🎉 We're live on the iOS app store
.svg){kind=small}
I'm yet to meet someone who hasn't had setbacks or relapses while trying to become productive. There are dozens of productivity systems and billions of unique individuals trying to get productive, so the likelihood of failure or relapse is pretty high.
Not all productivity systems will work for you, and it is okay not to succeed at first, but the goal is to keep improvising and pushing forward.
In this post, we will look at things you need to do after a relapse.
After a failed attempt or relapse, the most important thing is to look back at your path and see what you could have done differently or better.
So here are a few places where you can start.
What makes you want to relapse? Maybe it is anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, etc.
It would help if you found things that make you drop the productivity habit and find ways to address them.
Identifying the triggers can start with having a frank assessment of your behaviors and cleaning up things that don't add value.
Your productivity method and your logistics have to align with each other.For example, if you are trying to use the Ivy Lee Method, you can not have a job largely dependent on other people setting up your schedule.
A plumber or carpenter gets called on a need-to-be-done basis, and sometimes it is even impromptu, so the Ivy Lee Method is not feasible for them.
People can have a range of psychological barriers that stop them from being productive, which include poor attention, premature evaluation, lack of information retention, distrust, fear of uncertainty and doubt, resistance to change, etc.
Find out if a deep underlying problem is failing you instead of trying to paper over cracks and trying a new productivity system/tool every 2-weeks.
So a productivity system that works for you could be one of 3 things:
Out of these, the second option is the most likely - something exists but needs some modification to suit your needs.
So when considering a productivity system, look at something that will give you the highest return with minimal modification.
Why? Because systems are designed with a logical flow and modification beyond a certain point will hurt the system's flow.
For example; if you are looking to use the Pomodoro technique, then you need to keep two integral parts of the system intact:
These two are integral parts, but you can modify them without disturbing the structure. Instead of the working slot being 25-minutes, you can extend it to 45-minutes if you are comfortable with that.
You can also reduce the number of working slots between long 15-minute breaks. But the system's logical flow should remain unchanged at the end of the day.
Once you have a shortlist of productivity systems that you want to make a push for, the next stage is creating an implementation plan.
The first step in implementation would be to write things down and have an overview of what you want to do.
When you have an overview, it will make it easy to convert the plan in your head into actionable items on your Routine Calendar.
Pick one system and allot a particular time frame for testing it. For example, you could try the "Eat the Frog" method for a couple of weeks and see how it works.
The goal is to give it enough time so that you know whether the system is for you or not.
Once you have allowed a period for trying out a productivity system, the next step would be to make it actionable by adding it to your calendar.
You can add reminders or even block time for activities, all said end of the day, putting your plan on the calendar will make your experiment more structured.
You have now blocked time on your calendar and have started implementing a system, so the next logical step would be to review how it works for you.
Here are a few aspects you can consider.
Answering these questions will help you ascertain if a system is for you and how you can improve it.
The thing about experiments is that there will be failures, so you must cultivate a growth mindset to overcome the setbacks of failure.
Understand that you are not someone who fails. You are someone whose experiments are failing forward and helping you progress.
Don't let a setback stop you from trying different methods, improvising, building a system, etc. If you are taking data from your experiments and making calculated bets, you will land on a productivity system that will work for you.
And with that, we come to the end of this blog post. What are your thoughts on it? Which systems did you try and fail? And which did you succeed at? Let us know on Twitter at @Routine.
Thanks for reading.
Shiva is a subject matter expert in communication, marketing, productivity, and learning systems. He has previously contributed to many blogs and newsletters, including Validated, Mental Models, HackerNoon, and several brands. You can find Shiva on LinkedIn or email him at shiva(at)routine.co.
