Systems Won't Save You From Yourself. Here's What Will...

Ev Chapman
July 2, 2021

That shiny new tool, or template or system is not going to save you from the perceived disorganised mess that you are.

We've all been there. Being blinded by that shiny new toy that promises ULTIMATE PRODUCTIVITY. Only to find it months or weeks later laying dormant on our computers, untouched, in the graveyard of other good ideas we've abandoned. And then beating ourselves up, wondering why we just can't contort ourselves into this perfect system?

But maybe we don't need another system? Maybe we need to build a TRUSTED system

There are a lot of smart people out there who have built amazing productivity systems (I am one of them). But someone else's trusted system, might not be your trusted system. It always starts the same. You're excited because something is new. You have high hopes and motivation. But one day you find yourself not opening the task list, or writing something down on a post-it note instead of saving it into the system.

That's a sign that you've lost trust in the system.

But that doesn't mean the system is bad, or that you are bad. It's simply a sign or a trigger to ask yourself the question: Where is the friction? Why doesn't my brain work this way and what way would it work better?

Then you tweak the system.

And you start working again. Then the next time you feel yourself losing trust, you ask yourself the question again, and again, and again. Eventually what you'll end up with is a TRUSTED system that works for you, that you love using, that you enjoy opening every day.

You don't have to try to squeeze yourself into some strict system that someone else built. You can take the best of everything and build your own trusted system.

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