What’s in a productivity system?
1Digest
This podcast delves into the productivity systems of various Verge staff members, showcasing a range of approaches to managing work and personal life. J-Peters utilizes separate systems for work and personal life, relying on Apple Reminders, Notes, and Calendar for personal tasks and TickTick, Google Calendar, and inbox zero for work. Victoria Song prefers a hybrid approach, combining a Papier Productivity Journal for daily planning with the Pomodoro app Focus To Do for task breakdown. Kara Verlaney emphasizes note-taking as her primary method, using the Notes app on her phone and avoiding complex tools. Esther Cohen relies on Google Docs for checklists and project tracking, while Victoria Barrios uses a multi-layered system with a three-month calendar, paper calendar, and Google Sheet. Jake Castronakis heavily utilizes TickTick for both work and personal tasks, while Antonio de Benedetto keeps it simple with a notebook and fountain pens. Barbara Krasnoff combines Notion, Google Tasks, and a physical notebook, and David Pierce utilizes time blocking with NotePlan. The podcast highlights the importance of finding a system that aligns with individual needs and preferences, emphasizing the benefits of simplicity, consolidation, and a balance between work and personal life.
Outlines
Productivity Systems: A Verge Staff Roundtable
This episode explores the diverse productivity systems of Verge staff members, showcasing their unique approaches to managing work and personal life.
J-Peters' Productivity System
J-Peters shares his separate productivity systems for work and personal life. He uses Apple Reminders, Notes, and Calendar for personal tasks, emphasizing shared reminders and notes with his wife for collaboration. For work, he relies on TickTick for reminders, Google Calendar for scheduling, and strives for inbox zero in his email.
Victoria Song's Productivity System
Victoria Song prefers a hybrid analog and digital approach. She uses a Papier Productivity Journal for daily planning, emphasizing writing down tasks for better memory retention. She also uses the Pomodoro app Focus To Do to break down tasks into 25-minute intervals, finding it helpful for tackling challenging tasks.
Kara Verlaney's Productivity System
Kara Verlaney emphasizes note-taking as her primary productivity method. She uses the Notes app on her phone for quick notes and avoids complex productivity tools. She keeps her work and personal life separate, believing that excessive digital organization can be counterproductive.
Esther Cohen's Productivity System
Esther Cohen prefers a traditional approach, relying heavily on Google Docs for checklists and project tracking. She avoids using productivity apps on her phone, preferring to focus on work tasks when at her computer. She also uses the Notes app on her iPhone for personal tasks and reminders.
Victoria Barrios' Productivity System
Victoria Barrios uses a multi-layered system with a three-month calendar for big-picture planning, a paper calendar for weekly tasks, and a Google Sheet for daily tasks broken down by team functions. She prefers taking notes on paper during meetings for social courtesy and space efficiency.
Jake Castronakis' Productivity System
Jake Castronakis relies heavily on TickTick for both work and personal tasks, including reminders for meetings and social interactions. He duplicates his calendar into TickTick, using it as his primary organizational tool. He prefers a simple list format and avoids complex calendar features.
Antonio de Benedetto's Productivity System
Antonio de Benedetto keeps his productivity system simple, using a notebook and fountain pens for daily to-do lists. He enjoys the tactile experience of writing and checking off tasks. He avoids complex digital tools, finding them time-consuming and unnecessary.
Keywords
Time Blocking
A productivity technique where you schedule specific blocks of time for different tasks, including work, personal activities, and downtime. It helps prioritize tasks and ensure they get done.
Notion
A versatile note-taking and project management app that allows users to create databases, wikis, and other organizational tools. It's popular for its flexibility and customization options.
TickTick
A to-do list app that offers features like reminders, task scheduling, and collaboration. It's known for its simplicity and cross-platform compatibility.
Pomodoro Technique
A time management method that uses a timer to break down work into intervals, typically 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break. It helps improve focus and productivity.
Inbox Zero
A goal of managing email by processing all incoming messages and either responding to them, archiving them, or deleting them, resulting in an empty inbox.
Digital Hoarding
The tendency to accumulate digital files, emails, and other data without deleting or organizing them, leading to clutter and disorganization.
Single Source of Truth
A concept in information management where all relevant data is stored in one central location, ensuring consistency and accuracy.
Q&A
What are the different approaches to productivity discussed in the podcast?
The podcast explores a variety of productivity systems, ranging from traditional methods like checklists and note-taking to digital tools like to-do list apps and time blocking. Some individuals prefer a hybrid approach, combining analog and digital methods.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of using digital productivity tools?
Digital tools can offer features like reminders, task scheduling, and collaboration, but they can also be time-consuming to set up and maintain. Some individuals find them distracting or overwhelming, while others find them essential for staying organized.
How can individuals find the right productivity system for them?
The podcast suggests that the best productivity system is one that is personalized and adaptable to individual needs and preferences. It's important to experiment with different tools and methods to find what works best.
What are some common themes in the productivity systems discussed?
Many individuals emphasize the importance of note-taking, whether in a physical notebook or a digital app. Others prioritize simplicity and consolidation, avoiding complex tools and systems. The podcast also highlights the importance of finding a balance between work and personal life.
Show Notes
You can learn a lot about somebody just by learning about how they get things done. Are they the sort of person who might have a perfectly color-coded email inbox, a flawlessly organized to-do list, and what’s that, they just sent you a calendar invite for happy hour next week? Or are they more likely to have a giant pile of sticky notes they never look at, a computer desktop with so many files you can’t even see the wallpaper, and today’s main tasks written on their arm? Neither is wrong, but they’re very different.
On this episode of The Vergecast, the second in our three-part miniseries about work and productivity and how to get more done in a digital world, we decide to get to know our colleagues in a new way: by asking them to share their own productivity systems. We didn’t give them much specific instruction or homework, other than to come ready to answer a question: how do you get stuff done? Eight Verge staffers showed up, with eight very different ideas about what being productive means and how best to pull it off. Along the way, we found some ideas to steal, a few new apps and tools to try, and a lot of new thoughts about our co-workers.
If you want to know more about the things we discuss in this episode, here are a few links to get you started:
- A Googler’s guide to getting things done
- TickTick
- Upnote
- Notion
- Google Keep
- Google Calendar
- The Rhodia #16 spiral notepad
- Papier’s productivity planners
Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
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