Methods and Tools That Keep Me Focused
It is possible to envision a near future in which the most desirable skill is the ability to focus. The most essential step in getting to a place of focus for me is dumping everything my brain is juggling into a productivity system. David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done (GTD), refers to this as the "capture" step. Conduct a mind sweep of anything big or small that has been holding your attention and write it down. I find it helpful to think of the brain as having a limited number of resources. The more you can offload to an "external brain" like an app or a notebook, the less stress you have weighing down your mind. Less stress means more freedom to apply brainpower to valuable/deep work and can even allow for a higher ceiling of patience for things that might derail you.
The GTD Method:
Capture: Write down everything that’s floating around in your brain and keeping you up at night. Nothing is too small or too big; "get milk" to "finalize the annual report". Write until there is nothing left.
[secret in-between step that I highly recommend]
When you've finished capturing, if there is something that would take you less than 5 minutes to complete—just do it now before continuing on to the next steps. Get it out of the way, take that endorphin hit and turn it into momentum for the next step.
Clarify: Process what you captured into actionable steps. Avoid broad statements like "Due Taxes"—break things down into step-by-step checkpoints like "gather receipts, request W2, ask significant other for W2, collect charitable donations, etc."
Organize: Place things where they need to be. Add things to your calendar, file away references or resources to recall later, sort your tasks, and delegate to others as needed.
Review: Look over your system. Update and revise as needed. Regularly schedule a brain dump to gain back that head space and ability to focus.
Engage: Do the things. You invested some time and effort in being organized, now put it to work.
Tools
Confession time. One of the ways that procrastination manifests itself in me is by over thinking the tools or methods I might use to do something. Sometimes it's a matter of which to choose, but more often it's a deeper obsession over all the fun notebooks, fancy pens, cool new apps, or lavish tech I could buy. It even creeps into my creative process— rather than draw or design something I will nerd out over art supplies or new techniques and never actually MAKE anything. To that end, I'm proud to say I've landed on a solid set of productivity apps and materials that I've stuck with (I won't deny flirting with others, but I always come back to these).
Every productivity system needs a:
To-Do List
Calendar
Notebook (physical and/or digital)
Bonus additions in my system:
Journal
Ambient Noise / Music
My Go-To Apps for Staying Focused
Disclaimer: I work and play within the Apple ecosystem traditionally. Some of the apps I recommend are available across multiple platforms but most are exclusive to the Mac or iPhone/iPad.
Things
Platform: Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch
Things is a very "Apple-like" app from a design perspective. Wonderful attention to detail aesthetically but functionally the app also manages to be simple to use while packing a lot of power. The developer is constantly updating to support new features and new Apple hardware/software initiatives. When a developer is committed, it puts me at ease that the app will be around for a while and I won't be wasting my time setting up my workflow in an app that will go stagnant.
Things is more than a simple to-do list (which it does well). I can keep track of different aspects of my life by breaking up lists into different groups. Within my groups I can have projects with multiple steps. While managing my to-dos I can get access to my calendar or set reminders. I love being able to use this app as a task list but also as a collection of things I want to buy, collections, goals, "someday maybe" ideas, etc. While I'm out and about, especially while driving, I can tap on my Apple Watch and dictate a to-do that comes to mind and add it to the app. Having access to it on all my platforms is crucial and each iteration of the app is fine-tuned to perform well on any given device, not simply copied over and shoe-horned in. Great app with amazing features backed by an engaged developer.
Fantastical
Platform: Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch
The app started in the calendar scene by adding natural language as an input. For example, entering information into the calendar can be as simple as writing a sentence "Lunch with Mia next Friday at Noon at Pho Long" will automatically add location data for the meeting and identify what "next Friday" actually is. This feature has been enough for me to stick with Fantastical over the years but there is plenty more on offer. With the proliferation of video meetings, Flexibits has added conference call detection that places a join button in the calendar event for scheduled meetings. There is even a built-in task manager (but I prefer to keep that separate from my calendar).
iA Writer
Platform: Mac, iPad, iPhone, Windows, and Android
The motivation behind the use of iA Writer is to focus. The app takes all the noise that comes with a program like Microsoft Word away and allows for the user to concentrate on simply writing. This may be my favorite app to run in full-screen mode, immersing you in the writing process. Turning on Focus Mode will filter everything out except the sentence or paragraph you are working on. Behind the curtain of a minimal interface is a powerful set of tools for getting writing done. Style check allows the app to review your text like an editor would (for redundancies, cliches, filler words, etc). There are subtle details like custom typefaces designed specifically for writing. There is even support for Markdown.
Day One
Platform: Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch
It took some unlearning for me to accept the fact that keeping a journal, or specifically a "Diary" was not something that only teenage girls did. Maybe it was the stereotypes of 80s and 90s TV/Movies? Either way, Journaling is for EVERYONE. Allowing time to yourself for reflection is a huge part of learning and creates room for personal growth. Giving yourself a moment of stillness to gather your thoughts or identify things you are grateful for is a worthwhile practice to add to your productivity system.
Day One is a beautiful app backed with multiple design awards. You have the ability to create multiple journals for however you might like to organize your thoughts. For me, I keep a personal journal and a career journal. Throughout my own habit-building with journalling I've also kept journals for gratitude, food logs, workout logs, my son's milestones, life events, and quotes. At times I’ve struggled with "why am I just writing down what I did today?". I find the need to recalibrate every once in a while and the template feature is great for that. I can setup a small list of questions to answer as a prompt for me to reflect on something meaningful. I also love that journaling within the Day One app can take the form of many things beyond just writing: audio clips, pictures, videos, drawings, location data, weather, and even automated entries powered by other apps like IFTTT.
GoodNotes
Platform: Mac, iPad, and iPhone
The iPad is such an amazing device. The addition of the Apple Pencil has taken it from great media consumption device to a workhorse for creativity and research. GoodNotes gives you an endless library of notebooks packed with digital paper and all the latest developments in the iPad operating system. Capturing handwritten notes and diagrams next to copied text snippets, images saved from the web, screen shots, or even photos taken with the camera. The notebook has never been so free to take any shape you need for any given task. I use GoodNotes to annotate PDFs, critique design work, and fill-out documentation for work. The iPad has become my research assistant as I use GoodNotes to take notes while I do literature reviews and plan my course content. Knowing the data I input into the app is available on my Mac and iPhone is really reassuring for those moments I get caught needing this or that bit of information and I can grab the closest device and pull it up. Recently I've even started using the iPad and GoodNotes as a dry-erase board while teaching in class, projecting the iPad on the wall and drawing out notes, diagrams, or illustrating a point.
Noizio
Platform: Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Android
Ambient background noise is a huge part of my deep work practice. When I need to focus on a project for a solid chunk of time I need ambient noise or some form of music (without lyrics, otherwise I'll start typing out the song I'm listening to). The ambient noise not only blocks out surrounding distractions but helps me zero in on the task at hand. This has taken the form of a variety of music genres like Lo-Fi Hip Hop, Industrial, Electronic, Classical as well as ambient noise mainstays like rain, waves, wind, campfire, coffee shop, pink noise, and brown noise. Noizio has a wonderful interface that allows you to mix and match noises to create your own soundscape. I'm pretty fond of the custom mix I made that reminds me of relaxing on the rocks by Lake Erie at Edgewater Park in Cleveland, Ohio (October Rain + Sea Waves + Winter Wind).
Next Steps
Of course, all the tools in the world won't make up for bad habits. Keep in mind all this productivity system stuff is a process. Start small with simple task lists or calendaring and go deeper as your needs for more complex organization or efficiency grows.
