Last week we talked about how to use daily and weekly reviews to improve our awareness of where and how we spend our time.

Today we’re taking it a step further. I'm going to show you a stupid simple, honest and idiot proof way of managing our time and to-do’s.

Why do we need a system?

Because the more mundane stuff we can get out of our brains, the more brain power we can allocate to being creative.

I also find if I don’t have a system for keeping track of everything I need to do, my directing suffers as a consequence. It’s one of the foundational cornerstones of my directing toolset.

First let’s look at what most productivity systems get wrong.

Whyd you have to go and make things so complicated

Full transparency, I’m an overcomplicator.

When I see a simple system that works I ask “What’s the advanced version of this?”

I’ve tried a lot of systems for managing everything I want to do in my life.

My biggest problem is most of them try to account for every context, every project, every level of energy, every little detail, the list goes on and on.

What inevitably happens is the sheer information I have to input to get a task into the system makes me not want to use it at all.

The perfect, interconnected system breaks as soon as you stop using it for everything all the time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to put in place a complicated system only to have it fall apart a week and a half later.

Designing a system that requires me to spend a lot of time maintaining and managing the system itself adds stress rather than relieve it. And it makes me fall into the trap of feeling busy, but not actually getting anything done.

Trust is the key to a system that works

The number one lesson I’ve learned from my failures and mishaps in productivity is that your system relies on one thing: trust.

If you can’t trust your system, you’ll default back to whatever hot mess kept you alive before.

That’s a recipe for repeating the same old mistakes over and over.

I know myself well enough, that without a system I’m bound to forget stuff. I'll mismanage my time and get a bunch of busywork done, but not the stuff that moves the needle in the long run.

The first step to building a system we trust is to make it a system we can and will use.

For everything.

All the time.

The second step is to make it general enough that everything fits, and specific enough that we can focus on getting the right stuff done.

The third step is using it.

Trust is built over time.

Starting a new system requires a leap of faith, but the more we use it and experience it working, the more we trust it.

This is why I’m so adamant we make the system simple.

Gall’s Law: A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a working simple system.
- John Gall

When we start with a simple system we give ourselves the chance to let the system evolve as we use it. We can add features as needed and make it work for us instead of the other way around.

What I’m using today

Enter Sam Corcos, CEO and software builder. I caught him on the Tim Ferriss show and I was intrigued by how he manages his tasks.

It’s dead simple.

He uses his calendar.‍

I know this might be upsetting.

Especially if you’re a productivity nerd like myself, but hear me out.

Every to-do gets a spot on the calendar, and Sam allocates the time he thinks he needs to get that task done.

As you and I discussed last week, we’re terrible at estimating our own capacity. And I admit this system does have a learning curve.

Here’s how I implemented it:

• Step 1: write down everything you need to do
• Step 2: schedule each to-do in your calendar with the time you think it needs.
• Step 3: realize you don’t have time for everything you want to do, have an existential crisis, almost give up, and realize it’s time to prioritize.

Easy right?

Jokes aside. The biggest complaint Sam gets when people try his system is “this doesn’t work, there’s not enough room on my calendar.”

Yeah, duh.

That’s the point.

I love this approach becomes it forces us to take a good hard look at how and where we spend our time and say: these are the things I need to get done.

And don’t go cramming a million tasks in your calendar and give them 5 minutes each, that defeats the purpose.

Sam reinforces the need for slack in your schedule. Things take longer than expected, stuff comes up, fires need to be put out.

He suggests we keep as much as 50% of our time free for this very reason.

I’ve found this approach very helpful.

A quick bonus tip: make it part of your daily review to set up the schedule for the next day.

What do you think? Want to give it a shot?

I’d love to hear how it goes.

Conclusion

To get more of the right things done we need a simple system that helps us keep track of everything so we can free up our brains to be creative.

I’ve been using Sam Corcos’ system of putting all my to-do’s in my calendar lately, and it’s been a game changer.

• Put everything you need to do in your calendar.
• Estimate how long it will take you to each task.
• Use and update your calendar as the day goes so you can learn from real life experience.

That’s it. I hope that’s helpful.

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