Above is my visual interpretation of how I stay organized and try to stay productive. The truth is, I suffer from shiny object syndrome. I am constantly pondering new projects that I find intriguing. I think that the system I just finished will help me stay focused on what needs to be done.
I use ClickUp for task management. Creating systems is something I’m passionate about and ClickUp provides a lot of tools to do so. Right now, I’m using it for almost all of my organizational needs. I use Apple’s notes app for capturing, I have some (probably too many) different channels for communications, I use Google Calendar for scheduling, and lastly I like to use a physical journal for daily planning.
As I started out on my entrepreneurship journey, I had a simple goal in mind - to utilize my professional skills and provide a service to clients. I quickly realized that because I’m not working on a team anymore, every detail needs to be captured and maintained. So I started to do so, every project I worked on I took notes of what’s being done, or what needs to be done to move forward. I captured everything from a small detail sent over via email to batch adjustments on a formula I was creating. From there, I started to realize that I was taking notes and they would just sit there without use, so, I created a habit out of reviewing them daily. These steps evolved into my productivity system today. I’m obsessed with moving things forward. I applied this habit of capture and review to every aspect of my life and realized I need to start shaping these daily actions towards a goal. I started to write down goals for the year, the month, the week. Each time I would write down goals, I made sure they aligned with the big picture.
During this journey, I became obsessed with business and personal development. I added a strict reading habit to my day and started to combine my note-taking and review with that to start to make use out of the information I was consuming. I intentionally choose books that align with my current goals.
I’ve just completed a stretch of books that helped me to solidify my productivity system by organizing and compartmentalizing in a way that holds me accountable to the thousands of ideas I have. My goal is to not only document this for my own use, but to share it as well.
The books Traction by Gino Wickman and Building A Second Brain by Tiago Forte, along with many other models have given me the peace of mind and confidence to know I’m off in the right direction, along with some others:
- Traction by Gino Wickman - compartmentalizing my business
- Building A Second Brain by Tiago Forte - organizing my workflow and productivity
- Process Driven (https://processdriven.co/) - using ClickUp
- 75Hard (Andy Frisella) - discipline and execution, power list
- Start With Why by Simon Sinek - daily affirmations
- Super Thinking by Gabriel Weinberg, Lauren McCann - eisenhower matrix
The last book I read was Building A Second Brain by Tiago Forte. This concept is covered by a really intriguing title, so I started to look into it via YouTube, Twitter, and any other channel. It was so captivating because of the processes I had already implemented and had been using for so long. This book and the system he offers just tied everything together for me. This was on the heels of finishing Traction by Gino Wickman and implementing EOS to compartmentalize aspects of my business. In other words, it’s been a really effective few months in terms of systemizing all of my organization and productivity.
Capture and Organize
My knowledge management system is built on ClickUp. While picking up on different techniques in terms of compartmentalization, I was also utilizing the free resources from ProcessDriven to get used to ClickUp. I haven’t mastered it, but I’m proficient enough for it to be a really powerful tool in terms of management.
I have some different “Spaces” depicted to help keep me organized:
Spaces are the second highest order of organization in the hierarchy underneath “Workspace”, you only need one of these and it’s tied to your billing terms. The idea here is to break down the hierarchy starting with your end goal at the top, it’s then broken down based on the processes and jobs needed to get there. You can see that in the whiteboard I posted above, here’s another one:
This is Flex Cosmetics’ system for content delivery. Each Process then becomes a folder, and the jobs associated with them are classified as lists. That’s about as far as I’ll go in terms of ClickUp’s usability. Organizing the hierarchy was my biggest takeaway from ProcessDriven’s free course and resources. If you would like to learn more I highly suggest you pay them a visit.
Either way, this understanding started to creep into everything I do. I then thought, I manage a lot, my brain is constantly running and thinking, I need peace of mind. So I built a space called “Find Peace of Mind”, and I sat there and thought of every process and job required to do so. It worked well and definitely beat my old method of just throwing everything on the calendar and moving forward what didn’t get finished. It’s at this point I stumbled across “Building A Second Brain” and thought I need to read that. It helped me to really solidify the system I was knocking on the door of.
The biggest takeaways were a few acronyms - CODE and PARA. CODE stands for Capture, Organize, Distill, and Express and is meant to be a mindset shift in how creators get more done. PARA for me has done wonders, it stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives - this is how your input is meant to be organized. For me, it was the missing link to gaining peace of mind. I can’t help myself but to just spawn new ideas and capture them all day long. My calendar was flooded with tasks containing ideas of which I wouldn’t be able to get to for months at least. My first iteration wasn’t bad, but there was no structure to it. Now, I just go into my “Organize” folder and consolidate my notes according to that hierarchy (Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives). If you’re curious on how to classify things, I recommend checking out his resources. I was fortunate enough to have the “Capture” system in place already, but organizing became difficult. Now, every time I take a note, I place a tag on it with the end result in mind and at the end of the day, I consolidate accordingly.
This system works both in my personal knowledge management and in business development. The book Traction may be the most powerful book I’ve ever read, and it came at such a good time for me. Again, I highly recommend you check this one out if you need some structure in your business. My biggest takeaways from that book are too many to count. However, as it relates to this piece, I implemented his methods of compartmentalization immediately. The first thing I did was fill out my Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) and set up my 10-year, 3-year, and 1-year plans, and from there I derived Rocks for me, my team, and each department - 90 day goals. These objectives naturally fit into the “Projects” section in my Organize folder, they are the most important things I’m working on for the quarter. Another thing I did immediately was implement the Meeting Pulse concept, especially the weekly meetings. Each one of our departments now has a set of its own Rocks and running meeting notes, any time something dawns on me, I take note of it and tag it accordingly by department. At the end of the day, I consolidate those into the meeting files, and during our weekly review they are either classified as a To-Do, or put on the Issues List for review. These weekly meetings also hold each department accountable to its specific Rocks.
The company’s V/TO captures the essence of the business:
Updating it and establishing detail in the components is a function of the business, but in terms of my productivity and organization it’s great for capture. It contains our long term goals, one-year plan, Rocks (90-day), and our Issues List. The Issues List is where we are able to net things that just don’t fit in with the vision yet, which for me is amazing. Like I said I do have a habit of starting too many things. I like having the peace of mind of knowing that even if I never get to it in my lifetime, it’s always accessible.
Prioritize and Plan
The V/TO is a great way to maintain your priorities and keep the peace knowing that what you are working on is aligned with your big picture. It’s also a great way to stay driven, everyone needs purpose. It’s updated yearly and the outcome is communicated with your team accordingly. Each time you update it, you can review the long term goals and Issues List to make sure your one-year plan and Rocks align with your vision. It’s also a good time to remind yourself and everyone of your values, your focus, and your Marketing Strategy.
During the yearly V/TO update, I’ll review my long term goals and Issues List to generate Rocks for Q1 as well as take some time to solve any of those issues that could be pressing or represent obstacles. This process reflects on my productivity and organization system, as well as on my business. For Flex Cosmetics, we’ll meet extensively to solve issues and set rocks for the company itself, each person on the leadership team, as well as for each department. Nobody is meant to have more than seven rocks for the quarter. After that, I’ll carry it over to my personal system. If there’s any room, I’ll review my other ventures and projects to assign more and get up to seven. Included with the list of Rocks is a section for measurables, these 90-day goals are meant to be specific with deliverables and the measurables component is applied to tangible results (revenue, profit, etc.). Each subsequent quarter is met with a quarterly review of our long term goals and Issues List to solve pressing issues and generate new Rocks.
Of course, now that quarterly goals are set, it’s important to stay on track with those to maintain execution on your long term plan. I utilize monthly and weekly reviews for this. In short, I’ll zoom out monthly, and zoom in weekly. Each month I’ll sort through the ongoing chaos and make sure that all of the captured, big-picture notes, ideas, drawings, recordings, etc. are consolidated onto the V/TO’s Issues List.
Each week, again sorting through chaos, I’ll clean up and consolidate all local and short term issues that are relative to our 90-day goals. I’ll also set shorter term goals that are more directly related to the measurables that were set, these are usually just a reminder of the habits I need to practice to stay on track. The chaos I’ve alluded to are local issues lists that are relative to each department. In terms of business, we have meetings every week for each department where we take at least 30 minutes to consolidate and tackle issues. There’s times we do not get to everything, this turns into a running list and I think that it’s important to check in each week to organize that chaos. Not only important, but it’s my responsibility as a manager and leader. This process is reflected in my personal system as well. My weekly review is basically a meeting with myself to conduct that same process.
This sounds like a lot when written out in long form, but the whole process has been deduced down to a flow chart and some simple checklists. It requires time and work, but again, it's my job and responsibility and I find managing my projects and business activities according to my vision to be really high leverage.
Lastly, no goals are achieved without intentional, daily action. As I’ve continued down my journey of self and business development, I feel like I’m at the point now where I can’t take in any input without it branching out into a million ideas. Nonetheless, I’ve still maintained the habit, from which all of this started, of taking note of everything. Everything from a client’s next steps, a tweet offering a new perspective or idea, to reminding myself to go food shopping. My Notes App is a running list of thoughts I have throughout the day. The last thing I do for the day is go through my communications, consolidate my notes into my Personal Cloud, plan for the next day, and execute my habit tracker.
Execute
Of course capturing, prioritizing, and planning are all useless unless you execute. Like everything else, I can’t help but to try and create systems around this topic as well. Daily action to me is not only important, but essential to improving yourself and your business. Consistency is the only way to level-up. I just went through how I capture and plan ahead for different time intervals, to execute I use a few different tools.
Habits are powerful and I like to be intentional about the ones that I’m setting so that they align with my longer term goals. Of course I have financial and lifestyle daily habits designed to reach the measurable goals I’ve set. But I also try to maintain mindfulness and disciplinary habits, along with practical ones to help with my projects.
These are my maintenance habits, the standard ones I try to achieve every day. I start every morning with a 45 minute workout, a five minute meditation, then I read 10 pages and write for at least 30 minutes. I’ll typically execute the practical habits with my long term goals in mind. For example, one of my Rocks for Q4 is to set up my personal brand. I'm going to read 10 pages of “How to Set-Up Your Personal Brand for Under $1000” by Dan Fleyshman a day and utilize my writing habit to produce content accordingly. That’s a short book. Another upcoming goal I have is SEO for Flex Cosmetics. I picked up “Search Engine Optimization For Dummies” by Peter Kent to read and naturally I’ll use my writing habit to produce content for that as well.
Aside from my maintenance habits, I’ve picked up a tool from Andy Frisella that I feel like really accelerates growth and establishes momentum and clarity in my life. Andy is the host of Real AF and an author, entrepreneur, speaker, and consultant (https://andyfrisella.com/). I listened to the entire MFCEO podcast and feel like I can attribute at least 50% of my recent growth to the tools he’s provided. My biggest takeaways have been the Power List and the Live Hard program.
The Live Hard program has four phases and occurs throughout a whole calendar year. The first and most important phase is 75 Hard, it’s made for anybody to start today and is scalable no matter where you are in your journey.
I picked up a lot of my maintenance habits just from listening to his content. But taking on 75 Hard was more than just maintenance, it’s a way of kickstarting your journey towards discipline and the consistent action I mentioned. It’s 75 days in a row of two workouts, a diet with no cheating, and reading ten pages a day. If you fail, you start over. I’ve written out some content on the shift that occurred while doing this. I highly recommend it to anyone, either way, this program is something I’ll live with for the rest of my life. It’s an extremely powerful tool for building momentum and clarity. When you combine it with your long term goals it's even more powerful.
My last daily habit is journaling. After consolidating my notes for the day into my Personal Cloud, I look ahead to the next day to plan. I use my Google Calendar religiously for this, it operates my life. I’ll typically already have some standing tasks on there like meetings, habits, and scheduled tasks from consolidating my notes. I utilize the Power List (another tool from Andy Frisella) to identify the five most important things to complete for the day. These are important because they will move me forward towards my goals. If there’s room after accounting for my standing tasks, I’ll set up deep work blocks to execute on the Rocks I’ve set for the quarter. Once I’ve identified and scheduled my Power List, I’ll write them down into my physical planner. Then, I’ll write out affirmations that are inspired by the book “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek. I’ll define my “Why” for the day and follow that up with my “What” and “How”. My why is typically to build momentum and clarity, and this is done by winning the day (what) and executing my power list (how). Then I’ll classify my Power List according to the Eisenhower Matrix which helps me determine whether an activity is or isn’t urgent, along with if it is or isn’t important.
Apart from my daily habits, my weekly execution covers everything else in terms of short and long term goals derived from my planning. At the center of this system is the Meeting Pulse idea I became aware of after reading Traction. My business is divided into four basic departments - Leadership, Operations, Finance & Administration, and Sales & Marketing. Each set with their own running list of weekly meetings, each meeting is set up as a subtask in ClickUp with a permanent agenda and list of current issues.
This concept has truly compartmentalized everything for me and allowed me to gain clarity and peace of mind. Any time a thought comes to mind regarding one of these departments, it’s saved into my notes and later consolidated into the last meeting. During each meeting, we review our 90 day goals and our weekly To-Do’s to monitor progress. We then consolidate our thoughts and ideas into a running issues list, then we prioritize the top three and determine how they’ll be achieved. Each department has its own rocks as well so we’re all pulling in the same direction and working weekly towards our long term goals.
I’ve applied this concept to my Personal Cloud as well - a weekly meeting with myself to consolidate, prioritize, and plan. Each week I’ll set clear cut objectives for my deep work on Rocks that aren’t related to an entity. As well as establish goals that will help me reach my measurables.
For me personally, I have time blocks set up on my calendar.
After the meeting to set our to do’s, I have deep work blocks already set for each department. When the time comes, I’ll go into our meeting notes, complete my to do’s, and create next week’s meeting with the agenda already set by screenshotting that week’s to do’s for everyone to review.
I utilize a few different models in order to maintain and move projects to completion. One that I started organically is referred to as the Hemingway Bridge in “Building A Second Brain”. In short, every time you work on something, you leave a note for your future self on where you left off. That way, when you open it back up it doesn’t take 45 minutes to catch up. A couple other things are project checklists, outlines to completion, and setting extremely clear cut objectives for the project. You don’t want to give yourself a vague goal for the project because it becomes difficult to know when you’re done. For me this becomes an issue because I’ll start to veer off and work on tangents to the actual objective of the project.
Conclusion
The system I use for productivity and organization has really consumed me, despite all advice not to focus on it. Before diving into the resources I mentioned, I was using Google Calendar and Notes to manage way too many things in my life. It became hectic. I wanted to clear my head and my virtual workspace to make more room for innovation.
The completion of all this allowed something to click, suddenly I wasn’t trying to juggle my calendar, habits, projects, and long term goals every second of the day, along with the normal things that come with being human. I was able to let go knowing that my scheduled maintenance would keep everything compartmentalized and on track. Every day I’m uploading more and more into my personal cloud, like I said I can’t help but to absorb new ideas. But my daily, weekly, monthly reviews allow this information to be captured, organized, and prioritized according to my long term goals.
The last thing I’ll say is that I’m eternally grateful for stumbling on the Live Hard program. It helps me to stay motivated and continue to pursue the goals that I have. It allows you to create and harness momentum and clarity, especially when you feel like you don’t have any. However, the great thing about this system is that I know it’s working when I’m not. We all go through ups and downs in our productivity, whether it's burnout, distraction, or anything that derails us. The reason I put so much effort into this system is for that reason. These derailments are inevitable and I like knowing that despite how I feel, everything is there waiting for me when I’m ready to go again.
This whole system is hinged on PARA (Project, Areas, Resources, Archive) and Meeting Pulse. PARA is my personal organization system and Meeting Pulse is the organization system I use for business. Every day, I execute my habits and power list which are pointed towards my 90 day goals and measurables. I collect notes throughout the day and at the end, I input them into PARA and Meeting Pulse and plan my next day. My Power List is usually set based on the time blocks I have that are derived from Meeting Pulse, my weekly PARA review, and my day-to-day job operations. Each week, I’ll consolidate PARA and Meeting Pulse so it doesn’t become chaotic. Each month, I’ll transfer standing issues to my V/TO. Each quarter, I’ll review my V/TO and set new Rocks. Lastly, I’ll update my V/TO annually.
Resources - Building A Second Brain, Traction, Checklist Manifesto, ProcessDriven, 75Hard