What You Need for a SIMPLE Productivity System
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Ever feel like you’re juggling ideas, appointments, and to-dos—and still dropping the ball? If you don’t have a clear place to put things, it’s not a personal failing. It just means you’re missing a system. Today, I’ll show you 4 simple parts that can help you get organized and stay on top of what matters.
A productivity system doesn’t have to be something big and scary. It doesn’t have to be something canned and generic to work for everyone. It doesn’t have to TAKE OVER your life. It’s just a simple way to keep track of all the stuff life throws at you—without feeling like you’re constantly behind or forgetting things. Mostly it’s stuff you’re probably already doing. Maybe not consistently. Maybe not with intention.
You don’t need a bunch of apps. You don’t need to be perfect.
You just need to know: Where will I put this? That’s it.
It’s important to know this for the front end - putting it there, and for the back end - finding it later…knowing where to look for it.
I’m going to walk you through the four parts of a simple system, show you how I personally handle each one, and give you a simple alternative in case my tools aren’t for you.
You will probably want or need some options/extras added on to this basic system based on your interests, your job, etc, which I’ll go over in other videos, but these are the productivity basics.
#1 Capture Ideaas
Where do you put ideas, reminders, or things you need to remember as soon as they pop up?
Personally, most of the time I use Reminders on my phone (often with Siri when I’m in the car, in the garden, in the shower…or anywhere else I don’t want to or can’t type). I use this because it’s fast and my phone is always with me or nearby. If I’m at my desk it will go on my daily page, on my weekly-ish task list, or on a sticky note PAD.
A few other good options: A pocket notebook, Google Keep or Google Tasks—it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s easy and immediate. You may need one digital and one paper. You may need something different in the different places that you regularly are.
The idea is to have as few of these containers as you can, but as many as you need. If you don’t have a quick place to capture things, your brain will try to hold everything—and it’s not built for that. (Obligatory reference to David Allen in Getting Things Done.)
You’ll need to clear these out on a regular basis. We’ll talk more about that another time. For now, we’re just picking the containers.
#2 Record Appointments
This isn’t anything new, I’m sure. But I want you to be INTENTIONAL. This is a part of a system.
These are time-based things—appointments, meetings, events, deadlines.
I use Google Calendar synced across all my devices, but any calendar that lets you see your time works.
You could use Apple Calendar, a paper planner, or even a wall calendar—whatever you’ll actually check. I have fond memories of my mom recording everything on a free wall calendar from the bank. And equally fond memories of my mother in law carrying a check-book size calendar in her purse.
The golden rule: if something has a date or time, it goes here. Don’t trust your brain to remember it.
Like capture containers, fewer is better. Ideally one, but life isn’t always ideal and work may require a separate calendar and may even prevent you from viewing work commitments where you want to.
Just like the capture step, the calendar is also only helpful if it gets looked at. Another pitch for digital because it can remind you…but if paper calendars work for you…go with it.
You just need to be able to confidently answer the question: Where do you keep track of your appointments and events without a lot of ifs and buts.
#3 Manage Tasks (THIS NEEDS TO BE RE-WRITTEN)
This is your to-do list—it’s where you track what you need to get done. We talked about capturing tasks to get them out of your head, but they’ll need somewhere to live, separate from where you’re capturing them.
At its simplest, it’s just a list (or lists). This can be on a pad of paper, in a notebook, or in a planner*. It can also be digital. If you’re just now building a system, start simple. Try paper or just a simple document like an Apple Note or Google Doc if you want to go digital. It CAN be the same tool as one of your Capture Containers, but it doesn’t have to be.
I’m back on paper for this. I bounce back and forth between digital task managers (most recently Things 3, but I’ve used ToDoist, OmniFocus, Notion, ClickUp, SmartSuite, Microsoft To Do, Google Tasks, Teux Deux, some that aren’t around anymore and I’m sure many that I’ve forgotten. I’m using an A5 Mnemosyne book with my tasks organized by my Areas of Focus or Life Domains. I also have a project list in Google Sheets, but that’s a story for another time.
You just need to have someplace that you trust has all the stuff you need or want to do. And you guessed it, you’ll need to look at it regularly.
#4 Plan Your Day
This is where everything comes together. It’s also where there’s the biggest array of options. But each day, you need to know what you want and need to do, where you need to be and when. etc. etc.
The question in the intro was “Where will you plan what you’ll do when, outside of appointments?”
I think a weekly reset/review/planning session is a GREAT habit, but I know it can be intimidating. I’ll call that a next-level thing too. Let’s not think about that yet. We’ll talk about that LATER. This is the Where will you… video… it’s the BASICS video.
And basically… what do YOU need to look at to know what to do each day and what do you do with this info?
Do you just look at your calendar on your phone over coffee in the morning? Do you write things on a post it and stick it to your phone? (Don’t laugh…I often do that…and then stick the post it to my dash in my car if I’m running errands.But that’s not ALL I do.) Do you have a planner that works as a framework to help structure your days and weeks?
These are just a few possibilities. But I want you to really think about it. You DO plan your day. At least in your head. Think about whatever you are doing now and if it’s working for you. Where do you plan this NOW? Even if you don’t think you do…you do.
I love the IDEA of a daily planner and I even purchased a big, honkin’ one for 2025 thinking I’ll plan in it EVERY DAY. But the reality is I don’t need to plan like that every day. (But I do plan every week!) I didn’t like the size or format of the annual, daily planner that I bought. But I wanted SOMETHING to use most days. I had a couple Full Focus Planners from when I did a subscription, so I figured I might as well use one. Turns out I’m enjoying it…once I gave myself permission to NOT use the rest of the parts of the planner. (If you’ve followed me at all, you know I DO most all their things, I just do them in other places.
For now, just pick SOMETHING, even if it’s a note on your phone or a post-it and try to be intentional about what you’ll do each day.
While you need to do SOMETHING each day to know what your day looks like, you CAN batch the more THOUGHTFUL planning weekly.
But the HOW of that, and what else you may want to include…I’ll do another video.
Wrap Up
That’s it—those are the 4 basic parts of a productivity system:
Capture Ideas
Record Appointments
Manage Tasks
Plan Your Day
If you can answer “Where will I…?” for each of those, you’ve got the foundation.
It doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be a starting point.
If you’d like to evaluate your current system or build a new one, I’ve got a free guide to help you with just that!
I’ll be diving deeper into each of these parts in future videos—how to choose the right tool, how to actually build the habit around it, and how to make it all stick.
In my opinion, these are the parts needed for Productivity Basics. For a simple, bottom-up, task-based productivity system. I’ll also be diving into Add-Ons & Upgrades. We’ll get into Projects, Goals, Habits, Routines, Notes, Reflections, Journals…all that good stuff.
So if you want to take the next step in building your system, make sure you’re subscribed. I’ve got you.