I am a somewhat productive person. I do my job, I do it well. But I’m also a procrastinator of the highest order. If it can wait, then I will wait to do it. But I’m also very interested in not being such a person. I’d love to one day be one of those people who have a todo list that actually gets done every single day, that has a system (probably on a Trello board or in Notion) so that they can get the most done.

One of the ways I seem to want to go about becoming one of these people is by watching them talk about it on YouTube. I watch a ton of productivity content on YouTube. From note takers and journal related videos, to those who talk about how to schedule your time and manage your money. I like both large and small productivity creators. If you have something to say about being more productive, then I’ll probably watch your content.

Of course, I do all of this instead of being productive. The irony doesn’t escape me. It is delicious.

I’m not the only one who does this, of course. If I were, the YouTubers would have far fewer views than they do. But still, it has always felt odd to me that I feel like I spend more time learning how to be productive than actually being productive. It’s probably not actually true, but it feels that way.

The thing I’ve learned the most about being productive is that nobody has the silver bullet that works for everyone. What works for me, isn’t going to work for you. The YouTuber you just watched probably has a great system for getting stuff done, but that doesn’t mean that it will work for you.

Our lives are all going to be different, and that means the way we go about doing things is also going to be different. Sure there will be commonalities, but even then, we are all special little snowflakes who need to put our own spin on even the simplest of things.

So, what I’ve begun to do, is tone down the productivity content I consume, and instead focus on creating a system that works for me. I’ll probably talk more about this as it develops, but mostly the way I’m looking at it is: simplicity is best. I don’t need a ton of shiny, flashy software or hardware to get stuff done. I may like those things, but I tend to get distracted by tools instead of actually using them. I did this with note taking software for years. I did it with Linux distros and Desktop Environments for years too. I searched for the “best” one and that led to more time spent not doing the things I needed to do.

But I’ve been doing “life” long enough to know what works and what doesn’t. There is nothing better, as I’ve already spent all the time basically perfecting things, so trying other tools and systems just wastes time and effort. Instead, it’s about knowing when to tweak things and when to stand still; when to realize that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

I’ve been thinking about this for months. Part of my process has been writing this blog and taking more notes. I tend to actually be more productive when I either tell someone I’m going to do something and/or write it down. If it’s just in my head, I either forget or put it off. Something about being accountable to myself if nobody else makes it easier to actually follow through. It isn’t perfect. I’m still the Chief Procrastinator, but it is better.

Do you spend too much time learning how to be productive? Comment below.