Thoughts on productivity

I’ve long been searching for the magic productivity bullet. Diaries, journals, kanban boards. Different configurations of planners and bullet journals. The problem is, these things can be ignored. To manage anxiety, I rely on CBT techniques which involve making lists, except sometimes I get too anxious to make a list, and if the list in a software thing, I can easily ignore it. Also, as you can imagine, this makes things worse!

If it’s a book, less so. I started with a nice paper diary this year, but I’d make a list, and time would march forward, and things wouldn’t be done and I couldn’t bring myself to face that the last list I wrote was two weeks ago.

Usually, I keep stuff in my head, and do full steam ahead on that, with other urgent things lurking in the background like lurking monstrous tentacles.

I’m trying to get a book out this year, in record time, but while I’m focused on editing, there’s other stuff I need to prep for. Covers, promotional bling…. Stuff that should be done as early as possible, but I don’t want to think about. Time to make a list, and yet if I use a diary, I get anxious when I see how few weeks are left. Why is project management easy at work, and yet hard to bring into my personal space?

But since I also have a streak of ruthless pragmatism, so it’s time to bring out the paper diary again. Except, this time, I’ve resurrected one of my old bullet journals. No dates, months, just a list of things that can be crossed off. The journal is a physical artefact, so I’m less likely to ignore it as an app. Got a lot to get done over the next few months, and it’s important I stay on top of things leading up to getting Book 3 done….