1 – Capture – Write down any tasks, ideas or information that pops into your head.
2 – Clarify – decide the next action on what you captured. Do it (if it takes 2 minutes or less), trash it, or put it on your to-do list.
3 – Do / focus – do one task at a time, without distractions
4 – Plan (optional) – each day, block out time for your most important task
1 – Capture
Write everything down. Your head is terrible for holding ideas. To avoid forgetting, write down anything that comes to mind, and any tasks that you are given (e.g. by boss).
Carry a small notebook, use a ‘notes’ app, email yourself, whatever works for you.
Reflect/think on paper
Mind sweep – if you feel overwhelmed, take 30 mins to write down everything on your mind, using a trigger list.
Journaling – write down something you’re grateful for at the end of each day; write down your worries, detailing what can go wrong, and what you would do in that case; write down the highlight of your day to be told as a story later (storyworthy)
Morning pages – write three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, first thing in the morning
Plan out projects – for complex goals, use the natural planning model
2 – Clarify & Organize in lists
At least once a day, go through what you captured and clarify the next action you can do to move it forward, and add it to your to-do list.
If it takes less than 2 minutes, just do the thing.
By writing things down, you’re not committing to doing them. When clarifying, you can also trash, delegate, or file for later reference.
Reducing the number of “open loops” greatly reduces stress. Consider moving things to a “someday/maybe” list, and revisit them 1 year later.
You can also have ‘agendas’ for each important person or recurring event (e.g. ‘boss’, ‘recurring meeting’), where you store things relevant to that person/event.
Finally, you can use calendar for day-specific activities or important deadlines.
3 – Do / Focus
Remove all distractions. Single handle every task. Work without stopping until it is 100% complete.
Develop discipline to make progress every day. Make it part of your identity.
That’s very hard, so use whatever you can to motivate yourself.
Don’t procrastinate. To battle procrastination, the 2 most effective tactics are to ‘just start’ and ‘break down the task until it’s no longer ‘scary’.
Stay in flow: tasks should be at your level of experience on the topic – not too hard and not too easy.
Avoid perfectionism: most decision are reversible – act fast and without perfect information; quantity leads to quality – don’t overthink; maximum efficiency – half-ass it with everything you got.
4 – Plan / What to work on
Each day, block out time in your calendar for your most important task.
If it’s not obvious what is your most important task, clarify your goals and values.
Tasks should link back to a goal/value/skill you want.
If you feel overwhelmed: simplify, or 80/20 your life
80/20 principle – 80% of results come from 20% of your actions. So, get rid of the rest, and focus your efforts on the right 20%. Taken to its extreme, ask yourself:
“What ONE thing will make everything else easier or unnecessary?” and focus on that.
If you’re not feeling “hell yeah!” then say no.
The most effective actions tend to be important, but not urgent. Prioritize them.
Delete/Delay/Delegate/Declutter
Have a not-to-do list.
Ask: in 10 years, will this matter? the answer is almost inevitably, no.
Let small bad things happen.
If you can delegate, do it more often.
Get rid of things you do not use or need. Ask “does it spark joy?”; if not, get rid of it.
If this feels like too much change, focus on 1 habit at a time. There are several other things you can do to increase the odds when changing habits: commit publicly, reward yourself, track your progress, etc.
Keep only what works for you, with time you’ll develop your own system.
Inspired by minimal zen to done (Zen habits), bullet journal
If you like this, you’ll probably like: Simplest productivity system; Zen to done, GTD, Eat that frog, books
Leo :) 