Developing a Personal Productivity System

I journal for 15 minutes a day and get my clients to do the same. Here’s the neuroscience behind how daily journaling will rewire your brain: Your working memory can only hold 7±2 items at a time. When you try to keep everything in your head, you're running your brain at full capacity. Here's what I do: set aside 15 minutes daily to write down whatever's making me worried or distracted. Then I close the notebook and put it away. Simple. This one daily routine frees up massive cognitive resources, a technique I also teach to the executives I work with. Here’s what's happening in your brain that makes this so powerful: Neuroimaging studies show that expressive writing activates your prefrontal cortex (your brain’s control center) while simultaneously dampening activity in the amygdala, your threat detection system. Essentially, writing things down works to reverse your brain's default stress response. A study by Ramirez and Beilock proved this also works under pressure. Students who wrote about their anxieties for just 10 minutes before a high-stakes exam significantly improved their test scores compared to those who didn't. The act of offloading worries freed up the working memory they needed for the test itself. One CEO was struggling during fundraising season. Brilliant guy, knew his numbers cold, but kept stumbling in pitches because his brain was juggling too much. We implemented this system for him. Before every pitch, he'd spend a few minutes dumping his mental noise onto paper. Just getting it out of his head and into the universe. The difference was immediate. When his brain wasn't actively holding onto every worry and distraction, he could focus on what mattered: connecting with investors and telling his story. Think of it like clearing RAM on your computer. When we externalize information, we reduce cognitive load, which frees up processing power for our most important work. Your brain has limited bandwidth. Stop wasting it on mental storage and start using it for the analysis and decision-making it was designed for. What do you do to clear your mental space?

I never thought something this simple would make such a difference in how I work and manage my time. This 15-minute weekly habit changed everything for me: The weekly review. This is one of the most simple yet powerful practices I've built over the years. It helps me reflect on what’s working, what’s not, and what needs adjusting. The concept, introduced by David Allen in “Getting Things Done”, emphasises the importance of closing open loops and staying on top of commitments before they pile up. Over time, it’s become a cornerstone of my productivity system. Here’s what my weekly review looks like: - Review the past week – I list the dates from the past week and, using my calendar and notes, jot down key events and tasks. - Reflect on achievements and challenges – Take a moment to celebrate what went well and spot areas for improvement. - Plan for the upcoming week – Adjust goals and priorities to make sure I’m focusing on what really matters. It’s a small investment of time, but the impact is huge. Every week, those 15 minutes give me clarity, keeps me on track, and make decision-making easier. Instead of constantly chasing the next thing, it gives me a chance to pause, take stock, and plan with intention. Do you have a system for reflecting on your week, or is this something you’d want to try?

You have a business plan for your organisation. A financial plan for your retirement. When did you last write a plan for your life? Bonnie Wan, a brand strategist who has spent decades writing creative briefs for some of the world's biggest companies, asks this question differently than most people do. In a conversation with McKinsey about her book The Life Brief, she explains that the question is not a casual one. It is not what do you feel like or what do you think you want. It is something closer to, in your heart of hearts, what do you really want that you may not have allowed yourself to admit yet. She discovered that the same tool she used professionally, the creative brief, a simple, sharp set of declarative statements that bring clarity out of mess, could be turned inward. Written for a life, a relationship, a career, instead of a brand. What struck me most is how rarely we actually ask ourselves this question, and how much the answer changes depending on where we are in life. What you really want at twenty five is rarely what you want at forty five, or at sixty. This is not a flaw or a sign of inconsistency. It is simply true. Priorities shift. Responsibilities shift. What felt essential at one stage becomes negotiable at another, and something that felt secondary suddenly moves to the centre. The problem is not that what we want changes.The problem is that most of us never pause long enough to notice it has changed. We continue operating on an old answer to the question, made years ago, often unconsciously, and never revisited. We chase the next role, the next milestone, the next responsibility, because that is the direction we set out in once, without checking whether that direction still points toward what we actually want now. Wan describes a simple three part process for getting to this clarity, and I think it applies just as well to a career as it does to a life. The first step is to get messy. Before clarity comes honesty, and honesty is often unstructured. Write down what is actually on your mind, without editing, without worrying how it sounds. The things that occupy you at two in the morning, the questions that surface when your focus drifts. The second step is to get clear. From that mess, look for patterns. What keeps repeating. What is actually underneath the noise. Then distil it into a small number of simple, honest statements, what truly matters now, what you are no longer willing to accept, what direction you actually want to move in. The third step is to get active. Clarity without action is just an observation. Once you know what you actually want, even one small decision made differently, one conversation finally had, one role reconsidered, begins to move you in that direction. What you wanted five years ago got you here. It may not be what gets you where you actually want to go next. A few honest pages, written every few years, may be the simplest leadership tool nobody is using.

I’ve been secretly working on a little “rebrand”… But here’s the truth: I didn’t really have a brand before. Because I lacked clarity. Not about fonts or colors. But about myself. → Who I am (beyond a LinkedIn headline) → What values I want to radiate → What my deeper mission is → What vibe I want people to feel when they land on my profile For the longest time, I skipped branding altogether, because I thought I had nothing unique to say. But here’s what I’ve learned: 🪞 A brand isn’t what you design. 🪞 A brand is what you decide. 🪞 And that decision starts with clarity about yourself. So if you feel like your brand is “missing”… maybe it’s not about content strategy yet. Maybe it’s about self-discovery first. My advice? Start here: 1️⃣ Look back before you look forward. Your story already holds the clues to your brand. The struggles you’ve overcome? The values your childhood gave you? That’s the foundation people connect with. 2️⃣ Don’t just ask “what do I do?”... ask “what do I stand for?” Your skills are important, but your brand comes alive when people know what you believe in. 3️⃣ Define the vibe. If your brand was a room, an adventure, a dinner party, what would it feel like? People remember feelings, not LinkedIn headlines. 4️⃣ Get brutally honest about what drains you. Clarity isn’t only about what you want to do, it’s also about what you don’t. Because a brand built on “shoulds” will never feel aligned. Once you know these things, content creation stops feeling like guesswork. It feels like showing up as yourself. And that’s when people start saying: → “Your posts feel so you.” → “I feel like I know you already.” That’s the magic of clarity. ✨ PS: How do you like my new Banner? 🙊

After two decades of leading teams, I discovered that traditional to-do lists were holding back my productivity. Here's what I have found working well for me in 2025 - 'interstitial journaling'. Outlined by Tony Stubblebine, this approach is a unified workflow that combines note-taking, task management, and time tracking in one seamless system. Rather than saving all your journaling for the beginning or end of the day, interstitial journaling happens in the interstices (the spaces between tasks). After completing a task, take brief pauses to document three things ... 👉 the current time 👉 thoughts about what you just completed 👉 your next focused action I found this approach particularly valuable because it addresses a fundamental challenge in modern work - the constant context-switching that fragments our attention, particularly mine! And it also helps me course correct, cut back on 'guilt', and send myself positive reinforcement. Here's what I discovered works particularly well ... ➞ I record timestamps to track patterns in my peak performance hours ➞ I catch distractions and build greater self-awareness ➞ It makes breaks more mindful and purposeful ➞ It increases awareness of procrastination patterns and helps reduce them ➞ It creates a natural system for tracking well-being and focus throughout the day With January 10th this year, known as ‘Quitter's Day,’ when many people abandon their New Year's resolutions - this could be the simple yet powerful system you need to stay on track with your goals for 2025. I'm curious - what methods have you found effective for managing transitions between complex tasks? #Productivity #SelfAwareness #Journaling

The FM Principle of Productivity Hack stands for Focus & Momentum, two key elements that drive high efficiency and output. Here’s how you can apply it in a simple, step-by-step approach: 1. Focus: Eliminating Distractions & Prioritizing Work • Single-Tasking over Multi-Tasking: Work on one task at a time instead of juggling multiple things. This enhances efficiency and quality. • Set Clear Priorities: Use the Eisenhower Matrix (Urgent vs. Important) or Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule) to focus on high-impact tasks. • Time Blocking: Allocate specific time slots for deep work, avoiding interruptions. • Eliminate Distractions: Keep phone notifications off, declutter your workspace, and use noise-canceling headphones if needed. 2. Momentum: Building a Sustainable Work Rhythm • Start with Small Wins: Complete a quick task early to build confidence and energy. • Use the 2-Minute Rule: If something takes less than two minutes, do it immediately instead of postponing. • Pomodoro Technique: Work in focused 25-50 minute sprints with short breaks to maintain high energy. • Leverage Automation & Delegation: Offload repetitive tasks using tools and delegate where possible. • Optimize Energy Levels: Work on high-focus tasks when your energy peaks (morning for most people). How to Implement FM Principle in Daily Life • Morning: Identify one big task for the day and set a focused work session. • Afternoon: Maintain momentum by batching similar tasks together. • Evening: Review your day and set priorities for the next day. By focusing deeply on the right tasks and maintaining momentum with structured execution, you can achieve peak productivity without burnout.

“Oof! What did I even do this week?!” ...Meetings?!👇🏼 As engineers we tend to focus on how much code we wrote, and how many Jira tickets we moved to done. But as we move into more senior+, tech lead and management positions, we start writing less and less code. Less coding / tickets leaves us feeling like we didn’t get anything done. 🤪 But are tickets/coding the only value we contribute to our team? I’ve wrestled a lot with the feeling of getting nothing done as I transitioned into a senior+ engineer, and tech lead... Slowly but surely it’s become clear to me. The more senior we become, the more important it is that we multiply our efforts and help others level up. 🚀 If I improve my coding by 10%, the team gets minimally better. 🚀 If I lean into being a force-multiplier and help 3-5 others level up, the whole team just got massively more productive and effective. 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 My efforts are compounded. Suddenly all these force-multiplying activities make sense! If I: – Give through, timely and helpful code reviews – Mentor junior engineers in our patterns, and systems – Tackle bugs or pain points that are plaguing the team – Write and review technical specs to ensure good design – Help estimate effort in roadmapping and planning meetings I’m now influencing and moving things forward on a whole different level. My productivity is actually improved – if we measure it by value contributed to the team and the business goals. 🙌🏼 But back to feeling unproductive... A lot of wins are harder to measure and leave us feeling unproductive. One way to help your brain is keeping a daily + weekly summary journal doc. 🧠 Daily: Write 3-5 bullet points of ways you helped the team move forward. Weekly: Roll those up into a short summary of wins/learnings. Monthly: Add bigger wins to your brag doc You can even send that weekly doc to your manager and product partners. It’s a great way to manage up and give visibility into your work. It also helps them point out areas you might think are valuable, but aren’t as much, or areas you should lean into even more. Personally, I’m on a journey to re-think that I’m still contributing huge value even without coding as much. Days where I don’t code are still successful if I’ve been a force-multiplier. 💪🤝 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - How about you? How do you think about contributing as a senior IC / manager when you aren’t coding as much? 🙋♀️🙋♂️ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If you liked this post, you’ll probably love my weekly newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e8d5ymr3 👉 Follow along as I share everything I’ve learned about becoming a #fullstackengineer and leveling up into a #senior+ engineer and #techlead at a hyper-growth #startup.

Here's my 4-step system to make sure nothing slips through the cracks: I know when it comes to keeping track of everything—commitments, tasks, and all the tiny details—it can be easy to get lost. To stay on top of it all, I follow a simple mnemonic: Every Commitment Needs Tracking (ECNT). It stands for the four key areas where I manage my responsibilities: email, calendar, notes, and tasks. Here’s a quick look at my process: 1. Email: I start by reviewing my inbox. I check for anything that needs to go on my calendar, save resources to my notes, and tasks that require action to my to-do list. This first step lets me pull essential information from my emails into my downward systems. 2. Calendar: Next, I review my upcoming week. Any meetings or deadlines I need to prep for get turned into tasks. This way, my calendar and to-do list stay aligned. 3. Notes: Moving down the ladder, I review my note-taking app (Evernote) to catch any ideas or project notes that need action. Anything relevant gets added to my task list, ensuring no loose ideas or insights are overlooked. 4. Tasks: Finally, I pull it all together in my task manager (Things). This is where everything actionable lives. I prioritize my day and week here, choosing what’s urgent and what can wait. By following this routine—usually several times a week and especially during my Weekly Review—I gain clarity on what’s on my plate and prioritize with confidence. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, try this sequence. By processing each source of information in order, you’ll capture everything you need to move forward with clarity and focus.

Your personal brand is not your job title. Your personal brand is not your list of skills. Your personal brand is not a "positioning statement." Your personal brand is your story. Here's a 3-part framework to help you tell it: CONTEXT: Most people approach personal branding like product branding. It's static, formulaic, and lacks the human element that makes people interesting. But here's the thing: You're not a product. You're a person. And that means your personal brand should be dynamic, authentic, and ever-evolving - just like you are. So instead of crafting a sterile "positioning statement", try this simple 3-part framework: 1. Acknowledge your past (the "Then") 2. Describe your present (the "Now") 3. Paint a picture of your desired future (the "Future") It looks like this: Ex-[former title], currently [who you are now]. On a mission to [who you want to become/achieve something meaningful]. This isn't a tagline. You don't even need to make it public. It's for yourself. Extra points if you share it, but it's more like a "clarity exercise." Your story arc gives people a reason to root for you. They see themselves in your journey. You're not just another [title]. You're a relatable human striving to learn, grow and make an impact. Isn't that the kind of personal brand you'd want to follow? Try it out and let me know how it goes. I bet you'll find renewed clarity in your content and your audience will feel a deeper connection to you and your mission.

I've coached 100+ executives on morning routines. Here's the truth about your first hour: It's not about motivation. It's about designing for success. 12 morning habits killing your productivity (and how to fix them): 1) Hitting snooze repeatedly ⏰ ↳ Each snooze fragments your sleep cycles. ↳ Place phone across room + get up on first alarm. ↳ Studies show this improves alertness by 54%. 2) Starting dehydrated 💧 ↳ You lose 1L of water during sleep. ↳ Drink 16oz within 30 mins of waking. ↳ Boosts metabolism by up to 24%. 3) Screen addiction first thing 📱 ↳ Social media triggers stress hormones. ↳ Keep devices away for first 30 mins. ↳ Read one page of a book instead. 4) Sugar-heavy breakfast 🍳 ↳ Causes 40% energy crash by 10:30am. ↳ Add protein and healthy fats. ↳ Aim for 20g protein minimum. 5) No daily game plan 📋 ↳ Reactive mode wastes 2hrs/day. ↳ Take 10 mins to map your priorities. ↳ Focus on 3 high-impact tasks. 6) No gratitude practice 🙏 ↳ Gratitude increases productivity and mood. ↳ List 3 specific things you're thankful for. ↳ Include one about yourself. 7) Calendar blindness 📅 ↳ 40% of meetings need prep work. ↳ Review after morning routine. ↳ Block prep time for key meetings. 8) Messy environment 🛏️ ↳ Clutter increases cortisol. ↳ Make your bed (takes 2 mins). ↳ Clear surfaces before sleep. 9) Missing morning light ☀️ ↳ Sunlight resets your body clock. ↳ 10-15 mins exposure needed. ↳ Morning walk = 2x energy boost. 10) Task switching overload 🔄 ↳ Each switch wastes 23 minutes. ↳ Batch similar morning tasks. ↳ Create a step-by-step sequence. 11) Vague daily intentions 🎯 ↳ Specific goals = 42% more likely to achieve. ↳ Write down 3 measurable outcomes. ↳ Timebox your day accordingly. 12) Email-first mentality 📧 ↳ Kills proactive focus. ↳ Set first email check to 10am. ↳ Start with creation, not reaction. - - - - Ready to transform your mornings? Pick ONE habit to change tomorrow. Start small. Stay consistent. Success compounds. What would you add? - - - - ♻️ Share this with someone who needs a morning reset. And follow me for more. 📌 Want a deep dive and a PDF of my top infographics? Get it here: https://lnkd.in/g-3hvcEH ♟️ Want to double your productivity in 3 months? Reach out here: https://lnkd.in/eSgBwy3k