I built a productivity tool, here’s how I manage my days

I still remember the moment my partner read me this quote: “There are 86,000 seconds in a day. You either grow or decay. Are you growing or decaying?”

After watching an entire 3 seasons of Parks and Recreation in 3 days, the answer was clear: I was decaying and I had to change.

Not to get too much into the origin story of my app, but this moment led to endless research on productivity and ultimately, the creation of Sidekick (a productivity tool that blocks distracting sites and schedules pomodoro sessions).

In my research, I came across the concept of deep work - a concept pioneered by professor Cal Newport.

Deep work is a period of time in which you are uninterrupted and in maximum engaged focus. Thus, you produce the highest quality of work or progress.

Since then, I’ve fine tuned a 4 point system to achieve the best deep work possible. This is: goal setting, task batching, distraction blocking, and time blocking.

Here’s how I use this system to manage my days.

Disclaimer: I am not a productivity professional by any means. All I know is I have the same 24 hours in a day as I did before. But, these days, I accomplish much more - and I owe it to this system. So, maybe this can serve as simply inspiration.

#1. Define the why: goal setting

All over the productivity side of the internet, I see the same question:

I want to be productive. But, I don’t know what for. So why should I be?

And I can empathize - because I was like that. Without a long term goal or a vision to work for, it’s difficult to pull yourself against the natural or “easy” way of things. That’s why defining the why is my first step.

Set long and short term goals

What do you want to achieve at the end of the year? In 5 years? What’s the big dream you have for yourself? I write it down and come back to it at the start of each day. That way, my focused drive is continuously reignited.

Next, break it down into weekly and daily goals. This makes yearly goals bite sized and approachable. What can you do this week to make progress? What can you do today?

#2. Define the how: task batching

Think: what do I need to do to achieve my weekly or daily goal?

I like to do this with task batching.

Task batching is the consolidation of work into greater themes that will be completed during intense uninterrupted pulses.

Let’s look at an example that compares traditional to-do lists and task batching:

By batching your tasks, you create distinct greater pictures that drive your deep work. Here are some examples:

By days:

• Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday: Engineering.
• Thursday: Design.
• Friday: Marketing and admin.

By topic:

• Marketing: Post on HackerNews, write blog post, research SEO
• Design: First iteration of onboarding flow, get feedback on payments page

#3. Set yourself up for success: distraction blocking

Today, we live in a culture of constant connectivity - so distractions are an everyday occurrence. Whether it’s physical distractions like office chatter or digital distractions like Twitter rabbit holes or red notifications, you have to be preventative in order to set yourself up for success.

My biggest distractions are: Netflix, social media, my phone, and when I was living with a roommate, my roommate. So I blocked them.

Here are some easy ways to block out distractions:

• Move somewhere quiet. If you’re surrounded by chatter, try listening to some ambient noise or non-lyrical music. (some favorites: A Soft Murmur, instrumental)
• Sign out of online accounts.
• Disable desktop and mobile notifications.
• Put your phone on ‘do not disturb.’
• Put your phone outside. Or if you’re hardcore, a lockbox.
• Install a site blocker (shoutout: Sidekick!)

#4. Define the when: time blocking

This is the final point, the one that ties everything together, but probably the most difficult: actually doing deep work.

Deep work is all about the flow state. Imagine a pianist performing Mozart, or an artist painting, or Usain Bolt in the last sprint of a race - this is the flow state.

A mental state in which you are fully immersed and involved in an activity - creating a constant flow of maximum focus.

To find my flow state, I experimented with pomodoro sessions (25m work, 5m break) and increased them until I began losing focus. I capped out at 3 hours with a 5 minute break every hour.

After defining my flow state duration, I then put it on my calendar with time blocking.

Time blocking is a strategy in which you divide your day into blocks of time dedicated to specific work.

Now, putting it all together, I know:

• Why I’m working with goal setting.
• What I’m doing with task batching.
• That I’ll be uninterrupted with distraction blocking.
• When I’m working and for how long with time blocking.

And finally, when it’s time to start, all that’s left for me is to start.

Pro tip: Track your flow state duration as a daily deep work goal.

Popularized by Snapchat and little fire emojis across the interweb, streaks are a psychological trick used to create habits. Habits create consistency and consistency goes a long way.

An even bigger learning I had from all this research was that productivity is not a one size fits all model. This is simply my own system and what works for me. It takes experimentation and reflection to figure out what works for you. At the heart of it, what system is going to help you take control of your time and steer it towards progress?

What are your thoughts? Do you have your own system? Where are my other productivity tool makers at? Share it in the comments. If you’re struggling with productivity or finding deep work, let me know if you have any questions! Let’s chat :).

Some great resources if you’re interested in the topic:

• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
• GTD in 15 minutes – A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
• Indistractable: How to Control your Attention and Choose your Life by Nir Eyal
• A Call to Minimize Distraction and Respect Users' Attention by Tristan Harris
• Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
• Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins

This was fun. Thanks for reading! Want to connect more? I’ve recently joined the Twittersphere! :)

All the best,