My Current System
When it comes to "systems" I've got some experience attempting many of them. Always a sucker for someone's new productivity hack, i've bounced around self-help productivity blogs, podcasts and books quite a bit.
This year i'm doing something different for myself. I've loosely heard of people doing something similar so it's not particularly original. And despite knowing it's not original i've felt quite a bit of ownership over my system.
I have a single .md file stored on my computer (synced to the cloud) that is running chronological. And each day i put the date and 3-6 todo's via markdown syntax. I then do those things each day. And it repeats. That's the system.
I'm particularly paying attention to my ability to direct my future self from the night before. It's pretty easy for me to break promises with myself. So the simplicity of the system is pretty important. I can always forgive myself for personal shortcomings. Almost to a fault. But i'm also pretty good at following through if I say i'm going to do something. It's a weird combo of personality traits. But i digress.
Each night before i will do something that looks like this :
# Jan 16, 2026
- [ ] Todo item one
- [ ] Todo item two
- [ ] Todo item three
And at the end of the next day it will look like this :
# Jan 16, 2026
- [x] Todo item one
- [x] Todo item two
- [x] Todo item three
And it's all in a single file. I edit the file from my computer using neovim. And I can also edit it from my phone via Obsidian.
My goal is to be 100% successful at doing whatever i put on my todo list. If you are really serious about implementing this system, it's not very long before you are faced with quite a few classic "todo" system dynamics. And because the system is so simple, you are able to see the fundamental conflict. For example, "what does done mean?". That can be so important to the validity of the todo item. Did you actually do it? Sounds simple enough, especially when we're talking about just a couple of tasks. But you will be shocked how quickly you are in a position where marking the item as done is of question.
For example, you might have "clean the kitchen" as a pretty simple item. But just think about that for a minute... i know that my definition of that actually means that you do the dishes, wipe the counters, and wipe the table and make sure nothing is not put away. It also probably means that you should empty the trash and make sure the dishwasher is empty. But does it mean the stove top is wiped down? How about the oven? And what if the garbage is 3/4ths full? Do you run the dishwasher? What if you only have a few dishes in it?
All of these can be the small demons that can either erode satisfying feeling of accomplishment. Or they are things that can prevent you from actaully accomplishing what you set out to accomplish. And sometimes you are next day you. And you are thinking back to the previous day and thinking "what did that person mean?".
The end result of this is that i've been trying to work through these types of thoughts for my todo system. And i've created a few guidelines for myself.
- If you are unsure of good definition of done for an item. Give it a timelimit. (Spend 30 minutes cleaning in the kitchen. I actually feel pretty ok with just saying "clean the kitchen", but I do use the time limit hack quite a bit. In particular with projects that I know are big and could sink my committments to myself. Something like "Clean the garage" might be the end of my ability to commit future self, especially if I get part way into cleaning the garage and realize that in order to do something right then I have a new side quest project. I haven't been allowing myself to change my todo list the next day. It's kind of my goal in doing this... i want to engage my planning brain and I want to build up trust that I'm going to do what I say I'll do.
- When a task feels ambiguous. Just clarify what you mean a bit. Something like "Write the business case for my work project" would likely be better written "create a first draft of the business case". Or even "send a business case to a coworker." both of which I can feel better about completing than something so definitive as "do othe entirety of this thing". Because again, you run into problems where maybe you have a dependency on someone else providing a key number for the business case. But having a placeholder in a draft. Or sending an incomplete version to someone are both able to be accomplished free of dependencies.
- I have to be really careful when i'm adding items to my todo list. Even a list that seems like you could do them all in an hour or two is a risky situations. I don't put every task i'm going to do in my day. That's not the right way of thinking about it. I specifically put things on my todo list that 'end of the day me' thinks are a good idea for me to do tomorrow. I don't necessarily put "have to do" items on my todo list. Something like "pick the kids up from daycare" isn't a good use of this system. Because it's something that i already do successfully every time. And it's not something i really need to use my planning brain for. I like tasks that might prevent me from procrastinating doing something that is important but not forced on me by the time. Something that when it's tomorrow my self will think "i can do this later". Even though planning brain says that i should do it earlier.
- I like to put todo items that are interesting to me and that are good for me. Educational items are great. Exploration items are great. Doing kind acts of service are great. I also like putting things on the list that could be good habits to build. Put them on a for a few days and see how they feel. I'm not sure yet how i'd transition something off my todo system once it's become a habit. But i havent' really run into that problem beause even though i've used it to exercise, or sleep, etc.
- I mentioned it before, but it's important that this system isn't exhaustive for me. I can't be perfect at doing everything that i have to do every day. I'll go crazy. And also it's impossible for my day to be very planned because life happens. For me, this is just my little slice of not living too much at the whims of life.
I wouldn't characterize my many "systems" attempts at failure. But i'm also not doing any of them anymore. I'm not sure how sustainable a 100% perfect every day, no matter way will end up being. And I'm also not sure if perfect is the long term goal. But right now it's exactly what I need. Just building up trust with myself and getting my past self and my future self to have a way to work with each other. This system might be "too simple" for anyone out there. For me, it's all I can do right now.