’s great to prioritize and work in a systematic way, and most productivity methods focus on keeping you accountable and working towards having a productive day. Move a step beyond that, and structure your work and your plans in weeks and months. Make use of natural stopping points (the beginning of a new week, month, quarter, or year) to draw a line, review the previous period, and plan the next. That being said, remember to…
Review, review, review. Nothing has helped me more than constantly going back through my system and looking at what worked and what didn’t. I don’t do it as rigurously as I probably should, but every time I do there’s a lesson to be learned, an idea to be had, a thought to be remembered. All this because I remember to…
Write things down. This is the third item on my list, but it’s likely the most important. The basis of any productivity system is content, and nobody is going to write your content but yourself. You’re essentially writing post-it notes for yourself in a system you design, so do future you a favor and speak! I often groan at the things I used to think or claim, but that’s just a sign that somewhere things have improved, and I’m a better, albeit still somewhat self-judgemental, person.
Talk to others. Learn from others! I’m not talking about productivity gurus, but actual people you interact with. Share with them your workflow and ask about theirs. I’ve been doing this for years and it’s a great way to learn, improve, and share with others what you’ve been through. Even if you have something that you think is a small detail of no consequence, you have no idea how many others might lack it. So talk about what works and what makes you work, and ask the same from others.
Think in projects, not tasks. So often we’re stuck tracking tasks and to-dos and forget that these are just steps in bigger projects, steps to a bigger goal, and not goals in themselves. Just like thinking in weeks and months, tracking projects or initiatives is a great way to think broadly and motivate yourself to get things done.
Don’t be afraid to cut things loose. If you regularly step back and review your system you’re going to see things that consistently don’t work. Don’t be afraid to let them go, trim your system and move forward without them. If time blocking is more of a hassle than a useful tool, stop doing it! If you can’t seem to push yourself to start that Pomodoro timer, squash the tomato and move on to better tools.
Start now! Don’t wait for Monday, don’t wait for next month, if you have an idea of a change for the better, implement it now. Gaps between idea and implementation is where procrastination is born, so don’t dwell on a great idea — get it done!
Conclusion and your next steps
How does your productivity system look like? What tools do you use, what habits do you follow? I’ve asked this question hundreds of times in one-on-one discussions and I’m asking you now. You can reach out and tell me, but more importantly, answer yourself. Next, ask yourself: how can it be better? What’s holding you back?
Start treating your productivity system as the best system in the world for you. The best experts talking to a broad audience won’t know how it applies to you, so it’s up to you alone to figure out what works best.