Your Personal Productivity System
1. Your System at a Glance
- Capture: Anything that pops into your head goes into the Inbox list in Apple Reminders within seconds. Sticky notes are allowed only as a temporary catch, and they get moved to the Inbox the same day.
- Where things live: Five lists in Apple Reminders (Inbox, Next Up, Projects, Waiting On, Someday). Google Calendar holds only things tied to a specific time, like appointments, pickup, gym, and your weekly review.
- Your one sticky note: The monitor keeps exactly one sticky note, your Top 3 for today. You already look at your monitor all day, so this uses a habit you have instead of fighting it.
- How often you look: 2 minutes each morning before 9, 2 minutes before school pickup, and 20 minutes on Sunday afternoon.
- The one habit that matters most: The Sunday weekly review. If you keep only this habit, the system keeps working.
- Why this fits you: You found Notion to be too much, so this uses the free Apple apps you already have, with very few lists. Big thinking happens in your sharp morning hours. Nothing in the daily routine needs your after-3pm brain.
Assumptions: You use an iPhone (and maybe a Mac), since you use Apple Notes. The Hartley proposal could be for your job or for freelance work. The system works the same either way. Your Top 3 covers both work and personal tasks.
2. Setup Steps (about 30 minutes)
Apple Reminders (10 min)
- Create five lists: Inbox, Next Up, Projects, Waiting On, Someday.
- Set Inbox as your default list if the app lets you, so quick captures land there automatically.
- Add every item from Section 3 below to its list. Copy them exactly as written.
- For recurring items (groceries, credit card, invoices, plants), add a date and set it to repeat if the app offers that option. If not, add them to Google Calendar as repeating events instead.
Google Calendar (10 min)
- Weekly Review: Sunday, 1:00–1:20pm, repeating weekly. Treat it like an appointment.
- Morning Plan: weekdays, 8:50–8:55am, repeating.
- Shutdown: weekdays, 3:00–3:05pm, right before school pickup, repeating.
- Big Thing block: weekdays, 9:00–10:30am. Your best work goes here.
- Optional: a 15-minute Personal Project slot on Saturday morning, for the garage, Mom's party, or the laptop.
Clean slate (10 min)
- Take every sticky note off your monitor. Type each one into the Inbox, then throw the notes away.
- In Apple Notes, rename your long list to "Old List – Archive." Don't sort it now. Its first triage happens in your first weekly review (see Section 8).
- Put one fresh sticky note on your monitor labeled TOP 3.
3. Your Lists, Pre-Filled
| List | Purpose | What goes here |
|---|---|---|
| Inbox | Fast capture, no sorting | Anything, any time. Emptied daily. |
| Next Up | Single tasks you can do soon | One-step actions that start with a verb |
| Projects | Anything with more than one step | One line per project, plus its next action |
| Waiting On | Things other people owe you | Who, what, and the date you asked |
| Someday | Ideas you're not committing to now | No guilt, no dates |
Projects (each with one clear next action)
| Project | Next action | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Finish Hartley client proposal | Open a blank doc and write a 5-bullet outline of what it must cover (15 min) | ⚠️ Check the date: confirm the deadline |
| Plan Mom's 70th birthday | Write down 2–3 possible dates and a rough guest list (10 min) | ⚠️ Check the date: it's in June, and venues and guests may need lead time |
| Update LinkedIn | Update your headline and current role description (15 min) | |
| Clean out garage | Set a 15-minute timer and clear one corner, bagging any obvious trash | |
| Research new laptop | Write your must-haves and budget on one note (5 min) |
Next Up (single tasks)
| Task | Note |
|---|---|
| Find car registration notice, check the expiration, and renew | ⚠️ Check the date |
| Gather kid's school forms in one spot and fill out or sign them | ⚠️ Check the date: forms usually have due dates |
| Return Amazon package: get the label and drop it off | ⚠️ Check the date: return windows close |
| Call or book dentist appointment | Good after-3pm task |
| Message Jen about the shared budget doc | After you send it, move it to Waiting On as "Jen: budget doc reply (asked [date])" |
Recurring (in Reminders with repeat dates, or in Google Calendar)
| Item | How often | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly groceries | Weekly. Pick your usual day. | |
| Pay credit card | Monthly | ⚠️ Check the date: set it a few days before your due date |
| Send freelance invoices | Monthly | Pick a fixed day, such as the 1st or last business day |
| Water plants | Your usual schedule | |
| Suggested: Weekly review | Sunday 1pm | Already on your calendar |
| Suggested: Check calendar | Daily, during Morning Plan | Built into your routine |
Someday
- Learn basic Spanish. When you're ready to make it a project, the first step could be "Pick one free resource and try one 10-minute lesson."
Waiting On
- Empty for now. Jen moves here once you've messaged her.
4. Capture & Sort Rules
- Capture in 10 seconds. Open Reminders and type it into the Inbox. If you use Siri, you can say it out loud instead. Don't sort while you capture.
- Sticky notes are temporary. Any sticky other than your Top 3 gets typed into the Inbox by the end of the day.
- Every task starts with a verb. Write "Call dentist," not "Dentist." Vague items are the ones you avoid.
- Anything with a date gets a date. If it has a real deadline, add the due date and a reminder. This is what stops small stuff from turning urgent.
- Two-minute rule. If it takes under 2 minutes, do it now instead of writing it down.
**