My last blog post covered a really simple set of actions you can do to help beat back the overwhelm that so many of us suffer from. If you use that method, especially with the type of time blocking I talked about last week, I truly believe you can make a huge difference in both your productivity and your life balance. But once you have done that what’s next?

I can only speak annecdotally about my own experiences and those of my past clients, but in my experience the best route towards work life balance and a meaningful life is increasing productivity. I would never ask you to increase your productivity for productivity’s sake, or for only the benefit of your boss or your company. The purpose, I think, of increasing productivity is so you can get your work done faster, and then spend more time doing the things that you love.

This may not even apply to your work. If you’re working an hourly job, where you have to be at work the same number of hours no matter how much you accomplish, remember to act your wage and not burn yourself out and that’s all the advice I will give you about being productive at your job. But maybe you are also responsible for the management of your home and your children. That work is 1) unavoidable, 2) important, and 3) a great place to apply productivity.

Among parents, the average american couple spends about 12 hours a week doing household chores. That is a lot of time, and while it is incredibly important to maintain the space where we spend the majority of our time, the space that should be our refuge and our peace. But it also doesn’t have to rule our lives.

Start with the idea that your home should be your refuge and your peace. Do you feel that way when you’re in your home, at least most of the time?

But before this turns into a manifesto on simplifying your space, let me get back on track. Decluttering your space and your time has a big part in living a meaninful life, but right now I am talking about your mind.

I have a favorite saying that I constantly misquote, and that is “your brain is not for remembering, your brain is for ideas.” I thought I had heard it from Doctor Edward Hallowell but when I googled it I was shown several instances of it being said by Leon Ho, the founder of Lifehack.com. Nevertheless, it is an important sentiment and recently one of my guiding principles.

Everyone, but especially people with ADHD, should write down EVERYTHING important. Technology has made this easier, but you have to remember to do it (the one thing you do need to remember, lol).

Writing everything down is step one towards organizing your brain, but it is only the first step. What else is involved? This can be highly personal, but as an example:

• “Write down” things while you are driving or otherwise unable to write using your voice assistant (in my car this is simple- one button on the steering wheel activates Siri, I say “make a note” siri says… something, I don’t remember exactly what, then I dictate my idea, which goes into the notes app on my phone. Please only do this if you have a SAFE way of doing it!). IF YOU DO THIS you also have to…
• Have regular time each week (or at an interval that makes sense to you) to check any place you keep notes. My list includes my goodnotes, the notepad on my desk, my iphone notes, and my tiktok bookmarks (where ideas and concepts and book recommendations otherwise go to die). AND YOU ALSO NEED TO
• Have a centralized place where you keep all of this info, ideally that you keep with you all the time or that is digitally available in the cloud for access on multiple devices. For me, this is Notion. I am working on a second brain Notion template, but there are lots out there. My basic structure includes places for books, other media, notes/ideas, courses, projects, and a master to do list (there is more, but those are the most important components. It doesn’t need to be a fancy app, though. It can be a file box. Or a large notebook. Or whatever works for you, as long as it is in a format that allows you to easily reference and find what you need. Notion is best for me, personally, because it allows me to easily cross reference things so that nothing gets lost. As long as something is realated to one of my Needs, Values, Life Hubs, Goals, Projects, or Courses, I will not lose track of it (and if it isn’t related to any of those, why would it even matter?).
• Keep a calendar. Schedule your time. I talked about this a few posts ago, but you HAVE to schedule time to do the tasks on your lists. If you don’t, you may still do some, but you won’t do most. It may be as simple as scheduling time for home tasks, work tasks, and fun, and grouping tasks, but for larger tasks I find it necessary to schedule task specific time.
• Keep a master to-do list. Opinions vary on what level of task goes on this list, but personally I put EVERYTHING here, because if I don’t write it down at all I don’t do it and if I keep a separate daily list, one or the other gets neglected, but it is up to you. If you get easily overwhelmed it may be worth keeping a master list for reference and a daily list for focus. I also have my Notion to do list set to have views by Life Hub, so I can see my to do’s based on the area of my life that I am currently scheduled to work on.

In the productivity world we summarize these components of a system this way:

• Capture tool
• Master Calendar
• Master To-do List
• Master Project List
• Today To-do List
• Filing System (NOT where you store those bills you don’t need to keep, this is wherever you keep thoughts, gained knowledge, ideas, sources, etc)

Lastly, I know I keep talking about Life Hubs, or I have also referred to them as Pillars. I will get into these soon, I promise, and how they relate to productivity. For now, you can look up August Bradley’s Pillars, Pipelines, and Vaults (and he does also have a Notion Template), which is where I started. However, I use mine a little differently, and instead of dreams I use needs and values.