Improving my Personal Productivity System
Sometimes you need to write out your ideas so you can improve them. For almost everything, you already have a process. And it's probably 80% where it needs to be. But if you want to make it better, you need to put your process onto paper and, in doing so, you'll go 'ah, I can do X, Y, or Z instead and get over this hurdle I'm having'.
So this is part of that process for me.
I've read a lot about productivity. And I've read a lot of blogs. It's kind of fun peaking into the minds of people, because they are always so complicated. Go and visit the r\obsidian subreddit and you'll see all sorts of pretty node graphs and things. They all look like a galaxy and I can't help but think, 'How do you have so much to do?' Plenty of questions about "Am I doing it right?" and the like. Bullet journals seem to have similar problems: plenty of pretty pictures, plenty of questions ... not a lot getting done.
I try to keep my life as simple as possible. I only make things complicated if the complications make the process more fun. Hence, I use markdown in my to-do list, as I can make little checkboxes with "- [ ]" and "- [X]" at the start of each line, and that's about all I need.
Most productivity plans come down to the to-do list. That's pretty much all they are. How fancy can you make them? How much detail do you need? Is a calendar a to-do list? (Yes,by the way -- it's a to-do list that's just arranged in a grid instead of rows.)
But being productive is actually doing the thing, not just writing it down. In fact, writing it down can often kill the thing, because writing something down makes your mind feel as though you have aleady done something about it, and you don't need to worry about it anymore. (Give it a go: take something you are stressing about and write it down in a text file, then save that text file. Feel better? Almost certainly!)
The other problem with a to-do list is the urge to put things on it. Do I need to put everything on it, or only the things I actually plan to do? After all, I could put "clean car" on my list but I have zero intentions of cleaning the car. So why put it on? And if I put it on my list, will I actually do it? Can I clear it out if I don't want to?
And what about stuff I am putting off but know I should do? Should I put those things on my list? I do, because I guess even though I'm putting something off, it doesn't mean I shouldn't do it -- and having it stare at me as I consult my list might actually make me do the thing.
In short: should my to-do list actually be things I plan to do, so I can check them off; or should it be things I am supposed to do, so I can feel guilty about it and do nothing?
Hard questions to answer, and the more I think about it the more I am unsure.
But this is why writing out your process can be so beneficial: I hadn't thought of any of this before I started typing. I had just assumed my process was pretty good. After all, things get done. Mostly. And what doesn't get done can wait. Mostly. And the world keeps moving.
And yet ...
... And yet, there are a heap of projects I never finish, never start, never even attempt. Could I improve my productivity system so these actually get completed? Or is it best they died, because that's telling me something -- that they weren't worth the effort, that getting them to 50% was all they deserved and I can wash my hands of it. At the time I start a project, it doesn't feel that way. I don't think I ever start something and thing 'Yep, I'll do about half of it and move onto something'. Except this blog, perhaps. I don't think this blog is a long-term thing. It's just something to keep my brain working whilst I prepare other projects. Maybe I'm maturing.
So how does my system work?
I use a simple text file and call it Today.md. It's a markdown file, which is just text.
I then use a header at the top: "Today", and then I list all the things I want to accomplish for the day. There is no long-term planning in this file, not really. I might create another heading for "Future" but it is often just full of high-level stuff with no real sense of urgency. (Note: This is probably the problem right there. I am focused on the here-and-now, and the then gets ignored.)
The main issue I have with this is that the chores are easy to define and the brain-work is not. "Clean kitchen" is obvious. "Plan novel" is not -- and that might explain why my projects don't get done. Cleaning the kitchen is an easy, not-always-unpleasant task and once it is done I get to mark it with an X. So that gets done. Planning a novel can be a damned-hard thing to do, and it is almost always unpleasant, which is wierd because I really enjoy writing novels, and yet when I'm stuck I am stuck. So that gets put off. And today becomes tomorrow becomes next week becomes next year becomes never.
So that's the first thing I need to solve. How to do the thing I struggle to do.
The other thing is: why do I preference chores and not things that will make me happy? Currently I have "Exercise" on my list, and that will make me happy and yet I am just not doing it. Why not? I have only so much time before I can't do it for the day, so I should make it a priority. But, no, my body refuses something it wants to do. How strange!
One reason I started this blog was to get off social media. I find I go and scroll social media endlessly rather than doing things. I thought if I started this blog, then I could write a blog post instead of scrolling. And that does work. Previously, I used micro-journaling to get off Reddit, which worked for six months until I got so sick that I could do nothing but sit on the couch, and then Reddit came back like an ex-lover.
But giving up social media hasn't stopped the urge to not do the things I want to do. They are just an excuse. I am still not doing the things!
As I look at my to-do list for today, almost all of it is chores and almost all of it makes me unexcited. No wonder I don't want to do these things. And if 90% are chores, then the other 10% are probably shit, too. So my planning is working against me.
Also, I am sitting in front of a computer. So exercise and PCs don't really go together, do they? No. So to get my exercise off my list, I will need to leave the computer, do the exercise, come back and mark an X. That's a lot of effort.
I'm going to exercise now ...
... And I'm back. I did the best exercise session I have done in years. This is the first 'proper' workout I have done in the home gym I built a week and a bit ago. I feel great. I feel pumped. I also feel exhausted!
So "Exercise" gets an X.
One thing I started doing today was sorting through my list with sub-headers. So exercise was under the heading "Should be fun". And it was. Other things are under "Simple to do" and "Don't want to do". Probably the most obvious heading is "Things That are Going to Get Done Regardless". Items under that heading are "make dinner" and "make bed". I think the sub-headers help a little, as I can scan my list via the sub-headers and figure out my mood.
Another thing I am doing is added a horizontal line between the done and the to do. And, after sorting all that, my list is nowhere near as unmaneagable as I thought.
But, again, this is just a to-do list. Where is the doing? Why is it so hard? Once more, I am in front of my PC and just not doing anything. I'm not even wasting time -- that would imply that I was enjoying myself, but I'm not enjoying anything. I'm just sitting here.
Perhaps it is time for lunch.
... And I'm back from lunch. Honestly, when I started this post I hadn't expected it to become a running commentary of my day, but I kind of like it. Working through what works and what doesn't is quite freeing. My original plan was to just write a post which would have said, really how great am I? and, clearly, that's not right. So this is much better.
One of the things I had on my list was to watch an episode of a TV show at lunch. Did that really need to go on my list? I decided I didn't want to watch the show, and would rather sit on my deck and watch the birds. Do I then go back and put 'watch birds' on my list? Silliness. Whilst I was walking back inside, I realised that the wild blackerry bush had some berries ripe for picking, so I grabbed a jar and picked half a dozen blackberries. That wasn't on my list, either.
So here I have added something I thought I would want to do, as a little treat -- watch a TV show -- but what I actually wanted to do was go outside and get away from the screens for a bit. So what's the point of putting fun things down at all?
That's an interesting point, and I'm not sure on my thinking. On the one hand, if you don't put down fun things, then your list is all chores. And who wants to do that? There's nothing wrong with scheduling fun! On the other hand, a bit of spontaneity is a good thing. Where's the balance? I guess I could have added a line 'have fun for 30 minutes' but, oh gee, that really is encouraging. And what's the point of ticking that off? I'm not a fucking robot.
But, somewhere along the way I did the thing I had marked under "do not want to do": I cleaned the kid's room. Well, I cleaned all the mess from the floor. And then I cleaned my eldest's desk, too. Just enough that they won't notice what's missing.
Looking at my to-do list, everything else is just fun things. I think I'm done for the day. I can close my list!
And tomorrow is another day.