Pairing the Right System With the Right Purpose
You’re only as productive as your system allows you to be
Almost a year ago, I “set out” on my productivity journey. Along the way, I encountered a variety of seemingly arcane acronyms—like GTD, PPV, and PARA—and even learned a little German along the way. (For those wondering, Zettelkasten means “note box”.)
What I failed to realize at the time was that I didn’t actually know what I was looking for. I conflated the purposes of the systems I came across, and I tried to integrate each one into my life until I was met with friction. It didn’t help that I was experimenting with different platforms and technologies, such as Obsidian and Notion, to implement these systems in a way that worked for my life. And finding insight online was difficult at best, given that much of the information was either disparate or contradictory.
It was only recently that I stopped looking for the perfect system—instead, cobbling together pieces of the different systems I had tried in order to build something that worked for my specific needs. But it took a lot of trial and error on my part to truly understand what the essence of each system is.
When I refer to a system, I’m referring to a group of organizing principles, activities, and associated technologies that comprise…
