Defect

I've been searching and tweaking for a long time, but the right system for me was not on the market. Some came close, but missed the spot. A lot of time can be lost on trying different systems. GTD, mindmapping, tagging, toodledoo, paid apps, time wasted. I needed an even more flexible system, that is as quick as pen and paper, but as visual, sizeable and searchable as digital systems. Also, cheap please!

Don't panic! What is the system that makes you tick? How do you plan to organise? Everyone should have some of those rules written out for himself. If it were only just for once. You write so much but never for yourself. WTF? Probably, you will read this piece many times over and over until you live that system that you spent your own time writing on. This is your personal OS, just like your computer you are not as efficient as an old, outdated version. So program yourself! Why this obsession for productivity? Well, it turns you from being a consumer of your life to a designer of your life. Also, strategic laziness.

Main selling points

• Being able to trust the system 100%
• Have a clear perspective
• Easy to jump in work mode and focus on the right next task
• Easy to jump out of every project, for a day or a year
• Start right where you left off like it was yesterday
• Save money
• Overview: a visual display of my data is appreciated
• Staying inspired and have room for new projects
• Analog spead and creativity
• Digital power of sharing and quantification
• ...expanding and building your knowlegde, extended brain in the cloud and a personal library.
• Portable and usable on the go (all that? Yes!)

Main disadvantages:

• Carry a phone
• Own a windows computer (also you, maccies and linux nerds!)
• Acces to interwebz
• Carry a pen
• Carry a piece of paper
• Making a note with those, costing precious time
• Weekly Review, also precios precious time

*To really enjoy this, have a mobile internet connection and if you get too enthousiastic like me you will spend $40 a year on evernote.

Basic idea

Note. What? Everything. Cool, thnx, go back to work facebook. But how? No one tells you how to use your pen and paper. It is important to track yourself, because Every person = sum (of previous experiences, thoughts, etc). The big plus about tracking yourself is that you can focus on moving forward and learn from the past. So grab a pen and write something inspirational to yourself. I'll try to keep it short. If you can trust your system to a special place, your mind is free to do what you want. This video explains better than I ever could.

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The main points

Spontanious planning. Step one: Make notes. Just carry a pen and a piece of paper and make sure it's always near you. When you try to work and get distracted, write it down. This way you can continue to focus on your task. Also, study the art of notetaking and forget it. Adjust it to your preferences.

Alternative: Workflowy journal - for the digital enthousiast

I write in here, draw, dribble, fiddle, and track my habits. Also this is my basic to-do list.

Backup-brain

Did you ever go to a library? You can read everything for almost nothing. Well, on the internet you can find all that and more without moving your legs. Save the information that is interesting to you in one place. Bam! Evernote. The key part which makes Evernote so damn powerful is that it's accesible on all your devices. You will allways be able to find that tax report, article, picture, etc wherever you are. This software is free. More information in a blogpost about Evernote later on.

• lists
• archive
• logs
• templates
• recipes
• articles
• scans
• and much more!

If you use this link to make an account you support me by getting some extra premium. Premium just gives you extra data and offline accessibility and costs $40.

Saving money

To save money you need to be able to see how your money rolls. So also note down and have an overview. This can be done in the open source software package Money Manager EX. The main program runs on your computer and it syncs to your devices through Dropbox. It tracks every cashflow with a easy acces widget on your Android phone. It has all the functions you will ever need. More in a following blogpost.

If you use an iPhone, first of all, I'm sorry. You can use YNAB which is pretty, does the same but costs $60.

• costs a day to set up,
• then 5 minutes a day to track your expenses
• automation
• budgeting
• reports
• visual data overview
• could sync

alternatives: GNUcash - for businesses

Feed

Enough bla on Facebook. Set up your daily feeds with interesting stuff. This is your new TV, customized. I use Feedly, free, to follow interesting stuff on the web. Replace your fitness magazine subscription with a free site. Cancel your school and follow a free online course. Get daily jokes. You name it! Be aware that you are in charge of your daily information, not the media.

Protip: if you set up the internet app 'Pocket', you can read all the interesting things from the web centered in one place on all your devices or on the site. It uses a plugin to save your pieces of information with one click. So next time you can jump through your feed and read it on the couch or on the go.

• +$$ No more subscription fees
• don't become brainwashed
• +save time, learn more

Agenda

We like visual data. Google agenda has a nice and free service for all your devices. Paired with Sunrise Calendar as frontend makes it even prettier. Sunrise also syncs with Evernote's reminder function, which makes a quick reminder pop up in your agenda.

Now take some time to think about how you would like to spend your time. Basically, plan your entire week for everything you do. Activities like work, study, sleep, party, exercise, meals and whatever we do. Also think about your morning and evening rituals. Try to stick to your plan and adjust it to as your life changes. I call it a shadow agenda (get it?). Also plan that nap. It gives you more time <--> naps are good --> science.

• Deadlines
• Meetings
• Rituals
• Reminders

ToDoList

TDL - ToDoList - hard - project or life management The next step was to hunt around on the web for a tool to meet the following requirements:

• Simple interface
• Support for hierarchical lists
• Numbered items/subitems
• Visual
• Open file format
• Freeware
• Updates please

Simple, huh! Not! Never have I found a package so complete as this open source project. It may take some time to get used to this but it's worth it. This plans my life, but it's flexible and adjusts to my ideas and inspiration. Also, a team work option.

Alternative: My life organized

Digital Geebees

With everything digital nowadays it is a really nice feeling to have a complete backup. Why? Because you should hate doing things twice. Make sure all your important files are where they belong. Software can be reinstalled but your pictures cannot! Now set up an automatic sync tool or this one with those folders. Dropbox also holds my important files as extra. Also drop, share and acces data on all your devices. Stuff to backup:

• Back Up Your Evernote Notebooks (and Keep That Important Data Safe)
• Backup Firefox or Chrome
• Operating system image

More later. Cloud backup - affiliate - costs money.

Too much effort! Save time.

Science.

• Use your keyboard for shortcuts and put them next to your keyboard (cheatsheets) - if mastered, productivity x2 www.shortcutworld.com
• Install thunderbird - one click mail checking 1 minute per mail check
• Pomodoro technique - productivity x2
• biphasic sleep and the sleep as android app, + extra 1.5 h a day
• Dont break the chain, focus +1

Roundup

Hopefully, this article inspired you to take action. You don't have to do all of this and please don't give it too much thought. Adjust it to your needs and let it be a part of you. Most importantly, enjoy life!