What stage of productivity are you in?
And a better question
Underneath every productivity tip is a philosophy about the best way to organize one’s time. There are 4 such mindsets, listed here in the order they usually evolve.
Intuition — It’s best to just do what feels right. Limiting yourself to deadlines and systems is unnecessary.
Goals — Focus on specific outcomes and do whatever you need to make those happen on the timeline you decided. No need to reassess or be captured by your feelings.
Systems — You can’t always control the outcome, so just worry about what you can control, which is your input (time, energy). Create a routine and stick to it.
Purpose — Make sure you value whatever you’re doing. Worry less about how much time something might take; worry about whether it’s worth your time at all.
To make this more relatable, here’s how these mindsets can be applied to productivity apps:
“I don’t need a calendar or to-do app. I got it in my head and will just wing it”
“I’m going to write these goals down and use my apps to track how close I am to hitting them”
“I need my calendar and task apps to be integrated into these systems”
“Instead of worrying so much about the specific apps I use, I’m going to make sure I’m clear on what I want out of my life first”
These mindsets are not linear or one-time stages, and one isn’t inherently better than the others. But it’s helpful to be honest with yourself about which mindset you’re in, as each comes with a sneaky tradeoff. Intuition sacrifices accountability. Goals supersede meaning. Systems discount feelings. Purpose slows down action.
What’s even more helpful is to get good at answering this question for yourself, “How’s this mindset working for me?”