Systems of productivity should be custom fit and evolve with
a user’s need. I wanted to share my methodology and tools I have incorporated
into my workflow.
Begin with a practical mindset, which entails reviews, projections, deadlines;
a cultivation of habits; and set schedules. Aim for targets and track your progress.
A word of warning about the productivity procrastination
rabbit hole. While systems and measurements are important, they are but the
tools and the soil in which your work flourishes. Necessary? Yes. Everything?
No. Do not waste valuable worktime with productivity research, unless of course
you are a consultant or analyst. Limit the research of productivity techniques
and tools to a set number of Pomodoros
(or work-time blocks) per day, week or even less.
Time-tracking is essential, I use Toggl Track where I can customize the
Pomodoro timer. I do not map out a day hour-by-hour, rather I keep a daily note
in Obsidian and try
to hit a certain number of Pomodoros per day. Obsidian is a great note taking
app with a steep learning curve. My mornings look like this: proceed with
personal morning routine followed by a 10-minute orientation of the day. What my
daily note currently looks like:
Note that this has a skin on it (Minimal) and a few community plugins (Kanban, Style Settings, Minimal Theme Settings, and Toggle Track).
For more information on Obsidian and a list of templates
please refer to this page.
Grow your garden, a metaphor.
A Pomodoro simply translates to a set block of work time (or
quite literally translates to tomato). Some may refer to them as writing sprints.
The general idea is you sit down and work until the timer goes off, take a
short break, and then do another Pomodoro. In my garden metaphor I refer to
creative and preliminary work as Creative Pomodoros and the Pomodoros that bear
fruit as Flowering Pomodoros. The soil of productivity and the tools of measurement
are all there to support the growth of those harvestable tomatoes. Ideally, you
will spend most of the time ripening the harvestable Pomodoros. The vines that
grow in your garden first are the preproduction type Creative Pomodoros. While necessary
they are not the fruit, which is your goal.
Timothy Zhan once said, “If you want to be a writer, you have to show up for work.”
Writing is mentally taxing, often boring and similar in many
regards to factory work. Of course, it isn’t all mundane, however a large
percentage of it is difficult, laborious and has proven to be a challenging craft.
Mornings are routine followed by a 10-minute to-do daily
orientation of filling out your tasks and goals for the day. Followed by IF
statements like in programming. IF it is Sunday or Monday then proceed with Weekly
Reviews. The same goes for the beginning of the month, year, and quarters of
course.
First, I throw Obsidian’s daily note into a general inbox
folder, to be moved into the corresponding week for processing when it is time
to do the weekly review.
It looks like this:
If you use Toggl Track you can easily see on the reports page what week of the year you are in without having to count it out.
Starting everything with an annual projection on January 1st
is ideal, but you can always shift your year to your own quarters and realign
when you cross into the new year. Best to start today, as our time on this
planet is limited.
Cultivate habit over motivation. Utilize motivation when it
comes but do not wait for it. Motivation is a fickle mistress who is guaranteed
to leave you. Commit to habit. Habit is dependable, and with the proper
structure, analytics, and routine it can be your path to a vibrant ‘garden.’
IF statements:
IF Sunday or Monday
Then Weekly review
IF Friday
Then backup your files
Then Hansei
IF the first of the month
Then Monthly
review etc.
Hansei is a specific type of review that focuses on self-critique.
It is not meant to be a tear yourself down, but it is a time to highlight the flaws
in your systems in order to promote constant improvement. Personally, I find it
enjoyable to sit down with a notebook and a fountain pen and write Hansei
reviews by hand. Then I type up a list of the issues and potential fixes into a
note in my Obsidian for easy reference. At the beginning of the 2nd
week of Hansei reviews refer to the previous week and see if there are reoccurring
issues and if you have made progress.
Consider a morning 10-10-10. Mine currently is 10-minutes Hansei tracking review. 10-minutes handwriting practice. 10-minuet daily orientation.
Aim for a target number of Pomodoros per day, track and review. Be kind to
yourself. We all need time off, some more than others.
Links:
Obsidian download –alternative Microsoft Loop, Evernote, OneNote
Toggle Track - mobile - desktop - alternative Clockify or Forest app
Kanban alternative: Trello or Taiga
Note: While Obsidian is free the sync ability is not, you can use SyncThing or GIT (I believe) in order to sync between your devices for free.
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