5-Year Journey: My Workload Increased But I Felt More Control
I used to be super stressed at the beginning of grad school. I worried about everything and that came with a wicked back pain.
I couldn’t sleep and constantly felt like I was forgetting something and disappointing people. I hated it.
My Challenges Increased But I Felt More Control
Fast forward a couple months later, my workload had doubled: I had more home works in grad school, taught students, worked on a startup on the side, and interned at the same time.
But the weird part was that I felt in control.
My workload increased yet I somehow felt better. This unlocked the idea, on an emotional level, that handling chaos is about the process you already have in place.
If you’re struggling it’s because your process is failing you.
We all experience chaos. Even the best of us. And one thing is guaranteed: life moves in cycles and chaos comes and goes. The defining cornerstone of how you march through any chaos is based on your existing process.
The Process I Used
The process I’m about to share has been refined over 5 years. Initially, I struggled with productivity apps. I used Evernote, Google Keep, One Note, Any.Do, Todoist. I tried everything and anything.
Then I switched to Trello because everyone said it was the greatest app ever. But I couldn’t stand it. Every few months, I’d jump between apps.
Then go back to writing in a notebook. But then I’d forget the notebook at home or hate to carry it around because it couldn’t fit in my pocket.
Life was messy.
But over time I landed on a process that works. And I’ve stuck with it and improved it even more for the last 3 years.
This process can be used in your favorite todo app. Mine happens to be Google Keep so I’ve written with “Google Keep” instead of “favorite todo app” to make the writing flow.
But don’t get caught up on the specific app as you read through. You can replace “Google Keep” with “Todoist”, “One Note”, etc.
I intentionally skipped the details of how to use app features like checklist, colors, reminders, etc. And instead talked about the big picture of how things fit because that’s the most important aspect of using any tool.
All good? Let’s get straight to it!
Find Your Single Source of Truth
I use Google Keep as my single source of truth that feeds into other tools. This means it’s my first stop.
First stop for capturing floating thoughts, grocery, ideating, journaling, workout plans, finances. All of these have their own labels so capturing things usually takes a few taps on my phone or three clicks on a chrome tab that’s always open with Google Keep.
From there I move to Calendar for fixed appointments.
Then Trello for team tracking collaborations.
Then I switch between Notes for personal writing or Google docs for collaborations. What’s interesting here is that most of my write ups start in Keep on my phone. Including this post.
When it starts getting longer I switch to my laptop and copy out the content from Google Keep web into Notes or Google Doc.
Any time it feels like I need special formatting or the itch to write in my favorite font –- oh goodness, Montserrat! anybody else love this font? -– it’s a sign that I need to switch to a writing tool. Switching to another tool isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But not many believe that.
There Is No Everything App
A lot of people try to hack Google Keep or their todo app to become a writing app, a collaboration tool, a calendar app, an EVERYTHING tool.
The fact is that no one tool will address everything.
I made this mistake for so long. But you’re better off picking up a single source of truth and then building others around it.
It’s fine to use Keep and Trello.
It’s fine to use a todo reminder and calendar.
One doesn’t replace the other; they complement each other.
Scratching Your Paper Itch
Once in a while I get the itch to write on paper. That feeling is especially strong when I’m planning big goals. I love to map out everything in front of me. And writing with my favorite pen keeps the ideas flowing.
In paper situations, I scribble all on paper then when I get done, I take a screenshot and add it under the relevant label in Keep. Example, if you saw my “big ideas” label you’d see a lot of screenshots in there.
I also do this when white-boarding with colleagues on a coding project or brainstorming sessions. Get done. Take picture. Add to label.
Then I trash the paper. Multiple years of trying this has showed me that the paper only feels good in the moment. A few weeks later and it looks like I’ve got paper trash all over the place.
So I screenshot and trash ASAP. This process satisfies both my digital access to my planner (beats small notebooks any day). But it also lets me scratch that my paper itch.
Some people recommended Rocketbook for those who prefer writing on paper.
It is a reusable notebook that lets you write, upload to the cloud, and then wipe the page clean! I’ve never used it but wanted this suggestion to have visibility in case others find it useful.
Finally, Slowly Create Your Routine — Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly
Every morning on weekdays I go through my Keep on my laptop to see things that should be top of mind that day.
During the day, I add things to Keep either from my phone or laptop. Cycle continues until Friday.
Every Friday, I go through my Keep to clean up any tasks that fell through or that should move into other tools.
Then repeat.
They’re Only Minor Tweaks
Pause for a moment and think about what you’ve read so far. You’d notice that they sound simplistic. Each of these four parts are only minor tweaks. Yet combining all of them together can boost how much you feel on top of things.
3 Action Items For You
Q: Do you have a single source of truth?
Q: Are you stuck in the mentality of everything app?
Q: What minor tweaks can you do today to feel more in control?
Summary
The process I shared can work with any tool. It covers four parts:
- Single source of truth: You should choose a tool as your single source of truth then other tools can feed from it. E.g. use Keep as single source of truth, calendar for appointments, Trello for team collaboration, etc.
- Everything app: don’t worry about finding the ONE perfect app that does everything. There’s no such tool. E.g. A tool may have all the features you want but offline sync could be slow.
- Paper itch: write on paper, take a picture, store it in your digital note. Then trash the paper.
- Finally, routines: slowly create a routine to review things in your single source of truth.
Thanks for reading
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