TL;DR
There are 5 main elements to a solid productivity system:
Inbox, Calendar, Task Manager, Notes Storage, Document Storage.
The Main Part…
You’ve made a decision, you want to become more productive.
What has brought you to this conclusion? Only you can answer that.
For me, it was not about being more productive. It was working at my regular day job, spinning so many plates, some were starting to fall. It was overwhelm, and lack of clarity on what needed to be done and when.
Whatever the reason, what do you need to actually start a productivity system? A search on the internet will bring you millions of results….which one do you look at? Hopefully this one!
If you are not careful you will spend hours looking at shiny systems and processes and not being any more productive! Ahh…one of the words you will become very familiar with – procrastination.
Ok, back to the main question of this post – what do you need to setup a productivity system?
There are many approaches to a great productivity system, and what you are likely to find is that no one approach will fit your personal circumstances. The system you develop will be bespoke to you, and will change over time as you evolve and learn.
Experience has taught me that there are 5 main elements to a solid productivity system, that is not 5 apps or pieces of kit, but 5 elements. These are:
- Inbox
- Calendar
- Task Manager
- Notes Storage
- Document Storage
Let’s have an overview of each of these elements. In future posts we will look at these in more detail.
Inbox
The first part of any productivity system – a place to capture everything and anything that pop’s up in your head. It doesn’t matter comes to mind, put it in your inbox. The inbox can be a physical box where you collect scraps of paper with ideas and thoughts, a note called ‘inbox’ in your notes app, or both.
Calendar
The next part of a solid productivity system – a calendar, whether this is the dog and cat calendar you receive as a Christmas present from your elders, or the app that is default on your phone. The calendar stores all your obligations that must be completed at a specific time and day.
Task Manager
What many people view as a productivity system – the todo list, or task manager. It is only one of the 5 elements, but an important one! Many people advocate an app that lives on your phone, and it is a very good solution. Don’t feel you have you do that, a simple list in a writing pad will absolutely do the trick!
Notes Storage
When you begin to capture everything on your mind, you will come to the realisation that some of the items you write down are not tasks, they are thoughts or notes. This is where the notes storage element comes in. As with the task manager this can be an app, website, or something more ‘real’ like a notebook.
Document Storage
Similar to the inbox, this can be physical or electronic – or both! When developing a productivity system you will create and receive many documents. Having a solid place to keep this is another important piece of the puzzle.
The End…
And that’s it for this post! A quick overview of what you need to being crafting your very own productivity system. In later posts we can look at each element and how to start putting everything together.
Remember, the aim here is to increase our productivity not be perfect – the best way to start is simply to start.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope to see you again!
Chris