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As an autistic individual, I find task management systems invaluable not for their own sake, but because they help me overcome my natural difficulty in switching between detailed and big-picture thinking. While I excel at focusing on details, I can struggle to identify true priorities. My simple system (voice memos processed through Claude) helps me intentionally zoom between granular tasks and high-level priorities.…
The idea of having a system or process is to be able to; - be intentional, consciously engage, and be present. - participate by being active rather than passive. - be consistent and reliable in timing, expectation, and quality. - be finite by constraint around time, effort, or action. If one wants just to keep winging it, it is still a choice and OK to be that.
That’s me. I wing it. I do this because I believe productivity as such is not a virtue. I’m interested in creative breakthroughs, not maximizing any predictable or conceivable variable.
> our grandparents [...] woke up, put on their boots, and got to work, no excuses, no distractions, no bullshit. And mostly, I suspect, they saw tangible results for their labour. The house got built, the dress got made, the bread got baked. Its easier to get yourself to do things when the things are there, in front of you. Nowadays many of us sit at a desk building or wrangling systems that are intangible and almost…
If you had to write software to run the chain saw, and write software to coordinate socializing with your friends, and write software to enjoy the warm luxury of the fireplace, I suspect you'd feel much the same about your software. Sadly, modern software development (and the workplace in general) is not optimized around generating immediate, tangible outcomes that might be that rewarding.
I am both completely unqualified and intensely interested in undertaking this task.
The most consistently productive I've been was using the most stripped down physical bullet journal I could. I needed to write things to organise my thoughts a bit but other than that, anything else was literally a distraction and not a system. Basic, basic, bullet journalling and google calendar reminding me of events. That's all I actually need. The only thing holding me back is my brain refusing to use these thing…
The most consistently productive I've been was using the most stripped down physical bullet journal I could. I needed to write things to organise my thoughts a bit but other than that, anything else was literally a distraction and not a system. Basic, basic, bullet journalling and google calendar reminding me of events. That's all I actually need. The only thing holding me back is my brain refusing to use these thing…
If your brain is refusing, maybe they aren't all you actually need? There are processes and systems that help me, as an ADHD individual, trick my brain into not refusing.
Over the years, I’ve come to look at tools in this category this way:
1. If you’re struggling to get things done and especially if you don’t know where to start, productivity tools aren’t the solution.
2. But if you’re extremely busy and are having a hard time managing your workload, tools can be a godsend.
The “crap” part is the myriad of productivity influencers selling their particular system and the people who follow those systems like some kind of religion. This crowd often projects the idea that you just need to organize things to get unstuck.
But getting unstuck is a whole other ball of wax. Tools might help in some circumstances, but also might just be a huge distraction. Often the truly best approach is just to start.
Bottom line: use productivity tools to tame the chaos, assist your particular brain, etc. Don’t use these tools thinking they’re going to get you out of a rut or solve your procrastination problem.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you had to write software to run the chain saw, and write software to coordinate socializing with your friends, and write software to enjoy the warm luxury of the fireplace, I suspect you'd feel much the same about your software. Sadly, modern software development (and the workplace in general) is not optimized around generating immediate, tangible outcomes that might be that rewarding.
If you had to write software to run the chain saw I am both completely unqualified and intensely interested in undertaking this task.
As an autistic individual, I find task management systems invaluable not for their own sake, but because they help me overcome my natural difficulty in switching between detailed and big-picture thinking. While I excel at focusing on details, I can struggle to identify true priorities. My simple system (voice memos processed through Claude) helps me intentionally zoom between granular tasks and high-level priorities.…
Can you elaborate a bit on your workflow? I also struggle with this.
1. Brain Dump: Record a voice memo on iPhone, speaking freely about anything I need to do - from household chores to work tasks. No need for structure, just stream of consciousness.
2. Transcription: Use iPhone's built-in transcription to convert the voice memo to text.
3. AI Processing: Feed the transcription into ongoing chat in Claude, which: - Structures my rambling into a clear task list - Incorporates context from previous days' tasks - Formats everything in markdown with checkboxes
4. Task Management: Import the markdown into Drafts app, which lets me easily check off tasks throughout the day.
It's a simple system that combines the ease of verbal brain dumping with the structure of a digital task list, without requiring manual organisation.