The Ultimate Minimalist Productivity System
You don't rise to the levels of our goals, you fall to the levels of our system.
“You don't rise to the levels of our goals, you fall to the levels of our system"
- James Clear.
The first part of this sentence was clear to me right away. Setting goals is just the first step on the way to success.
But I've just recently understood the second part.
Systems make progress happen. My systems are my environment, routines, and habits. What I do on a daily basis brings me closer to my goals.
Good Goals, Bad Systems
I know my goals. I understand why I want to pursue them. This part is clear to me.
But like James said, we don't magically rise to the levels of our goals.
After struggling to progress towards my goals in the last few weeks (I document my journey every day on X) I've realized that the bad system I use has a huge impact on my progress.
I've decided to analyze and improve my daily routine and optimize my environment to help me achieve my goals.
My Flawed System
🌅 Morning
No alarm: I'm a freelancer setting my own hours, so I didn't feel the need to set an alarm clock for a specific time. But not having an alarm caused me to sleep way past 8 hours—and there is no need for that.
Phone near the bed: Having my phone accessible first thing in the morning caused me to Doomscroll. This is a waste of time and a horrible way to start the day.
💻 Working Day
Video games: My PS5 controller is to grab, and I find myself playing for hours during my workday.
Phone: Even with most of my apps blocked, I still pick up my phone too many times and find stupid reasons to use it.
Too many tasks: I keep overscheduling tasks, and I end most of my days feeling disappointed when I look at the list of unfinished tasks.
Abstract tasks: "Writing a blog post about my systems" is too big and scary. No wonder I procrastinate on tasks like this.
🌘 Night
Never-ending work: My long list of tasks made me work until very late at night. I didn't allow myself to spend a lot of time doing fun things because there was always more to do.
Screens before bed: I love watching YouTube videos before I go to sleep, but it impacts the quality of my sleep.
My New Productivity system
🌅Morning
Waking up without hitting snooze.
I bought a physical alarm clock and set it to 6 AM. That way I could leave my phone outside my bedroom.
Not hitting snooze is still very hard. Right now, I'm counting on my willpower to stick with this habit.
Eating the frog
Waking up and starting to work first thing in the morning relieves a lot of stress and makes my day better.
I pick my highest priority task (the frog), break it down, and make sure my headphones and favorite keyboard are ready to use.
I try to start working as fast as possible. Rian Doris suggests that 90 seconds after waking up is the optimal time to reach the flow state.
Health Morning Routine
Without good health, nothing in life matters. I've realized that these are the 3 habits that I need to practice daily to maintain good health (aside from eating healthy):
Training to keep my body fit, meditation for my mental health, and breathing exercises just give me energy and make me feel alive.
💻 Working Day
To make deep work easier I eliminate distractions in three ways:
1. Phone: I'm using Opal to block distracting apps from 06:00 to 18:30.
2. Computer: I'm using Cold Turkey to block distracting websites until 18:30.
I wrote about these tools in detail here:
3. Physical things: I'm putting everything that could distract me from my work in a hard-to-reach place.
Phone, TV remove, PS controller.
Getting them out of site is very important. I'm removing the temptation and increasing the friction to use them.
*I think about buying this container where I can lock things using a timer.
Effective work
I use a Pomodoro timer during my workday. It reminds me to get up from my chair and give my eyes and body a rest.
Lastly, I connect fun elements to work.
I listen to music when I do work I hate (like cold reachout) and I drink coffee only when I write.
It helps me get excited about work, and I look forward to it.
Fun time
The entrepreneurial journey is a marathon, not a sprint. Habits need to be practiced daily and forever.
So I make sure to finish working by 18:30.
I watch a game or hang out with friends without feeling guilty about not working. I'm also free to use all the apps on my phone.
🌘 Night
Wind down
At around 22:15, I set my phone to "Sleep mode," which includes a black wallpaper and a minimal list of apps:
1. HabitKit - checking off my daily habits. I love HabitKit because it doesn’t rely on streaks to measure progress.
2. Journal - the native Apple app. I try to find one thing that happened that day that is worth remembering, and I reflect on it.
3. How We Feel - to notice how I feel and what caused this feeling. I then notice patterns and understand what makes a good day for me.
4. Todoist - I plan my next day. I write my top 3 tasks and look at my calendar.
After I finish all of these, I try to read myself to sleep.
Right now I’m reading On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction.
Sleep
At 23:00, I use "Frozen Turkey" to lock me out of my computer. I can't use it until 6 AM.
I also scheduled another session in Opal for this time so that I would not be able to use most of the apps on my phone.
What is your productive system?