My Ultimate Guide to Productivity π»
Transforming your personal and professional life all starts with the creation of a simple, customised productivity system.

How to Create a Productivity System
Topics Discussed:
- Task Management (essentials)
- Digital & Physical File Organization
- How to Take Notes
- Email Tips + Tricks
- Long-Term Organization
β Task Management
Before diving into “Task Management”…
What is a task and what isn’t
A task is anything that you have to get done and has a due date.
Here are some common problems people face with their task management:
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Not 100% trusting the system
β You might write some tasks in the system but try to remember others in your brain (ineffective)
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Chaos/Clutter.
β Often due to an improperly maintained productivity system
β ex: some tasks might get done but not crossed off/completed
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It can feel OVERWHELMING
β Too many organized tasks and no sense of priority of due dates
What Makes a Great Task Management System?
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Easy to Enter Tasks
β The more the friction to add a task the less you want to do it
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Simple Sections
β Divide the tasks into different lists or buckets
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Customizable Views
β A “Today View”, “This Week View” etc.
This is how Matthew Espinoza setups his tasks using Notion. If you want to get the template [CLICK HERE]
π App Recommendations: Todoist, TickTick, Notion (Get Template)
π Setting Up A Calendar
Your calendar should only contain events and not tasks,
β It is very important to separate tasks and events
Make a habit of checking and updating your calendar everyday (preferably in the mornings)
Setting up a Calendar for MAXIMUM Productivity
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Choose a Tool (Google Calendar)
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Start with Events
- Long blocks of time in between events = Deep Work (Very in depth and mentally taxing work)
- Short blocks of time in between events = Batch Work (5 minute tasks batched together)
- Use Life Buckets
- Color-Coded calendar for each facet of life/projects that you can turn on and off to filter out events
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If you have events happening often, use Recurring Events function
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π Add notifications/reminders
π Building an Effective Note-Taking System
Everybody needs a note-taking system. David Allen once said:
Your brain is for having ideas and not for storing them.
You need some sort of way to store all your ideas and important information.
Rules of Note-Taking
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Stay Organized
β use folders and tags
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Make it Simple
β it should be frictionless to start a new note
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Use a Reliable System
β use a system that is cloud based so that you do not lose all your notes
- e.g. Evernote, Microsoft OneNote, Notion, etc…
β Check out my note-taking system in notion
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Create an Archive Folder for old notes and notebooks instead of deleting them
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Copy any information you might want to reference later into your system
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Create master reference docs for specific processes, skills, or topic areas
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When titling notes, include general terms to help you search in the future
β e.g. “email” / “receipt” / “taxes”
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Setup a time to process your inbox notebook later on
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Create a blank version of recurring notes, such as meeting agendas, research docs, or brainstorming notes
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Copy a template to create a new note each time you need it
If you want my proven note-taking system for just $9 buck you can snag it [HERE]
π Organize Your Files
It doesn’t matter what productivity tips/tools you use if you can’t find the right file when you need it.
File management is a really important part of your productivity system.
Basically, file management consist of 2 parts:
- Part 1 : Digital Files
- Part 2 : Physical Files
Digital Files
- Whenever possible use a cloud storage system
- I recommend using:
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- I recommend using:
- Use a tree structure for organizing all your file
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Everything should start with a “ROOT” folder
β All other sections should be inside of the root
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Physical Files
- Try to digitalize all the things which are possible to do so + include them in your digital file system. (e.g. invoices, receipts, user manual can all be scanned & stored in a digital system).
- For files which can’t be digital (tax papers, identity proofs, legal stuff) you can use one of those smaller file cabinets for organization.
π Take Control Over Your Emails
Rules for Email
General
- Schedule specific time to check and process all you emails
- Create labels that group your emails into topics or themes, such as “Receipts” or “Taxes”
Inbox Zero method
- Take action immediately (do not use your inbox as a task manager)
- Delete all but essential email
- Learn to archive emails
Create Filters & Rules
- β So that all the unnecessary emails gets either deleted or achieved automatically
- Recommended Apps
- Gmail
- Superhuman
- Front (if you manage a team)
π₯ Bonus Section
Quick Capture – reduce friction; process later
- Create one “scratch note” for jotting down thoughts and ideas throughout your day.
- Use an easily accessible section of your notes app for your daily note
- End your day by transferring your notes to the proper place within your system.
Review Day
THINGS TO DO ON A REVIEW DAY
Main Purpose: To keep the organization of your productivity system and eliminate eventual entropy (chaos) that is added to it during the week/month, ensuring you fully trust your system
That is achieved by some tasks like:
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Ticking off tasks that you completed but haven’t checked off, or updating tasks that need to be updated
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Updating quick-access notebooks and folders that match your current needs
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Archive emails that aren’t relevant anymore and update labels to other emails
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Take out lists or notebooks that you don’t need anymore (for example trips that happened already)
As a final note: Start small! Don’t get overwhelmed by all the systems available.