For many years now I've been trying different time management/productivity methods. I kept changing because they all felt overly complicated, and indeed I spent more time organizing and auditing lists than following them. The end result was always the same: I'd end up with a list of thousands of items, which became so overwhelming I'd feel anxious looking at it.
One day I came across this LifeHacker article. I was fascinated by the concept. This method took away all the sorting and tagging and prioritizing. I bought a notepad and tried it for a while, but somehow it just didn't click. I bookmarked the page and went on.
Long story short, I tried many methods and applications until I gave up and decided settle for Google Keep. Sure, it was minimalistic to a fault, but I had given up on many projects, including trying to keep track of routine tasks, so it wasn't that bad.
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon the bookmark again and a little light bulb appeared right above my head. I can make this work with Keep!
I've been testing it for only a couple days, but I want to share it with the community, hoping that your comments and feedback will help iron out any wrinkles in the system, for the benefit of all. Without further ado, here's how it works:
Setup
This article assumes you already know how to use Google Keep.Set up a color code. I suggest green for new, yellow for recurring, orange for unfinished and red for old. You still have a few colors left. I suggest you leave those for notes that are not actionable.
Make a note for every task you've been meaning to do, and mark it as old (red). As soon as you're done, any tasks you add are new (green).
Every note should represent a goal you wish to accomplish, if there are multiple steps, use checkboxes within. For example, don't add a note for "Buy bread" and another for "Buy Milk", instead just have a single "Groceries" note.
For daily tasks, I suggest you bundle them in different routines depending on their context. For example, "Morning routine", "Bedtime routine", "Weekend chores", "Monthly progress report" and such
You may be wondering when do you get to set a task's priority. The answer is never. Instead of thinking of a task's importance, try to focus on how urgent it is. The goal is to do all the task, on time, not just the important ones,
Set up complete! Now here's what you do the first time you go through your list:
First Time
Look at your old (red) tasks. Get to work on those you feel you're ready to tackle. If it's a list, then work on it if you feel you can at least check the next one off.- If you finished the task, and you don't have to do it again later, erase it. Feels good, doesn't it? Or maybe you can change it to a neutral color and archive it?
- If you have to do it again, set a reminder for when or where you can get back to it - not a deadline. Change it to recurring (yellow) and archive it.
- If you only checked off some boxes, change it to orange (unfinished), set a reminder for when or where you think you can get to the next item on the list, and archive it.
Tasks are archived to get them out of sight. If you can't work on it, no point in having it visible. The thing is that when a reminder goes off, the task becomes unarchived and goes back to your active list. The reminder is not a deadline alarm, it is only a reminder. When it goes off, go ahead and dismiss it, stress free. Acknowledge it, but don't go rushing to complete the task.
Continue going through your old (red) tasks until you've done the ones you feel ready to complete. Don't force yourself to do the others.
Next go to the new (green) tasks, then the recurring (yellow) ones, and then the unfinished (orange) ones.
Done! From the second time on, there is one thing you will do differently: you have to do at least one old (red) task. If you absolutely can't work on any of them, you need to clean up.
Cleaning up
If you went through all your old (red) tasks and none of them feels right, you need to know why. There's basically only two reasons you'd continuously skip a task:- Because I'm not ready, or not in the right place. Add a few checkboxes listing what you need in order to start. Getting ready for the task now becomes part of the task. Mark as unfinished (orange), and set a reminder for when or where you think you can complete the first requirement. Archive it so it doesn't bother you in the meantime.
- Because I don't want to do it anymore. Ask yourself, is it really that important? If it is important, you should write down the reasons within the note, otherwise, delete the task! It's OK to change your mind.
Once you're done cleaning up, and there are no old tasks (red), turn all your new tasks (green) into old ones (red) and start over again. Remember, you don't have to clean up if you did at least one old (red) task.
Auditing
It shouldn't be necessary, but every once in a while, maybe once a week, I suggest you go through your notes looking for these errors:- An archived task without a reminder
- A mislabeled (colored) task
- Too many active unfinished tasks - Be sure the next step is doable, otherwise archive until it is or add a step
- Too many recurring tasks - you may want to bundle some of them together
And there you have it! Please give a try and post your returns in the comments!
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