In a recent newsletter, James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, offered a different way to think about how to planning your time. He said

“If you’re searching for more time this year, start with a clean slate and choose what to add to your days rather than starting with a full schedule and trying to figure out what to eliminate.“

Pretend you’re just starting out. In life or in your practice. What are a few must haves for you? If you had those, what else would you want?

You can also use this approach to re-build your project or task list, your budget, or your goals. Start with a clean slate and add things that are most important to you. If you could only work on one major project this year, for example, what would it be?

You can also use this to simply the list of tools you use to do your work.

I currently use 3 different note-taking apps. I like them all and use all 3 daily, for slightly different purposes. If I wanted to simplify my workflow, it would be difficult for me to choose which app or apps to eliminate.

If I was starting from scratch, however, I know which one I’d start with.

Truth be told, I’m sure I would soon be back to using all 3. Which is okay with me. At least I would have made a conscious decision to do that instead of continuing to do it out of habit.

If you’re rebuilding your marketing mix, start here

There’s a lot being said right now about how to take more effective notes. It’s all good, but it can be overwhelming trying to implement everything.

If I could give you one piece of advice on this subject, it would be this:

Use the notes you take as soon as you take them.

Use them immediately in an article, on a case, or in planning your projects or your day. And if that’s not possible, annotate them to use later.

Summarize what you read or heard. Put the ideas in your own words. Add notes to your notes that provide context–what you think, examples that explain and expand on the points, or contrast them.

In short, make notes, don’t just take notes. Your notes will thus be more valuable to you when you eventually use them.

It might help to make a habit to record (at least) 3 key points for every note. I did that recently when I read an article about best practices for extending the life of your laptop battery. As soon as I finished the article, I wrote:

• It’s okay to keep the laptop plugged in all the time
• Draining the battery does more harm than good
• Heat is the enemy; keep the laptop/battery cool

I also recommend writing down how you might use those notes in the future, e.g.., for a case or client, in a book or blog post or presentation, to improve your website, to add to a form letter, etc. Add tags or links or move them to the appropriate folder.

Do it while it’s fresh. If you wait until later, you might forget what you thought and have to start from scratch.

Walk into any kindergarten school room and you’ll see a simple strategy in use you can use today to be more productive.

No, I don’t mean having a big person watching over you and making sure you do what you’re supposed to do (or have you stand in the corner if you don’t). I also don’t mean asking for permission to go to the little person’s room.

Look around the classroom. What do you see on the walls? You see a calendar, the letters of the alphabet and how to write them. You see pictures of animals, historical figures, famous monuments, and other things the kids are learning.

Okay, maybe this wasn’t kindergarten, but you remember this kind of thing from grammar school, don’t you? Today, you might do the same thing by keeping visual reminders of important information in front of you—your to-do list, your calendar, quotes that inspire you, a reminder to pick up some milk on your way home.

Visual cues of things you want to remember, on a whiteboard, sticky note, or on your desk calendar. At a glance, you can see what’s important right now, and what’s coming up soon.

Maybe you do this digitally. You have lists and notes in front of you, in an app that stays open or a pop-up on your screen, or sent to you via email or text message.

Either way, you keep your lists in front of you so you always know what to do.

I’ve just planned out some projects I want to do this year. I have them all on a single page in my task app, with Kanban-like columns (like Trello), one for each quarter. At a glance, I can see the four projects I have planned for the first quarter, one for the second quarter, two for the third quarter, and nothing yet for the fourth quarter.

This page is always one click away, on my laptop and phone, and I check it often.

Of course I also have the app remind me to work on Project X or Task Y (for project X) on days I’ve designated to do these things.

In other words. . . I don’t keep anything in my head.

It’s all in my “trusted system” which does the remembering and reminding for me. Because, as Mr. Allen reminds us, “your mind is for having ideas, not holding them”.

I’ve been using the PARA method to organize my notes and documents since I first heard about it a couple of years ago. It’s simple and works well for me but a couple of weeks ago I made a small change and while it’s too early to tell, I think it might turn out to work even better.

PARA was conceived by Tiago Forte and was featured in his course, “Building a Second Brain,” which was recently released as a book.

PARA, is an acronym for 4 top-level categories or folders in a filing system, with folders for (P) Projects, (A) Areas, (R) Resources, and (A) Archives.

Projects are groups of activities you’re working on with a specific goal and deadline. Getting this year’s tax returns ready for filing, buying a new home, hiring a new clerk, for example.

Areas are distinct ongoing segments of your life, such as your practice, finances and investments, family, and health.

Resources are subjects that interest you but may not be immediately useful for one of your projects or areas. This might include general information on marketing or writing, templates and forms, or ideas for your blog or newsletter.

Archives is a catch all folder for storing completed projects or anything else that doesn’t fit into one of the other categories.

Like many people, I added two additional folders to my setup: an Inbox and a Journal (for daily notes and ideas).

So, what did I change? And why?

Instead of using PARA as my top level folders, I now use folders for each Area of my life: Personal, my business, and two additional businesses; I kept the Inbox, Archives, and Journal folders.

Each Area has 3 sub-folders: FILES, PROJECTS, and RESOURCES.

FILES are letters, receipts, contracts, pdfs, notes, and other documents related to that Area.

PROJECTS and RESOURCES for each area are the same as before, but specific to each Area.

Before, all projects were in a Projects folder. Now, each Area has its own Projects folder, as well as Files and Resources folders.

A small change, but I did it for a good reason (for me). When I’m working on a business project or digging through resources I might use for one of my businesses or in my personal life, I only want to look at Projects or Resources specific to that Area.

Separating things this way helps me focus and makes it easier to find things. I might spend most of the day in one Area and not look at any of the others. I might work on personal matters on Saturday and not look at work until the Monday.

I like this new way of organizing, but I also liked the “regular PARA setup. I don’t know which way I’ll finally settle on, or if I might find something I like even better.

Do you use PARA? Have you changed anything? What do you think about my modification?