I used to spend hours on fancy weekly spreads, but now I just use a running task list and it works way better

For like two years, every Sunday I'd sit down and draw out a whole weekly layout with boxes for each day, trackers, and a quote. It took me about 45 minutes. Then I'd feel bad if I missed a day or didn't fill something in. Last fall, I was swamped with a big house painting job and just started jotting tasks in the order they came up, with a simple dot bullet. It was so much faster and I actually got more done. I think a lot of the super artistic stuff you see online is more for show than for actually managing your time. Has anyone else switched to a simpler method after burning out on the fancy setups?

2 comments

2 Comments

oscarcraig1mo ago

Oh man, this is so real. I read an article once that called those perfect planner spreads "productivity theater," and it stuck with me. You're just performing the idea of being organized instead of actually doing the work. My notebook is a mess of scribbles now and I've never been more on top of things.

the_mary1mo ago

Productivity theater" is such a good way to put it. I realized I was doing the same thing with fancy note-taking apps, making everything color-coded instead of just writing down the task. The messy scribble notebook works because it's fast and there's no pressure for it to look nice, so you just get the info out.