The Only 2 Things Every Productivity System Needs

(Most People Miss #1)

There are two things all dependable productivity systems have in common.

First, they are focused on getting “stuff” into the system quickly and easily. Second, they are focused on processes rather than tools.

Collect stuff.

The advantage of having a personal productivity system is that you become less dependent on your brain to remember things. You can externalise whatever is asked of you and then decide what needs to be done and when. This means that you collect stuff in a trusted place for later processing.

Introducing the UCT.

Your UCT is your Universal Collection Tool. This is how you collect tasks, ideas, and events for later processing. Adding things must be as easy as possible for this to be effective. This will likely be your mobile phone, which you probably carry wherever you go. But it goes beyond that. How you collect these tasks, ideas, and events should be as effortless as possible. If it is complicated and requires too many button presses, you will resist, and that’s when your system will fail.

You may prefer to use a notebook or a set of index cards to collect stuff. This is perhaps the most seamless way to collect. If you carry a pocket notebook, developing the habit of pulling out your notebook whenever you have an idea or are asked to do something is worthwhile.

Whichever way you choose to collect, the critical factor is that you trust it. It’s not helpful if you are not confident that whatever you collect is going where it needs to go. A sense of peace comes with knowing that once you have collected something, it has gone where it needs to go for later organisation.

Organising.

That leads us to the organising part. It’s all very good that you have collected everything. But what you collect is only useful if you organise it into its natural categories. A task will go to your task manager or to-do list. An idea goes to your notes, and an event goes to your calendar.