# Productivity systems list

This is a list of known productivity systems.

- These are only necessary according to the complexity of the user's mind, and [a simple text file](https://jeffhuang.com/productivity_text_file/) or piece of paper is fine for most situations.

## The Action Method

For cleaning up [creative brainstorming](mind-creativity.md).

- Action Items - steps to get the project done.
- Back-burner Items - interesting ideas that don't quite fit into the project.
- Reference Items - resources and information for completing the project.

## Agile results

For goal-oriented people who want a complex timeline.

1. Set three outcomes you want for the upcoming year.
2. Set three outcomes you want for the upcoming month that line up with that year's goals.
3. Set three outcomes you want for the upcoming week that line up with that month's goals.
4. Set three outcomes you want for the upcoming day that line up with that week's goals.
5. Perform the day's or week's tasks.
6. Adjust at the end of the respective periods for the next periods.

## Biological Prime Time

For people who like measuring everything.

1. Remove any factors that may mess with your energy, such as caffeine.
2. Record what you're accomplishing each hour you're awake.
3. Search for patterns in your biological rhythms after collecting productivity data.

## Bullet Journal

For people who are constantly disorganized and find productivity systems difficult.

1. Make a categorized index at the beginning of the document, which you'll add to as you add components.
2. Write out a future month-by-month log of general tasks you need to do.
3. Write out a daily log to indicate daily activities.
4. Use "signifiers" as bullet points to indicate specific needs you have (task, note, event, task migrated, task scheduled, task complete, etc.).
5. Organize your monthly goals into categories.
6. Store collections at the back of the document you want to accomplish across a year.
7. Cross off items as you complete them, and transfer important uncompleted tasks to the next month.

[More info here](https://bulletjournal.com/)

## Cynefin Framework

For people who are incredibly uncertain about numerous things.

Organize the problems by their constraints and associations with other things.

1. Simple things are inherently obvious ("Best Practice"):
   1. Sense them
   2. Categorize them
   3. Respond to them
2. Complicated things are "known unknowns" ("Good Practice"):
   1. Sense them
   2. Analyze them
   3. Respond to them
   - Complicated things can often be subdivided into simple things as needed
3. Complex things are difficult to understand ("Emergent").
   1. Probe further
   2. Sense them
   3. Respond to them
   - Complex things can often be multiple complicated things, so precedent and data aren't as effective
4. Chaotic things are completely unknown ("Novel").
   1. Act on them (to find things out)
   2. Sense them
   3. Respond to them
   - There is often no way to know beforehand in a completely chaotic scenario

## Decision Matrix

For people who can't make up their minds.

1. Write down all the options on the left side of a piece of paper.
2. Write each of the factors you want to consider across the top.
3. Give each of the options a "score" based on each factor.
4. Total up the scores to figure out the best decision, and give weight to factors if you want a specific decision.

## Don't Break the Chain

For people who have a difficult time honoring convictions.

1. Declare a small and intentional routine or habit you want to stop or start.
2. Every day you do the task, cross off the day on a paper wall calendar.
3. Try to avoid "breaking" your chain of days.

## Eating Live Frogs

For procrastinators who miss deadlines or rush their work.

Inspired by Mark Twain's quote, "If you eat a live frog in the morning, nothing worse can happen the rest of the day."

1. Order your tasks from hardest to easiest:
   1. Things you'd rather not do, but must do
   2. Things you want to do and must do
   3. Things you want to do but don't need to
   4. Things you'd rather not do and don't need to

2. Work on the hardest task first:
   - The most important
   - The most uncomfortable
   - The most mind-numbing
   - The most difficult thing to do

## Eisenhower Method Matrix

For people who feel controlled by urgent things.

Use the following table:

               Urgent         Not Urgent
               ----------------------------
Important     | 1: DO       | 2: PLAN      |
               ----------------------------
Not Important | 3: DELEGATE | 4: ELIMINATE |
               ----------------------------

Only do what is important (i.e., "above the line") and disregard urgency.

1. Urgent things are seldom important, and important things are rarely urgent.
2. Most people move to Quadrant 3 from Quadrant 1 because Quadrant 2 never feels necessary.
3. Productive people move to Quadrant 2 by disregarding instant gratification.

## Emergent Task Timer

For people who don't trust their ability to focus.

1. Make a vertical list that categorizes everything you do all day, with a few additional entries for miscellaneous needs.
2. Make a horizontal list indicating every 15 minutes of that day.
3. Set a timer for every 15 minutes.
4. Record what you do every 15 minutes, backfilling if you can't get to it.
5. Review what you did after you've accumulated data, noting patterns across days and weeks.

## Getting Things Done (GTD)

For people who want to organize plenty of loose ends.

1. Collect every single thought, scrap, process, and idea into one "box".
2. Run everything through the GTD Flowchart:

   - Is it actionable?
     - NO: send to REFERENCE, TRASH, or SOMEDAY
     - YES: Process It:
       - A. Will it take less than 2 minutes?
         - YES: Do It
         - NO: Delegate It and send to WAITING or Defer It and send to HOTLIST (to do next) or CALENDAR (to do at a specific time in the future)
       - B. PROJECT PLANNING
       - C. MAYBE LATER: send to SOMEDAY

3. Organize the results backward from large-scale goals:
   1. Define your greatest purposes and principles.
   2. Visualize the outcome you want that fulfills those purposes and principles.
   3. Brainstorm how to create that outcome.
   4. Organize what to do to achieve that outcome.
   5. Identify the next actions to achieve your purposes and principles.
4. Routinely review what to do next:
   1. Make a "Tickler File" of 43 folders (31 for each day and 12 for each month).
   2. Review the Tickler file each day and month to remember what to do.
   3. Purge tasks and clear out old or obsolete things.
5. Do your tasks based on available time and energy, context, and priority.

[More info here](https://hamberg.no/gtd/)

## Interstitial Journaling

For people who have a difficult time focusing.

1. Every time you take a break, record the time and a status update.
2. Record each time what you want to do, and how well you've done it.
3. Review the entire day after you're done.

## Must, Should, Want

For people who want prioritized lists more than graphs.

Group tasks into categories of MUST, SHOULD, COULD, and WOULD.

1. MUST - non-negotiable.
2. SHOULD - also important, but not for today.
3. COULD - whatever you want to do that isn't necessary.
4. WOULD - may make sense if it didn't drain so many resources.

## The Paper Clip Strategy

For staying focused when you want to automate your work.

1. Specify a task you want done more than a few times per day, then put that many paper clips in a container.
2. Place one paper clip in a second container when you complete the task.
3. Empty the paper clips from the first container by the end of the day.

## The PARA Method

For staying focused when you have many projects and many responsibilities.

Classify all the information in your life into four major domains:

1. Projects - short-term efforts in your work or life that you're working on right now.
2. Area - long-term responsibilities you want to manage over time.
3. Resource - topics or interests that may be useful in the future.
4. Archive - inactive items from the other three categories.

## Personal Kanban

For people who dislike planning and seem to have plenty of unfinished projects.

1. Set up "boards" as columns from left to right. ([Trello](https://trello.com/) is an online solution)
2. Label the boards at the top.
   1. Not Started
   2. In Process
   3. Completed
3. Place all the tasks on the boards.
4. Break out even more boards to capture all the phases of completion.
5. Move all the tasks across the boards as they're completed.
   - Subdivide and separate partially completed tasks.
6. If you need to, arrange the board into a grid by placing Priority or Members as a vertical dimension for the tasks.

## The Pomodoro Method

For getting things done with plenty of distractions.

1. Break down all tasks into pieces that take less than 25 minutes.
2. Focus on that task alone for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break (aka a Pomodoro).
3. Do 4 Pomodoros, then take a 30-minute break or end your day.

## Sivers' People List

For people who want to keep in touch with many people without relying on memory.

- A list - valuable people, contact every 3 weeks
- B list - important people, contact every 2 months
- C list - most people, contact every 6 months
- D list - demoted people, contact once a year to make sure you still have their correct info

## The SMART System

For people who have a difficult time making their goals connect to tasks.

Specific - numerous details (SCHEMES acronym)

- Space - is there room for it?
- Cash - can you afford it?
- Helpers/people - are the right people able to assist?
- Equipment - do you have the right tools?
- Materials - do you have enough to finish?
- Expertise - have you researched to the point of thorough-enough understanding?
- Systems - do you have something to do it with?

Measurable - how much or how long?

Attainable/Assignable - who can do it and when?

Realistic - given everything, is it possible?

Time-based - what's the deadline to re-evaluate progress?

## Systemist

For people who want to organize plenty of loose ends, but don't want to take the time to [organize](organization.md) their tasks.

1. Take your system everywere.
2. Capture everything you have, the moment you think of it.
3. Break the tasks into small pieces you can reasonably do quickly.
4. Prioritize the tasks with due dates for anything that's important but not urgent.
5. Every day, get to to-do list zero.
6. Measure your progress over time and keep adjusting your plans.

## The Theme System

For people who have vague feelings about what they want to do, but can't connect them to their daily activities.

1. Set yearly "themes" for what you want to do, with ideal outcomes for each.
2. Write out daily journal entries on how you've done in light of those large-scale themes.
3. Track daily measurable habits to see how well you've persevered.

## Timeboxing/Time blocking

For fighting against interruptions and distractions.

1. Group tasks by the type of work they're made of.
2. Estimate how much time each task will take.
3. Block off specific times of the day for specific types of work.
4. Enforce each block with a timer.

One popular variation is Day-Theming, with each weekday dedicated to a type of work.

## The To-Done List & To-Don't List

For people who have concerns about unfinished tasks.

1. Start with a To-Done List
   1. Record what you finish.
   2. Focus on your progress alone and ignore incomplete tasks.
   3. Review the To-Done List at the end of each day.
2. When tasks stay incomplete, make a To-Don't List
   1. Write down a list of activities, bad habits, and distractions that get in the way of your productivity.
   2. Check off each To-Don't as you avoid each of them.