I’m in a period of my life right now where I’m extremely disciplined. I’ve been here before and quite enjoy it. It’s very intentional, and is done in order for me to track myself against a couple of long term goals that I have.
I have a flair for structure and discipline. I think it’s fun to explore, I like being disciplined and enjoy the results hugely. Hence, I’ve had questions asked about it quite a lot. Friends asking how I keep structure, or asking me to help them create discipline and structure in their lives.
To some extent I can. I’m reluctant to spread the gospel and tell people to do what I do. I’ve tried that, and it never works. There’s so much trial and error behind my systems that are vital to the result today.
What I can offer are a couple of principles that seem to be universal. They’ve worked well for me and as far as I know, for people who’ve used them in their lives.
→ Don’t focus on the tool
Going gear first is so so common. It’s what most people do when they want to get in shape. It’s what I tend to do when I want to become more creative. And it’s what a lot of people do when looking for productivity.
Even though I don’t use apple notes, I can completely relate to this image.
When looking for tools, we don’t focus on what’s important or is going to have the biggest impact on our structure. We’re making things complicated, messy and eventually things are going to get lost.
On top of that, I’ve been guilty of trying to “optimise” my tools rather than actually doing the work I’m supposed to do. The whole web in the middle takes time, and can feel like working, but it isn’t.
One last note: When you develop systems for structure, you’re going to be fine with whatever tool you’re using. I’m currently using one app at work and another at home. I’m sufficient in both because I have my systems down.
→ Build systems you trust.
In order for personal structure to work, you have to trust your systems. You have to trust that everything you need, be it notes, reminders, calendar invites or mathematic formulas, are in the right place. That’s why we build systems in the first place.
A challenge that I’ve managed to condition out of myself, is that we tend to flex these systems.
Most of us have a preferred place to take notes. If you don’t have one, you should. But when you’re in a meeting and forgot your computer, you’re gonna grab a pen and pencil to take notes. When you later on need those notes, you don’t instantly go to the notebook, you go to the app where you usually take your notes.
All of a sudden, you can’t trust the system to contain all your notes anymore, and the system is going to fail.
What you need to do is be ruthless with these rules for yourself. If you end up taking notes on a notepad once, you need to instantly convert those notes into your regular system.
The same goes for all the systems you build for yourself to become more structured.
Every once in a while, I revise the systems I’ve built. The rules that I try to keep to. The way I do things.
Then I decide on what I want to keep, what to get rid of and what to tweak. And commit.
Systems is to a large extent about commitment. It’s about following through and doing what you’ve said you’ll do over and over again.
While that’s important, it’s also important to do the right thing over and over again. Reminding me of the line from Love yours by J.Cole:
The good news is, you came a long way
The bad news is, you went the wrong way
Coming a long way doesn’t really matter if you’re going the wrong way. Hence, make sure to revise properly and check your map.
