A like-minded productivity nerd and I have been comparing notes on approaches and tools for personal organisation. It’s occurred to me that others might find my system valuable, and may have suggestions about ways in which it could be improved.
So here it is.
The fundamentals
First, to run a system like this you need a lightweight, flexible task management app (Trello, or an equivalent like Asana).
This acts as a digital kanban, a set of online post-it notes, organised in columns. These post-its are prioritised vertically in order of importance, and progress from left to right through a simple workflow as they approach completion.
You can follow along with the Trello board here and even copy it for your own use.
Next, there are a series of governing principles, heavily influenced by David Allen’s Getting Things Done, and Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:
You are finite: There is not enough time to do everything, so choose carefully where you’re going to focus your limited motivation, time and resources, in line with the Eisenhower Matrix (see below).
Zoom out to the big picture: These prioritisation choices are easier if they’re guided by an inspiring and coherent framework / narrative / set of principles / vision / mission — there’s no point in very efficiently doing the wrong things.
Don’t just dream — act: Once this ‘big picture’ direction is set, the job of a productivity system is to ensure that the objectives and tasks required to deliver this ‘mission’ are organised, with the minimum amount of administrative overhead.
Don’t trust your memory: It’s incredibly inefficient to use brain capacity to remember things — write things down instead in whatever medium is most appropriate. This also helps process information, clarifying what needs to be done and reducing the sense of being overwhelmed that comes with lots of nebulous ‘to-dos’ in the back on one’s mind.
Keep it simple: You need a single ‘source of truth’ to organise this content (although not necessarily store it), and a single method to process it.
There’s more to life than work: This productivity system must work for the whole of life — not just work—as having multiple systems inevitably results in complexity and errors. I use five categories: - Relationships (pink) - Spirituality (green) - Work & career (blue) - Renewal (red - contains health, life planning, culture, leisure and entertainment) - Material things (purple) You can make up your own categories but the important thing is that these don’t overlap and they cover all possible inputs of information. In management-consulting-speak this is called ‘MECE’ — ‘Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive’.
Column 1: Inbox
This is where every stray piece of information goes to begin with.
This could be a link to a blog you might want to read, a to-do you’ve just remembered, or an idea you’ve scribbled down while in a conversation.
As per principle 4 above, this information goes into your inbox to get it out of your working memory, freeing up your brain to stay focused and do more useful things. It also acts as a buffer between the immediate demands of a given day, and your overarching personal mission.
The input format here can vary, such as an email to the Trello board, or typing into the Trello app. I often use a small pocket notebook and take pictures of it to send to the Inbox — writing things on paper improves my ability to recall, and typing notes on your phone during a conversation is just plain rude.
These Agenzio notebooks from Paperchase are the largest I can find that still fit in a jacket or jeans pocket comfortably. Ideally I try and keep to a single page per concept.
This incoming information is triaged on a daily basis: - Each item is broken down into actionable chunks, - It’s tagged with least one of the categories (see principle 6 above), and - Is placed in one of the regular prioritisation columns listed below, based on its urgency and importance.
Column 2: Mission statement
This is in many ways the most important of the columns. Here, you ‘Zoom out to the big picture’ — principle 2 above. This is an articulation of the kind of life you want to lead, the kind of person you want to become, the kind of things you want to achieve.
Both Essentialism and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People have some exercises for thinking this through, including the latter’s classic encouragement to ‘imagine your own funeral’!
This system creates an overarching vision using a statement of principle / aims / ambition / values for each of the 6 categories.
These statements are at the start of the kanban to make sure I see them every time I look at my system. They should influence everything I do at some level, and I tweak these on an annual basis at most.
Column 3: Quarterly Objectives
A mission statement in isolation is mere wishful thinking.
This next column is a place to translate the high level vision into (a small number of ) concrete objectives for the quarter.
In turn, these quarterly objectives translate into a handful of more granular things to work on during that period.
As with most things in life, the fewer the number of objectives, the more narrow the focus, and the more likely you are to succeed!
The columns for regular prioritisation
The lynch-pin of this whole system is the act of prioritising a piece of information when it arrives in the Inbox.
This choice is based on column 2 — the mission statement — and column 3, the overarching quarterly objectives. There are three options:
· Next — the prioritised actions I need to do as soon as possible, in order to deliver this quarter’s objectives. Ideally this would have no more than three items to keep you focused. Once activity begins, the action moves to the Ongoing Column.
· Backlog — a list of things to get to soon, in priority order. At a healthy point, mine is about 20–30 items, and clearly aligns to my overall vision and objectives. This list is reviewed on a ~weekly basis, and its contents pulled into the Next Column when appropriate.
· A ‘Tickler file’ — another David Allen concept. These are for ‘ideas whose time has not yet come’, interesting stuff you want to hang onto for records, something that might become a future project. I have a tickler file for each category, one separate Trello board for each, organised into columns of similar topics. These boards are revisited only periodically, and where appropriate, some its contents are pulled into the Backlog Column.
The trick is to be disciplined into keeping as little as possible in ‘next’ to maintain focus, dropping items from there to ‘backlog’, and items from ‘backlog’ to ‘tickler files’ as far as possible.
The rest
· Ongoing— I’m working on it; ideally only one thing at a time in here. It also houses 'trackers' to keep me honest about ongoing rhythms and practices. These were inspired by James Clear's Atomic Habits.
· Done— Completed work, in one satisfying list! I currently archive these at the end of each year, but this could probably be done more frequently alongside some sort of journaling practice.
· Scheduled — these are things that are going to happen, provided I turn up on time. While these take up capacity for their duration, they don’t require real action or investment in advance. Trello has a helpful reminder function. This column also houses items I can’t work on until a specific time.
· Blocker — these are items that were in the Ongoing column, that I’ve taken as far as I can. I’m waiting for someone’s review, or something else to happen, before I can take any further action. Having these all in one place is helpful to consolidate all the things I need to chase and all the people I need to ‘nudge’ for a response.
Bonus: Practices
This is a list of the habits that need to be developed and maintained to achieve the overarching mission statement. These are the regular steps of developing in character, skill or achievement. There is no point in having a big picture objective to be a successful tennis player without the daily and weekly training habits to defining your basic skills with a racket.
These practices can relate to any of the five categories e.g. a regular bedtime to get enough sleep (renewal), networking to get new clients (work & career), and being around at bedtime to spend time with your kids (relationships).
I largely focus on daily habits, with a few slightly longer term ones (e.g. a weekly ‘sabbath’ — a proper day off work for rest and renewal).
While I list these at the top of my annual goals in a single ticket, I also build quarterly habit trackers in the Ongoing column, ticking them off each day.
I try and keep these consistent, tweaking these habits only when a new season of life (e.g. a global pandemic) or my quarterly objectives require it.
The final word
Systems like these are all very well, but they really become effective when combined with accountability. Having someone you travel this journey with, who keeps you on track, is vital.
On one level, my wife and I have conversation at the start of each year about what we want to focus on in the upcoming 12 months — we jokingly refer to it as our AGM.
On a more regular basis, a close friend and I keep tabs on each other with weekly texts and monthly chats to keep each other honest about doing what we’ve committed to.
I’d love to hear from you — how could this system be improved? What other techniques have you found helpful instead?
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