Created an Obsidian-based Task Management System, Understanding Productivity Flaws, and More

June 7, 2024

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4 Fatal Productivity Flaws »

It’s the most common question I’ve heard since opening enrollment for the Build Your Dream Week Summit…

“Why will this be ANY different?”

You’ve tried the apps. You’ve tried time blocking. You’ve tried a dozen different routines and systems for getting your calendar under control.

And yet you still struggle to dedicate time throughout the week to the most important stuff in your life. The distractions, pointless meetings, and random busywork still manage to slow your progress on the things that actually matter.

Why will this work when everything else has failed to move the needle?

To show you, I want to talk about WHY productivity systems fail in the first place.

There are four specific reasons, and we’ve designed the Build Your Dream Week Summit to counteract all of them.

Mike’s Obsidian Task Management Dashboard Workflow »

I’ve written previously about Obsidian task management basics and creating task management queries, but lately I’ve been obsessed with crafting my own task management workflows in Obsidian. I decided several months ago I was going to go all in with managing tasks and projects in Obsidian, and in this post I’m going to show you how I set it all up using the Tasks plugin.

How to cut 20% off your calendar »

Think about your calendar for this week right now.

Do you automatically tense up a little at the mere mention of it?

So many people are swimming in tasks they either…

Don’t want to do
Don’t need to do (AKA things that can be delegated)
Only do because they’re on autopilot

The bad news: there is no such thing as a magic wand that will automatically make those obligations disappear.

The good news: I’ve never met anyone who couldn’t remove at least ~20% of those tasks with the right plan. And believe me, I’ve seen some INSANE calendars over the years.

The First Ever “Build Your Dream Week” Summit »

This week, we officially opened enrollment for the Build Your Dream Week Summit!

Click here to save your spot and get all the details now. <<<

The Build Your Dream Week Summit is a live, online workshop where you will create a personalized system for spending more time in the areas of life that are most important to you right now.

This is a brand new coaching experience designed with two big things in mind:

Helping you make a BIG positive difference in your day-to-day productivity in a small amount of time.
Delivering it in a convenient (yet impactful) format.

You won’t have to set aside weeks of time to participate in the summit (or fly hundreds of miles to attend).

All you have to do is hop on your computer for four live coaching sessions June 11-14. And if you can’t attend live, you can check out the recording each evening.

The best part? You can participate for as little as $29.

This is a truly impactful workshop that we want MANY to experience.

Save my spot »

SaneBox’s Blackhole Feature Can Be Your New Email Gatekeeper »

I’ve been around the bend and back with different email apps and services over the last few years. HEY kicked off the experimentation and introduced the Screener (a feature for filtering out email you don’t want in your inbox), large file sharing, separate silos for receipts and newsletters, and more. Other email apps jumped on board with some of these specialty features — Spark introduced the Gatekeeper (same idea as the Screener), priority email (same idea as separating out receipts and newsletters), and now has loads of AI features built in.

Of all these cool new email features, the original Screener idea is my favorite of the bunch. I like the ability to separate out the cruft from email I have to act on. I like having receipts arrive in a specific spot for quickly scanning through later. I like being able to check my screened out emails occasionally in case something important came through that I missed.

But paying the price for HEY or Spark just for the Screener/Gatekeeper feature is a tall ask. You can create these email rules manually if you’d like, all for the price of your attention and time. Or you can try SaneBox for applying these sorts for features to your email service of choice.

Chloe’s Digital + Analog Setup »

Productivity systems are, and should be, unique to each person’s preference. I am not a fan of the “just try this one thing and it will revolutionize the way you do everything” faux-ductivity Twitter advice stuff. There is no productivity silver bullet. If you want to be truly productive, you need to know yourself and how you work best.

I want to show you some of the components of my productivity system. Not so that you copy my setup, but to give you some ideas of how to find your ideal system.

I use a method we call “Hybrid Productivity”. This means that I use digital and analog (pen and paper) tools together. But, we live in a digital age, so why do I even bother with analog tools?

How to Add Custom Icons and Cover Images to Notion »

One of the main things that attracted me to Notion was how visual it is. A workspace or app that is visually appealing to me makes it more likely that I will use it, and enjoy myself while doing it. Looking at a pretty picture of a European coffee shop while also staring at a task list makes it more enjoyable for me.

The most visually versatile part of Notion is its page icons and cover images. They are what can make one page look completely different from another, and it’s my favorite part of setting up a new page.

When creating or updating a Notion page, you can choose a page icon and cover photo.

Interesting Links From Our Friends and Around the Web »

Design Your Ideal Weekly Schedule

Free → Video Workshop + Productivity Templates

GET THE WORKSHOP + TEMPLATES

If you want to reduce the busywork and distractions, then sign up here for instant access to a brief video workshop on How to Plan Your Week.

♥️ Quick Note: You’ll get access to the workshop, plus a few additional bonuses to help you overcome procrastination and deal with distractions so you can spend more time on the important work that matters.