Why The Human Need To Complicate Destroys Productivity.

Less levels of complexity equals more output.

One of the more common questions I get about productivity tools is how to add more sub-levels (sub-projects and sub-tasks) or how to sync calendars with tasks.

I’ve been practising productivity and time management for a very long time. I’ve been through the ‘add more’ phase (many times) and the stripped-down minimalistic phase (and various levels in between). I can assure you that adding more hierarchical levels or tools does not improve your productivity. It destroys it.

Why?

Let’s step back a bit here. What is productivity all about? It’s to create more output with less input. In other words, it’s to get more work done with less effort. Adding more steps to your productivity system adds more inputs, not less. It creates more work for you without helping you become more productive.

The more time you spend inside your productivity system, the less time you spend doing work that matters.

In the pre-digital age, when we used paper-based planners such as the Franklin Planner, there was no such thing as sub-tasks. We did not need them. All we had was a list of tasks that were required to be done today.

If you were a Franklin Planner user and followed the system, you would have an A1 task, “planning and solitude,” at the top of your task list. You would give yourself ten to fifteen minutes at the start of the day to review your tasks and appointments, prioritise your tasks, and then begin the day.

It was simple, it worked, and we never craved the ability to create sub-projects and sub-tasks.

Digital tools do offer some advantages over paper-based systems. For one, we no longer need to carry a heavy binder or scramble to find our diaries or task list on a call.