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My Productivity System
’Tis the season! The season of planner overwhelm. Look at one and the computer bots will send you hundreds. They all look so similar, so complicated, and yet which is the perfect system for you? If you choose wrong, that $50 planner will be in the trash by February and your all-important things-to-do right alongside them in the bin of regret.
It doesn’t need to be so complicated. The real key to productivity isn’t the tool. It’s the process. This is the process I built for myself over the years. I’ll include the tools I used, but they are free and low effort. I have used all the expensive tools and some of them are incredible. But you don’t need those to get things done.
All you really need is:
- A notebook and pen
- 10 minutes a day
- <30 minutes once a week
- 30 minutes once a month
- 30–60 minutes once a quarter
My journey
As a young manager, I was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with the number of things to keep track of, tasks to get done, and goals to achieve.
It wasn’t just my corporate job either. I was in school at night to finish my MBA and had two young children.
