My Productivity Tools

Many of us use the new year as a chance to evaluate our productivity habits and solutions, so I want to share three tools that have become essential in my own productivity.

First is my favorite task & energy management book, David Allen's Getting Things Done. I first read GTD around 2006, and I've re-read it probably five times since then, always learning something new each time. GTD is a great methodology to prioritize work and to break all kinds of projects down into individual actions that can be completed. One of the superpowers of the GTD methodology is getting everything out of our other systems (email, piles of papers, our brain, etc.) and capturing all of those in one task management system so we can prioritize the next action to work on and to free our brains to do our best work. I have an extra copy of GTD in my bookcase, so if you'd like it please comment below and I'll send it to you this week.

My second key tool is the project & task management app OmniFocus. I've tried lots of different paper-based and online task management systems over the years (Franklin Planner, 3x5 notecards, Outlook, Nozbe, Things, Evernote, Apple Reminders, and more) but I keep coming back to OmniFocus for its power and flexibility. And, OmniFocus is a great companion for the GTD methodology as it allows simple creation of projects and task lists so I can avoid the temptation of creating tasks that are really projects. For example, over the holiday break I wanted to clean my garage. I found myself dreading the idea of it because it was so big and would take several hours to complete. Instead, I created a project in OmniFocus called Clean the Garage, and in that project I made several tasks: put my tools away, put all the random screws & nails scatter around my workbench back in their containers, put scrap lumber where it belongs, organize my workout equipment, sweep the floor, etc. Each of those tasks was manageable individually, and having them listed in OmniFocus enabled me to more easily tackle each one, and getting the satisfaction of checking each one off the list motivated me to then complete another. OmniFocus is available for purchase on Mac and iOS, and their new $10/month subscription offering also includes web access for Windows & Android users.

And finally, my third tool is a new one I've incorporated this year, Analog by Ugmonk. Analog is a notecard-based task system to focus on today's top priorities. I've done a similar process previously with regular 3x5 notecards, writing my top 3-8 priorities for that day in order to increase focus on those and avoid the temptation of getting into my whole task management system and getting distracted by other available (but less important) tasks. But I've found the purpose-built Analog cards add some formality and gravitas to the process which helps my dumb monkey brain take it more seriously and keep focusing on it. Each card has 10 lines for your most important tasks of the day, but if you're anything like me you may want to try to only list your top 3-5 at most and avoid the temptation of filling the whole card. I can't tell. you how many times I've listed 10 priorities for the day then found myself at the end of the day having completed the easiest 5 tasks on there (it feels so good to check those off the list!) only to discover the really most important three items are still undone because they would have been more complex or difficult to complete.

These have all been really helpful for me, and I hope they're helpful for you. What are some of your favorite productivity tools or processes?