How Sam Corcos Inspired Me to Use Notion Calendar As My Go-To Productivity Tool
For years, I’d been a hardcore believer in task lists.
And since I’m a Notion power user, I got good at all kinds of fancy ways to display my tasks using filters, sorting, etc.
But all the while, I wasn’t improving my productivity.
That was until I heard an interview between Tim Ferriss and Sam Corcos, CEO of Levels:
In the interview, Sam makes a compelling argument:
“There literally is not enough time. Your time is finite and the number of digital items that you can add to a to-do list is infinite. You’re working with the wrong constraint.”
When it comes to managing our work through a task list (like a Notion database), it’s easy to get carried away with adding items without any regard for the actual time required to complete them.
And this is where our problems begin.
Conveniently, right around the time that I heard this interview, Notion had just launched Notion Calendar, which allows you to integrate your task list with your calendar.
This was my gateway.
I made the executive decision to stop using a huge to-do list with fancy filtering and sorting and instead, sync my task list to Notion Calendar.
This allowed me to see all my tasks laid out on my calendar as time blocks.
I then resolved to stop referencing my task database during my daily workflow, and instead, use Notion Calendar as my method for organizing my daily and weekly tasks.
The result?
I’ve never felt more in control of my time. I’ve also never felt more confident about my ability to get things done.
To say that this has been a paradigm shift for me would be an understatement.
Below are a few insights I’ve made through this process.
I hope they inspire you to make some adjustments in your life, and along the way, be more intentional about how you spend your time.
1. “The Calendar Is the To-Do List”
Before calendar-based task management, when I would go through my daily workflow, I would reference my database of tasks.
When it was time to start the next task, I’d mark it as “in progress,” go do the task, mark it as complete, and then do the next one.
While it was organized using priority filters and in a way that made sense to me, I always felt myself getting to the end of the day feeling as if I let myself down because I didn’t finish everything on my to-do list.
This wasn’t helpful or productive, because there is no “end.”
When it comes to work, we’re never “done” — the “work” will always be there tomorrow.
The only “end” that is actually important is the “end of the day.” And knowing how to pace and prioritize your work so you can step away at the end of the day is more important than “finishing everything.”
What I do now is simply follow my calendar, which already has time blocks laid out to do things I need to do.
And because I’ve been using this technique for some time, I’ve gotten quite good at estimating the amount of time each task type will likely take.
So when new tasks arise that I need to do, rather than capturing them in some unbounded inbox, I instead estimate the amount of time I need to do it and go directly to my calendar to schedule a time block for it.
This has a few key benefits.
For one, it helps me see that task “in context” amongst all the other things I need to do.
In some cases, I can batch like tasks together (complete related tasks back-to-back). In other cases, I can see that I’ll be ending a difficult video call or coming back from lunch with a friend, and avoid scheduling tasks immediately after or before to allow me some slack and headspace to prepare or state switch.
Second, it allows me to be realistic about when I’ll get something done.
When I get requests for tasks, I can be honest and tell the person, “I won’t be able to get to this until Friday,” and mean it.
Third, it allows me to think carefully about whether I want (or need) to do the task at all.
By immediately referencing a calendar anytime there’s a task to do, I’ve found it to be like a natural filter that functions immediately.
In some cases, I’m able to make the executive decision that something actually doesn’t need to happen today, this week, or ever.
2. Getting More Intentional About Time
Because of Notion Calendar’s ability to integrate with any database with a calendar view in your workspace, I’ve been able to also create calendars for my reading and learning.
When there’s a book I’m reading, a documentary I want to watch, or a tutorial I’m following to learn a skill, not only does it get marked as “In Progress” on Notion, but it also pops up in my calendar so I can decide when I’ll do it.
It’s not enough to be reading a book “in general” — when are you actually going to spend the time to read it and learn what it has to say?
3. Calibrating Around How Long Things Actually Take
Over time, I’ve noticed improved calibration in my ability to estimate how long things will take to get done.
When I know I need to complete a specific type of output for a client or engage in a certain type of task, I’ve found that I’m more perceptive of how long things will actually take.
This makes it a lot easier for me to plan out days and weeks because I’m able to block out the appropriate amount of time for things.
Of course, if you’re not familiar with Hofstadter’s Law, it states that:
“It [a task] always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.”
And I’ve found this to be true.
Which is why, as Sam Corcos recommends:
You need to have slack in your system.
Slack, meaning, time that doesn’t have anything scheduled in it.
A sweet spot for me has been to keep my days at least 25% open (in terms of my working hours) so that I can allow for Hofstadter’s Law and for all the surprises that will likely arise along the way.
4. Allowing Time for Rest and Refreshment
After a few days of switching to calendar-based task management, when I got to the end of the day, I noticed something interesting:
I’d find myself looking for the next thing to do.
Instead of enjoying downtime with my girlfriend or doing something else that I enjoyed for no other reason than the fact that it was an enjoyable thing to do, I found myself actively looking for more work.
This was a huge red flag.
The goal of work (and time management, for that matter), isn’t to work more.
It’s to be free.
When I first set out on my entrepreneurial journey several years ago, I didn’t decide to do it because I wanted to work all day.
I did it because I wanted to have more freedom and optionality.
And yet, when I finally did have those pockets of freedom and optionality in my daily life, I found excuses to fill them with more work.
Having a calendar laid out where I could see what I’d completed while knowing that everything else that needed to get done was already scheduled for another day was a game changer.
Conversely, there are some days when I finish what I need to do much sooner than I expect. Sometimes this even happens in the middle of the day.
On those days, I’ve resolved to resort to a few key activities like reading, writing, learning, and exercising.
Again — the goal is to be more in control of your time, not reverting to work for work’s sake.
5. Putting First Things First
Similarly to budgeting, where the time-tested wisdom is to “pay yourself first,” the same goes for time management.
This is an idea I got from Oliver Burkeman in his book Four Thousand Weeks.
The beginning part of our day, the first couple of hours or so, should be spent on the tasks that are most important to us.
For me, this includes exercising and writing.
By establishing dedicated, repeating time blocks in my calendar for these activities, I can be more realistic about how long they’ll take and visually see them in my daily and weekly calendars.
It also helps me avoid scheduling things on top of them and encourages me to avoid engaging with anything else until these two things are done.
Am I 100% perfect on these?
Of course not.
But has it helped me increase their frequency?
Without a doubt.
Three Ways I Can Help You Apply What You Just Learned
- Download Notion and Notion Calendar and start syncing your project and task databases directly with your calendar.
- Have questions about optimizing your own personal workflow, productivity, and professional processes? Learn more about my work and contact me here — I’d love to connect!
- Looking for an all-in-one organizational workflow system for Notion? Check out the LearnChangeDo Workspace for Notion here. It’s my go-to system for learning, behavior change, and productivity.
