You Probably Don't Need a Better Productivity System

Over the years I've tried countless productivity systems, read so many productivity books, purchased apps and planners, bullet journalled, used washi tape and bought a shitload of stationery. All in an effort to find the perfect productivity system that would help me get my life on track.

The ultimate goal has always been to remember things, actually get things done and keep a meaningful record of my life.

But ADHD means that after a while the novelty of these systems wears off and I end up abandoning them, which then leaves me feeling ashamed and annoyed. Eventually I fall straight back into being a disorganised mess.

The productivity system becomes the procrastination

The usual pattern is that I go on YouTube, research productivity systems and find one that I resonate with. Then I watch hours upon hours, days upon days, sometimes weeks of content from other people talking about this system.

I buy a shitload of materials that I might need, watch multiple people set it up in multiple different ways, and then eventually set up my own.

I'll use it for a little while, but I can't make it look as nice as the people on YouTube and I can't do it as quickly as they can. This frustrates me, so I start skipping a day here and there, which eventually turns into complete abandonment.

I've found that the more steps involved in a productivity system, the more likely I am to abandon it.

This is reflected in other aspects of my life, where I can spend a long time researching something and then not much time actually implementing it. I think the common problem between all of these things is friction.

My ADHD monkey brain likes new things

What's helped is learning more about how my ADHD works and realising that it's possible to have a productivity system that gives me the novelty I crave, but can also remain consistent because it's simple to use and creates relatively little friction.

New systems are interesting. They add excitement. Using fresh stationery and opening a crisp new notebook is a wonderful feeling. Setting up a beautiful two-page spread in a bullet journal is incredibly satisfying when it's done.

This pleases my ADHD monkey brain because it likes doing new things.

With notebooks, I want to abandon my old one before it's even finished because I love the feeling of starting a new one. It can take months to fill a notebook and I want to use my new one now!

I think I've found my happy middle ground

Recently I've found what I believe to be a happy middle ground, somewhat thanks to Peter McKinnon — an unlikely source for notebooking advice!

I've liked Field Notes for some time, but recently I decided to start using them for my regular journal, where I write about my thoughts, feelings and important events that I want to look back on and remember.

I've also brain-dumped into Field Notes for some time, but I was never doing anything with those brain dumps. Now I'm actually going back and organising them. Just not as often as I would like, but no system is perfect, right?

What's most important is that I've been consistently using this system for over a month.

I'm not pressuring myself to use it on a daily basis, and I'm putting interesting things in my journal to add some visual interest: pretty leaves and feathers that me and my kids have found, ticket stubs and receipts from fun family days out, and little printed photos that trigger a happy memory.

Because pocket notebooks fill relatively quickly, I get to use a new notebook fairly often, which I think helps keep the novelty alive for me. I have a collection of pocket notebooks lined up and ready to use, which is an exciting prospect because they're really pretty!

They're also small enough to take everywhere with me. If I get a couple of minutes in a waiting room or sitting on a park bench, I can pull out my pocket notebook and jot down some quick thoughts or ideas, or document things going on around me. I find it quite a cathartic exercise.

This isn't a system that needs to look good for anybody else. The only thing that matters is that I find it interesting enough to keep going back to.

I've added enough little trinkets to make it interesting to me. I can flip over a page, see a ticket stub from something we enjoyed and immediately have those happy memories come flooding back, which puts a smile on my face.

And we all need to smile more, don't we?

My task list belongs on a Post-it note

I've also discovered that my task lists are better kept on a Post-it note that I can scrunch up and throw away at the end of the day, rather than keeping them as a permanent reminder of all the things I didn't get done.

Inevitably, my day will end with some of my tasks not ticked off, which adds to me feeling bad about myself. And no one needs that.

If I put them on a Post-it note and I haven't achieved half of the things on it, I can start a fresh Post-it the next day with the things I absolutely must do and throw the rest away.

No one needs to know and I don't need to be reminded of it.

Start with almost nothing

So my advice to someone who knows they would like a decent productivity system but can't seem to find one they can use consistently is to forget all the productivity advice you've learned so far and strip it back to the bare basics.

Get yourself a notebook.

Spend some time with it. Keep it in your pocket. Take it out and about with you. Write down things you need to remember, tasks you want to do, little quotes, thoughts, ideas — anything you like, really.

Use it for a while and you'll start to discover what you genuinely need to keep track of and what turns out to be redundant.

If it turns out that you need a slightly more complicated system because you've got lots of things to remember in different areas of your life, that's fine. But starting with one pocket notebook will help you establish what's important and what's not.

You don't need to start with the perfect productivity system. You need to start with something simple enough that you'll actually use it.