Creating a productivity system: a better, organized you.
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This document provides tips for creating a productivity system, including goal setting, task management, organizing tasks, prioritizing work, planning time, using digital tools, and conducting weekly reviews. It recommends writing short-term and long-term goals, using apps like Wunderlist to organize tasks into projects with due dates, categorizing tasks as today, next actions, waiting, or future time periods, prioritizing based on goals, planning time on a calendar, using tools like Evernote and Pocket for storage, and reviewing tasks and calendars weekly.
Creating a productivity system: a better, organized you.
- 1. Creating a Productivity System A better,organized, you.
- 2. Topics Introduction to productivity and systems Goal setting Task management apps Setting up projects and dissecting goals Organizing your tasks Prioritizing your work Setting up your calendar Planning your time Using digital storage and organization The weekly review
- 3. Productivity Productivity is a combination of being effective (choosing WHAT to do) and efficient (HOW you do it). I n order to be more effective and efficient, there are three key components you’ll need to optimize: time, energy, and attention.
- 4. Goal Setting Write your vision 1) Define your short-term goal and time frame “I want to ...and ...in 3 months’ time.” 2) Define your time budget “I’ll spend 15 hours a week on this project.” 3) Define your long-term goal that will be the result of your short-term goal “I want to .” 4) Put it all together Notice how this goal has very little to do with being more productive. Your goal is your motivation and defines why you do what you do. Productivity is how you’re going to achieve this.
- 5. Apps to Use I use Wunderlist, Trello, Asana, TodoIst but defining a tool is up to you. It should help you to be more productive as such.
- 6. Setting Up Your Project 1. Set up your project(s) 2. Enlist everything you have to do(and go for quantity) 3. Assign Due Dates(don’t skip this task) Mistakes to avoid: Avoid the temptation to add tasks to a list without attaching any information to them(if it’s not clear it’s not achievable) Action step: Organize your task list Go through the process above to organize your tasks into relevant projects. Take some time to make sure you’ve listed everything that needs to be done, included any relevant attachments, and assigned a due date.
- 7. Organize your Tasks “Today” “Next actions” Next actions are the smaller tasks that aren’t tied to a particular due date (because they’re less urgent). They‘re the things that you’d like to do when you get a chance. “Waiting”(for something to happen or someone to respond before you can complete a task) “This week”/Current Sprint “Next week”/Next Sprint “Later”//Backlog
- 8. Prioritizing your work Refer back to your goals and vision (First—and this should come as no surprise—you should refer to your top-level goals and vision to remind yourself of the outcome you’re working toward. This is why writing a clear and measurable goal is so important in the first place. It outlines the purpose of your work and defines where you’re trying to get to.) Add “context” to your task list Here are some common tags or labels you could use: Low-energy ; High-energy ; Urgent; Work; Home; Errands; Desktop; Email; 5 minutes; 25 minutes; 60 minutes
- 9. Planning your Time the great thing about scheduling your time in advance is that you’re literally making time for the work you want to get done. 1) Link your task management app with your calendar(sync task with due date to calendar) 2) Create your calendar categories (a.k.a. "calendars"): work, study, appointment, business meeting, … 3) Set up recurring events for regular activities (daily working time, scheduling time, followups; Taking breaks or going for a daily walk; lunch, weekly meetings) 4) Plan when you’re going to work on your tasks
- 10. Storage & Organisation Tools available: Pocket(for links) Trello(for making direct tasks) Evernote Wunderlist Add your top tags and notes to shortcuts
- 11. Weekly Review 1) Fill out your weekly journal (5 minutes) What were my major achievements this week? What challenges do I currently face? 2) Review your task list (10 minutes) Now you can flick over to your task list and take stock of what you’ve got coming up over the following week. During this step, you might want to adjust any of the due dates and reorder tasks as you plan the new week. 3) Review and update your calendar (10 minutes) Action step: Prepare for your first weekly review
Editor's Notes
- #2: So long, procrastination
- #5: Without a specific goal that defines what you’re trying to achieve, how do you know if the work you’re doing is worthwhile?
- #6: Really, it doesn’t matter which tool you use, as long as you’re using something you enjoy and it’s something you’re going to stick with.
- #8: In order to add structure to your task list, I recommend that you group your tasks into the following sections (don’t feel like you have to use all of them, just the ones most appropriate for you).
- #10: While planning be realistic! Don’t squize too much Action step: Set up your calendar Go through the steps above to set up your calendar and schedule time to work on your tasks. Set up regular appointments to repeat as necessary. Be sure to keep your calendar open during the day and update appointments when needed.
- #11: Mistakes to avoid: When setting up your notebooks and tags, be mindful of the number of each that you set up. You want to make it nice and simple when it comes to deciding where a note should live. If you have too many notebooks, it can make things confusing. In the beginning, Evernote can be a bit of a blank canvas. Use it as much as you can in the first few weeks to work out how it’s going to fit in with your workflow.
- #12: weekly review is when you take some time once a week to reflect on what you’ve achieved over the previous week, take stock of your current situation, and plan for the upcoming week