The Today Blog

We often associate being productive with doing things—with hard work, or "doing the doing". And so we push ourselves to get to work on tasks quickly. Hence the ubiquity of the to-do list. But because of that, we miss a key distinction—one that's important to understand if we want to become more productive, instead of just better at doing. I’m…

On November 30, 2020—exactly one year and one day ago— I pushed aside the complicated system of task lists and projects that I had been using and took the first step toward a simpler, more reliable system. I took out a simple 3 x 5 index card and wrote down six things that were important for me to do that…

A key part of being productive is understanding and leveraging the distinction between importance and urgency. It’s a distinction that gets overlooked or misunderstood quite often. And when that happens, it’s part of what drives us to do a lot of stuff, but feel like we’re not getting anywhere. In the simplest of terms, importance means that something is weighty—it…

There’s an old Zen parable that highlights the importance of spending your time wisely. A man goes to a Zen master and says “I need help. I’m stressed, I’m overwhelmed, my mind races all the time, and it all feels like it’s all too much. What can I do?” The Zen master tells the man "you should meditate for 20…

My absolute favorite book on personal productivity is David Allen's Getting Things Done. The system it lays out is excellent for getting organized and more productive. It was my productivity bible for several years, as I began my career. But there's something at the core of the GTD system that a lot of people don't quite grasp the first time…

Why a new index card every day? Tools are supposed to make things easier. A hammer makes it easier to drive a nail into something. A riding lawnmower makes it easier to mow large spaces. An app makes it easier to organize and act on information. But sometimes, the tool that's supposed to make things easier can end up doing…

If you acknowledge and embrace your limits, you can become limitless. There's a popular quote attributed to Bill Gates that lays out an unofficial law of productivity: Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in ten years.Bill Gates Quite simply, we seem to be bad at understanding our abilities related to either really…

It can often seem like there's too much work to do; too many tasks, and too little time. And the tasks can often seem so complex that it's difficult to even get started, let alone make decisions about which tasks are more important than others. But if there's one thing I learned during my tenure in academic philosophy, it's that…

I don't have a long and detailed story of how I came to start using the Today System. I was in the office supply aisle at the grocery store on a day where I was just trying to motivate myself to get important things done. I saw the index cards, and bought them. Then I listed out the items I…

If you're reading this, it's highly likely that you want to be more productive. And that's a good thing. No matter what it is you're trying to accomplish in this life, being more effective at it is worth working on. In many cases, the way to do that is by adopting a personal productivity system. But let's look at why…

There is a tendency when someone first starts learning about productivity to think that a personal productivity system is only there to make sure that tasks get done. But that's only half of the story. Getting really productive requires not only doing the things that need doing, but also reflecting on how well you did at getting those things done,…

When it comes to working on a to-do list, there are all sorts of problems that can keep you from getting as much done as you set out to. Many personal productivity systems attempt to solve this problem by helping you become more organized or by assigning time blocks to items. But no matter how well organized your list is,…

Chances are, if you're interested in the Today System, you've checked out other productivity systems. You've probably even used some of them, or still use one currently. I'm in the same boat. I have used many productivity systems over the years. I continue to research and experiment with all sorts of different systems, methods, apps, and tricks. I keep what…