The biggest barrier to productivity is finding the motivation to get started. Motivation can often be hard to come by in a modern world, full of distractions. This is particularly relevant to those of us still working full time. Juggling hobbies, alongside a full time career, can make it seem almost impossible to keep on top of the most simple of tasks in life. 

In order to ensure progress is made in all aspects, I find it important to have a productivity system in place. This allows me to keep track of my short and long term goals. 

I’ve always had a relatively poor long term memory. This means I find it difficult to remember outstanding tasks and goals. This can quickly become overwhelming. Because of this, it is vital for me to have a logical and easy to use system for keeping track of this information.  

This allows me to free my mind from the worry of remembering things. Without this stress, I am more able to focus more on the task in hand.  

My Productivity System 

My productivity system consists of a combination of notes collated in Evernote. These notes are accessible on all devices, meaning I can add to them from anywhere, at any time. This is important to me, as I often have moments of inspiration which would otherwise be forgotten! 

This is a system I have developed over time. It started out as a combination of physical sticky notes and notes taken on my mobile phone note app. I found this cumbersome because they weren’t all stored in one place and were difficult to order. I was relieved when I discovered Evernote via Jake Desyllas at The Voluntary Life.  

Within Evernote I have a main “To-Do List” note, with tasks planned out for each of the next few days. I then include longer term tasks under headings of “Next Week” or “Next Month”. This allows me to keep those long term goals in mind during the day-to-day grind.  

Some of the long term tasks will be ‘bigger’ than others. These can be broken down into smaller tasks to make them more manageable.  

I review my “To-Do List” multiple times a day, crossing off tasks as they are completed. Of course, each day doesn’t always go to plan. It’s important to accept this when it happens and just move incomplete tasks to the next most appropriate time period.  

Longer term tasks can be reviewed less often. I usually do this weekly. As they become more urgent they can be added to that day or week’s list. 

I also have separate notes where more detail is needed in developing a particular task. These are all organised into “Notebooks” for the various aspects of my life (e.g. personal, sport, work, blog, Africa etc) 

Motivation 

This system allows me to gain the motivation to make progress, when things could otherwise seem overwhelming.  

It is inevitable that we all feel different levels of motivation at different times. These periods of high and low motivation can often be unpredictable.  

By breaking each task down into small chunks, you can still make progress no matter what your current level of motivation. 

Low Motivation 

My method when motivation is lacking is to pick the easiest task on my “To-Do List”. This should be something that I can easily achieve without too much energy, mental or physical. This gives me the feeling that I am still making progress despite my mood/energy level, no matter how small the task. Examples of these small tasks could be getting my bag ready for the next day, or simply putting on a load of washing. 

I often find that the process of completing that one task can give me the energy needed to tick off more complex items. Even if that doesn’t happen, at least I will have ticked one item off my list. 

High Motivation 

When you do have the motivation, pick the hardest, most pressing task on your list. You won’t be in a better position to complete this task than now, so use that positive energy!  

The sense of achievement when completing such a task can keep you going for a long time. It removes the burden of worry, knowing the task is now ticked off.  

Feelings are like waves, we can’t stop them from coming, but we can choose which ones to surf.

Jonatan Mårtensson

Don’t Over-Fill Your Time 

An important thing to remember is to keep your “To-Do List” achievable. If anything, I find it best to under fill the available time. This helps in anticipating periods of low motivation, allowing some wiggle room for less productive periods. If you over-fill your list, you will quickly begin to feel overwhelmed during these times and lose all desire to make progress. 

Miss Way struggles with this and I am constantly reminding her not to over-fill her diary!

What’s Your System?  

So that’s a brief overview of my productivity system. It’s the right one for me, because it works. That doesn’t mean it will work for you because we all have different ways of working!

Have you developed your own system? I’d love to hear what works for you. I’m always making small improvements to what I do and we can all learn from each other! One thing I could use some advice on is note taking apps. As I mention, I currently use Evernote but what do you use? If you have found a better system I’d love to hear about it.