Normal people can like this comment, abnormal people hit reply 😏 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 The “Best” Productivity Systems 00:47 My Simple Two-Step Productivity System 01:03 Capture and Organize 01:23 Step 1 - Capture 03:12 Step 2 - Organize 05:27 When to Capture and Organize 06:01 Productivity System - Inbox Management 06:37 Summary and Next Steps
Thank you for breaking this down to something simple! Also, I have ADHD and that tolerance factor for simply waiting for slow apps makes a huge difference.
OMG I'm relieved to hear that I wasn't the only one who was overwhelmed by how these productivity experts were organizing their second brains. When Francesco D'Alessio talked in an interview with Tiago about how he uses EIGHT apps to capture his thoughts, I checked out. 🙄 Thank you for introducing a system that fits into an A4 page.
Hahahaha "I checked out" 😂. No problem Jenn! Although I do hope all of us can develop our own "advanced" systems in the future that perfectly suit our needs!
Same here! I watched that video and was like cool, I need to integrate 20 apps into some flow that seems to overcomplicate everything, awesome. So glad you made this.
Thank you. It drives me so nuts, when other productivity UA-camrs are just like: "It's really quite simple" and then proceed to dump their entire knowledge of theirs, wich was build over several years on your head. I'm just a student, not a budiness owner.
Hahahaha I know what you mean. I think they all started out somewhere but they slowly got more and more advanced and didn't realize it (since it's still so simple to them) 😂
A breath of fresh air with a simpler approach than most - and I totally support the "what app you use doesn't matter". In my head it is more about your strategy for how and actually putting stuff in a pre-defined place to be able to come back to it at some point, what apps you utilize is secondary at best. And the bit with Ali Abdaal cracked me up so hard! Thanks for a great video
I love simple productivity techniques. It's also to remind everyone that everyone is different and there isn't one solution fit all. My process is very much similar to yours but I have a side art hobby with my full time job so i do keep a physical sketchbook for art ideas and notion for work. I like writing with my hand when it's a random note for myself since it's messy and faster and I prefer typing when it's official work so I have to keep physical notes instead of going full digital.
That's so relatable! For some things I definitely like the physically write it down in a notebook, and it feels more "professional" and "formal" to type. Totally get it!!
I feel the same way about writing with my hand. But I use a box nova air instead of actual pen and paper. It's great, feels very similar to writing on paper and doubles up as a great Ebook reader.
OUTSTANDING video - I feel lucky to have found it! Quick way to capture notes: Google Assistant on the phone: "OK Google take a note." "What do you want it to say?" "Human League made a good album called Dare." "Saved your note."
Glad to know that I'm not the only one who feel the tips and methods from those productivity "gurus" are too complex for everyday people. This system is just what I need.👍
I swear, this video was a breath of fresh air in the organization space. Side note on the 'just use whatever works' mantra: I tried ticktick for a while bc mkbhd and several others recommended it, but it won't leave me alone or dismiss notifications properly that don't have dates attached after the 'organize step'. Meaning I constantly have 30+ notifications waiting for me. Plus subtasks are really wonky. I might try taskcade, but switching back to todoist has smoothed things out for now.
I've been a TickTick user for years, it's very hard to pinpoint where the issue may be with your notification setup but I think you should give it a solid effort before moving away from it.
That is just the video we really need to watch over and over until we learn all the knowledge contained in it! It's certainly worth a thumbs UP! And save it to be watched again! Thanks, Jeff! Mostly for the helpful, practical examples shown in the video! We need more videos like this on UA-cam.
I have been diagnosed with ADHD, OCD & Bipolar Mood Disorder and these disorders make me procrastinate a lot and I have difficulties keeping up with deadlines. This video was much needed. Thank you Jeff.
Working with many apps or systems adds so many frictions. I deeply appreciate your way of according organisation with efficiency! Thanks again for this great video Jeff !
I came across this fantastic video while searching for different methods to make organizing my daily tasks and new assignments easier. It really made my day! Thank you so much! Peace from Malaysia
Thank you for the simplicity! I was struggling with that when I was thinking that my system was to simple, but as you said the 20% effort that causes 80% result!
Thanks for affirming my recent ‘downgrade’ in productivity systems. I use an app called Drafts to capture everything. The feature I like most is that I can use quick actions to move it to other storage systems (If needed) in one click. Less friction is absolutely key
Drafts together with Tot which is limited to seven notes and meant for temporary (meeting) notes that need to be processed / moved daily or weekly at least
Excellent! I watched all of the videos you referenced and I am drowning in trying to A. Figure out what apps to use and B. Learn all of the intricacies of each. Your video has simplified the method so I can actually start and allows me to figure out the details along the way. Your real world examples were extremely helpful. Cheers.
Simple and effective. I get overwhelmed by the number of apps and thing the produ tivity influencers recommend. But I like how you have kept it simple.
Love the simplicity. I can’t explain how much you helped for the year to come. I felt so overwhelmed the whole of 2023 because of these gurus and that I had to use 5 different apps for my daily life. Excellent content, excellent channel! Keep it up
I have been an avid onenote user for the last 10+ years. I use it so much that if you have ever had a conversation with me within the last 10 years, I will most likely be able to provide you with the notes I've taken about that conversation. What I have always struggled with is capturing and organizing my thoughts. This video makes a lot of sense and I can't wait to add that widget to my phone for todoist and try it your way!
Wow you take a lot of notes, that's awesome! Yes I guess the next step for you is to organize them in a way where you can access any one note very easily. Excited to see what you come up with 😁
Glad to see that our systems mirror each other but with different tools. It took many false starts of paper, programs, mindmaps and a ton of other stuff to distill to get to the 2 step you've demonstrated here. For capture I use GQueues instead of ToDoList. GQueues also syncs to my Google calendar and like ToDoList has natural capture with date/time and tagging. There are no doubt others as good as GQueues but I've used it without a hitch for 11 years. Instead of Notion, (which is just too much for me) I use Nimbus Notes which is a program that is a nice simple blend between Evernote and Notion. Nimbus also has a nice web capture extension which I use extensively as well as tagging.
Jeff- you're channel is CRIMINALLY undersubscribed. From this to job searching and career tips there's so much great and easy to understand content. Thank you
Have to say just one thing. This approach seemed very much familiar to me, and handled the same gripes I had with productivity gurus around YT. Then I clicked on your profile and saw you are a fellow management consultant 😂😂😂 - now things make much more sense, and thank you for this!
Finally. This video is a breath of fresh air. I started a podcast last year on the side. Trying to expand it, add segments to the business for monetizing, newsletter, etc. takes time and effort. I don't know how many videos I've watched and apps I've tried to use only to go back to pen and paper for speed. This makes me have a clear step-by-step action plan to follow. I hope it works. Thanks!
Super crisp and concise content highlighting how to hack productivity! Loved the video, keep up the great job, Jeff. I recently started using Notion to capture my ideas, but would fail intermittently because of the same reason mentioned in the video. Now I can use Todoist to capture, before hoping to Notion
Very good, Jeff. Like you always say, a good productivity system must be easy to use and hard to avoid. The more simple it is, the better. Even GTD itself is complicated to follow
Thanks for the input Leandro! Agreed! And hopefully as start using "simple" systems, we will continue to grow and evolve and create our own "advanced" systems as we see fit 😁
Thanks Jeff! That was totally my reaction after watching Ali’s video too! 😂 The way you break it down makes it WAY more easier and practical to follow. I also found Notion hard to use to create quick tasks on the fly. I now use Taskade, which is a Notion-like version of Todoist in terms of visual appeal.
@@JeffSu Taskade has an iPhone app and online web based app that sync together well so if I need to quickly add a task on my phone, I can do that and then later go back on my laptop to refine it. I can create a Work space separate from my Personal space and create Folders and Projects or Lists within each. The greatest feature is being able to visualize your projects and tasks in several different ways. Kanban style, vertical Lists, Mindmap, Org Chart views. Within each type, you can create nested lists that can fold up when you just want to see the main headers. I can create personal habit tracking lists based on a custom template that I created. Templates are also great so you save time when you want to create a new list or project. You can have a Folder as your Bullet Journal and use a daily journal template with lists and sublists of things you want to capture everyday. You can write paragraphs and bullet points in addition to tasks. I have created mini knowledge bases on topics of interest, reading lists with sections for reading notes and ratings. It’s very flexible and visually appealing. You can add custom image backgrounds or use their standard images to make each Project or List page look nice. They also encourage the use of cute icons to make it more fun.
On the scene in the gym, I remembered that I had already seen this video from my old account in 2023. I kept watching and realized that for at least half a year my productivity system has been based on this video and your tips! After watching this video for the second time, I have a better understanding of what has had a positive impact on me: 1. Flexibility of the system. You offered a comprehensive idea, but at the same time it fits any app that is convenient for me. 2. Examples. This is something that is extremely important to me - when the author does not just show how to do something on a random example of "building a Second brain in Notion on the tasks of going to the groceries and checking the emails", but demonstrates his own personal example of using the system. Even though it seems intuitively that such examples may be too specific and individual, in my opinion, they help to better grasp the idea and apply the process to your own experience. 3. Light humor and presentation of ideas. Nothing to add here. I think that with such a thorough approach as yours, you could have written my comment in half the size with more clarity 😊 Thank you, I owe you a second like (from both accounts) and a subscription as I can't wait to finish this comment and go watch the other videos!
This video helped me simplify my quick capture / inbox step to my productivity system. I thought I needed different capture step for each area or system I have (work, person, side projects) because I use different tools for those areas. Rather have a single place to quickly capture your ideas and then organize later.
Yes! Funneling everything into 1 platform/app seems to work for me the best. However I do understand why some people use Readwise for Kindle highlights, pocket for online articles etc. But I try to keep it as simple as possible
Thank you for talking about systems that aren't just built for freelancers and students. I need to get organized (desperately), but I also don't need a dozen separate Kanban boards across three different apps (in fact, even one Kanban board might be too much unless it's a life-dominating project like moving).
I just love the way your videos look. The graphics and animation are so sleek, smooth, helpful and not disturbing. It all aligns with each other. Love that. 🤩
@@JeffSu Just curious, is it some kind of graphic package or something you've developed over time? I would love to create a similiar (and personal) style for myself :)
I love the idea of linking and having a centralized location where all the info is used (In my case i use Google Sheet instead of Calendar). Thank you so much for sharing!
God I hate those "second brain" productivity systems for robots. Write it down here, then move it there, schedule it on your calendar, create a page in Notion, create a checklist, link it to a database, and so on and so on. Life is tough by itself, who needs to make it even more complicated with tools that are supposed to make it easier? Love your approach, though! I follow a similar system that I developed for myself, but got some good insights from the video. Subscribed. 🙏
You’re the man. I’m generally well organized but have been having such a hard time remembering things and using my iPhone calendar for reminders takes too many steps. I always have a list of things to accomplish each day and unfortunately it’s easy for me to forget things like that. It’s weird because I’m quite intelligent and can complete complex tasks easily but remembering appointments and scheduled tasks is almost impossible for me. My life was organized via yellow post-it notes and that doesn’t work well when you’re moving around. Thanks man.
hahaha I love the "normal people" part! I gave up with Notion for my personal stuff and now just sticking with Obsidian, Google Calendar, Google Keep and handwritten journal (thanks to Matt Ragland's W.R.A.P method especially)
I HAD A GREAT ONE watching this video. Finally something that me (and probably most of the people) can relate and APPLY in terms of productivity system.
Good video. I've noticed, from my own experience, that some apps will lead you down a rabbit hole. You can spend more time setting up, tweaking, and organizing some apps that you become less productive. That happened to me with Omnifocus and Notion.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 🧠 *Introduction to Second Brain Concept* - Explanation of the concept of a "second brain" for productivity. - Importance of the capture step in getting ideas out of your mind. - Brief overview of the four steps: capture, organize, distill, and express code. 00:55 📝 *Simplifying Productivity for Everyday People* - Acknowledgment of the complexity of productivity systems like those of Tigao, Ali, and Thomas. - Introduction of a simple two-step process for 80% benefit with 20% effort. - Emphasis on real-world examples to illustrate the productivity workflow. 01:24 📥 *Step One: Capture* - Significance of minimizing friction between idea generation and recording. - Example use of Todoist for quick capture with action verbs. - Real-world examples of capturing tasks related to work and personal life. 02:51 🗂️ *Step Two: Organize* - Tiago Forte's advice on organizing information by the location of use. - Importance of identifying suitable locations for organizing. - Examples of organizing ideas and tasks into specific locations like Google Workspace, Calendar, and Notion. 05:14 📅 *Managing Time-Specific Tasks* - Managing time-sensitive tasks using the calendar. - Example of blocking off time in the calendar for a future task. - The real-life consequence of missing deadlines and the importance of calendar reminders. 06:13 ✉️ *Inbox Management* - Utilizing Gmail's snooze feature for effective inbox management. - Explanation of how snooze serves as the organized-to-location step for emails. - Reference to a detailed video on achieving inbox zero for further insights. 06:40 🔄 *Summary and Next Steps* - Recap of the two main steps: capture and organize. - Recommendation to check out Tiago Forte's Second Brain video for a comprehensive process. - Closing remarks and invitation to the next video. Made with HARPA AI
1. Continue what you are doing. Superb. 2. I ACTUALLY started using To-Doist and Notion JUST beacause of this and the Widget demo 3. In between sets thoughts hit different! haha
Hi Jeff! Great video. I am retired, and all those other productivity workflows are MASSIVE overkill. Yours is straightforward and cost-effective. I am still working out the best capture method. Notion seems like a lot of effort for a "simple life." Maybe you should do a vid on capture for the retired/stay-at-home types who still want to capture ideas and such. I like to write or hear an interesting story and what to capture the idea. Great enthusiasm and clear presentation for a large amount of information. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Jeff, I really like your Intro and sense of humor. True, if the system is so complicated, it is a huge hindrance to ever start it. The entry hurdle should be small and easy to get onboard.
Great stuff as usual! I'm watching Ali's videos from time to time now. Fun, but his productivity videos aren't that easy to implement if you're not a productivity junkie (I'm not 😊). Your systems on the other hand are very straightforward. I love the idea of storing notes where I can use them. Will definitely give another try for todoist (I have used it for various purposes over the years but never as a temporary inbox, go figure).
Actually, this is funny because the more we are creating overwelming productivity systems, the more we are unproductive because we feel completely lost... That how I felt ! Thank you a lot for your refreshing video !
Your system fixes the need to have two or more notes app to capture ideas. You can add ideas in Todoist as a task and any additional information on the task description field and comments. Thanks Jeff, you have simplified the Second Brain system for me and made it practical for me. 👏
Awesome! Thanks Jeff! Completely related to Ali's overkill mind-boggling system 😀 Question: I really like Google Keep, but still not sure for what part of the system to use it exactly. Currently my Google Keep is a mess. Do you have any suggestions for organizing it, and for which part of your system it can be used? Would love to hear your thoughts about it and maybe a video about Keep :)
If you using Keep as a task management tool, I would suggest switching to Google Tasks. I was in same boat and Tasks has been a life saver, especially its integration into Google Calendar.
Thanks so much Amitai for the question and 777whatwhat for helping out! If I'm being honest, I don't use Keep as a task management tool at all, I use it mainly to capture notes I've taken at work, then organize those rough drafts into something more structured later on
I've been using Keep to remind me of payments of the day, but recently I'm willing to give Tasks a try, and let Keep for capturing my ideas along the day.
Thanks for letting me know Alberto! I actually did try this but I want to input the action as the title instead of the title of the link if that makes sense haha
Listen.... this is my 30th time sitting down trying to watch Thomas Franks tutorial in the last 6 months... and it went EXACTLY like your skit. I start watching.. make it 10 mins in.... then devolve into twitter, facebook etc... and an hour later tell myself I'll try again tomorrow. LOL
Everything in this video was incredible but the snooze option blew my mind. Already using it. Thanks Jeff! Also, Jeff, I’d love to pass an idea to Google. Is there a protocol for it?
again: Awesome Work Jeff! Why are you using ToDoist for your task tracking/creation? I mean, if you are only creating the tasks to move them to another program you also can use the default reminder app or?
I also love google calendar, although I love the Tasks function within google calendar in Schedule View, tasks and Events listed in one view - helps my possible ADHD brain to see both together in one list on my phone or iPad. If it’s not in my calendar, I’ve forgotten it already. I especially love the Gmail create Task function.
I have observed that most of the people creating videos are content creators. Their way of managing knowledge is optimized for creating content. It creates a tremendous bias. Thank you for creating this video to show that not every person needs complex second brain systems.
Thanks for the helpful information. However, please slow down your speech and explanation because some of your audiences need more time to process the information. 😁
@JeffSu Ican't thank you enough for sharing your knowledge for free. This has been a game changer for me. Recently, I went through a burnout from work and personal stress. This is simple enough to implement and yet, very powerful to have a life changing impact. Please keep up the fantastic work! You are truly helping people!
Oh god thanks for that video!! Using evernote, OpenOffice, Wi0ndows Explorer and Thunderbird since years but I can't work with that system anymore and it's leading to procrastination, not taking notes, forgetting a lot of valueable information (which also means time and money), confusion and all the way up to actual panic attacks. Been researching all those tools and systems since a few days, actually by those guys you mentioned, and I was rather overwhelmed and mislead myself on what I actually need. Your video helped me a ton to reset my mindset around all that craziness. Thank you good sir! Thomas
PERFECT TIMING. I just went back to my Galaxy Watch 4 and started using ToDoist again because they have a GW app and was wondering how to create a good workflow around it. But about Notion's inbox: I actually would have a good way for quick capturing for you. I had a massive "everything" list and I just filtered different views of it in different places and everything that wasn't labeled with anything stayed in the inbox-view. ...but Todoist's natural language processing for scheduling is super handy. You could link it to your calendar to do the calendar blocking on one go. (My reason for using ToDoist is that I can use my watch to create calendar events.)
I love Todoist. I've used it for a long time. I've also been simplifying my capture process since December because I have a mobile 3-year-old. The takeaway from this video is to organize quickly. I can definitely improve on that.
Great video! I use Amplenote to capture, organize/distill and execute. I love that everything stays integrated within the app/system. Tasks are also given scores which, in turn, helps me make choices / weigh which tasks are most important to accomplish.
Normal people can like this comment, abnormal people hit reply 😏
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 The “Best” Productivity Systems
00:47 My Simple Two-Step Productivity System
01:03 Capture and Organize
01:23 Step 1 - Capture
03:12 Step 2 - Organize
05:27 When to Capture and Organize
06:01 Productivity System - Inbox Management
06:37 Summary and Next Steps
Thank you for breaking this down to something simple! Also, I have ADHD and that tolerance factor for simply waiting for slow apps makes a huge difference.
@Peaceful being Whatever works for you is by default the best system!
@@MichelleRandall Thanks Michelle and totally understand that feeling!!
This video came right on time, appreciate it Jeff
@@patrick9969 Not a problem Patrick 😁
OMG I'm relieved to hear that I wasn't the only one who was overwhelmed by how these productivity experts were organizing their second brains. When Francesco D'Alessio talked in an interview with Tiago about how he uses EIGHT apps to capture his thoughts, I checked out. 🙄 Thank you for introducing a system that fits into an A4 page.
Hahahaha "I checked out" 😂. No problem Jenn! Although I do hope all of us can develop our own "advanced" systems in the future that perfectly suit our needs!
Same here! I watched that video and was like cool, I need to integrate 20 apps into some flow that seems to overcomplicate everything, awesome. So glad you made this.
all those influencers don't even do anything anymore they are all just UA-camrs selling clicks.
Ikr like just why? Like Ali's Todoist content can be organized the same way in Notion.
@@chiizuu752 Turned something simple into something convoluted and complex.
Out of all productivity gurus, you've done the best one so far. REAL WORLD EXAMPLES PEOPLE! We don't all have UA-cam channels to manage
Hahaha thanks for the vote of confidence Hugo 😁
Omg, this is probably the best task management video I've ever watched!
That means a lot coming from you Ruri 😁!
Thank you. It drives me so nuts, when other productivity UA-camrs are just like: "It's really quite simple" and then proceed to dump their entire knowledge of theirs, wich was build over several years on your head. I'm just a student, not a budiness owner.
Hahahaha I know what you mean. I think they all started out somewhere but they slowly got more and more advanced and didn't realize it (since it's still so simple to them) 😂
A breath of fresh air with a simpler approach than most - and I totally support the "what app you use doesn't matter". In my head it is more about your strategy for how and actually putting stuff in a pre-defined place to be able to come back to it at some point, what apps you utilize is secondary at best. And the bit with Ali Abdaal cracked me up so hard! Thanks for a great video
Glad you think so too!! 😁
I love simple productivity techniques. It's also to remind everyone that everyone is different and there isn't one solution fit all. My process is very much similar to yours but I have a side art hobby with my full time job so i do keep a physical sketchbook for art ideas and notion for work. I like writing with my hand when it's a random note for myself since it's messy and faster and I prefer typing when it's official work so I have to keep physical notes instead of going full digital.
That's so relatable! For some things I definitely like the physically write it down in a notebook, and it feels more "professional" and "formal" to type. Totally get it!!
I feel the same way about writing with my hand. But I use a box nova air instead of actual pen and paper. It's great, feels very similar to writing on paper and doubles up as a great Ebook reader.
OUTSTANDING video - I feel lucky to have found it! Quick way to capture notes: Google Assistant on the phone:
"OK Google take a note."
"What do you want it to say?"
"Human League made a good album called Dare."
"Saved your note."
Hahahaha good point Graham, and thank you 😁
Glad to know that I'm not the only one who feel the tips and methods from those productivity "gurus" are too complex for everyday people.
This system is just what I need.👍
Glad to hear it! Let me know how it works out for you 😁
Capture Capture Capture Organize is a perfect mantra. This dude knows how to be engaging & interesting without being annoying. Subbed.
Glad to hear it Steven! Welcome 😁
I swear, this video was a breath of fresh air in the organization space. Side note on the 'just use whatever works' mantra: I tried ticktick for a while bc mkbhd and several others recommended it, but it won't leave me alone or dismiss notifications properly that don't have dates attached after the 'organize step'. Meaning I constantly have 30+ notifications waiting for me. Plus subtasks are really wonky. I might try taskcade, but switching back to todoist has smoothed things out for now.
Great point!! The best app is definitely the one you can consistently use and minimizes friction at the same time 😁
I like ticktick! just turn off notifications?
I've been a TickTick user for years, it's very hard to pinpoint where the issue may be with your notification setup but I think you should give it a solid effort before moving away from it.
@@nascentnaga That's definitely an option, it sounds to me like the root cause is that these "tasks" are set up incorrectly.
Within one pomodoro time (25 minutes) I fell in love with your videos. Thanks mate. These are amazing.
LOL thanks 😁
That is just the video we really need to watch over and over until we learn all the knowledge contained in it!
It's certainly worth a thumbs UP! And save it to be watched again!
Thanks, Jeff! Mostly for the helpful, practical examples shown in the video!
We need more videos like this on UA-cam.
Thank you Cassio! As long as I'm around these types of videos will be around 😁
I have been diagnosed with ADHD, OCD & Bipolar Mood Disorder and these disorders make me procrastinate a lot and I have difficulties keeping up with deadlines. This video was much needed. Thank you Jeff.
You're very welcome!
Working with many apps or systems adds so many frictions. I deeply appreciate your way of according organisation with efficiency!
Thanks again for this great video Jeff !
No problem Benjamin! Anytime!
This intro was perfection
The legend himself! Thank you Tiago 😁
The quality of the content and production of this video is blowing my mind in ways that I can't highlight enough.
Thanks so much for the kind words Juan 😁
This is the best and simplest system out there for productivity. Really was overwhelmed with all the complicated setups. This one just hits the spot.
Thank you my friend, that means a lot 😁
@@JeffSu Wow, I can't believe you really took out your time to reply to that. Thanks a lot.
@@DebarghaBhattacharjeeDB for sure✌️
I came across this fantastic video while searching for different methods to make organizing my daily tasks and new assignments easier. It really made my day! Thank you so much! Peace from Malaysia
That's what I love to hear Nor! Thank you!
Thank you for the simplicity! I was struggling with that when I was thinking that my system was to simple, but as you said the 20% effort that causes 80% result!
Exactly Felipe! The 80/20 rule to the rescue again!
Thanks for affirming my recent ‘downgrade’ in productivity systems. I use an app called Drafts to capture everything. The feature I like most is that I can use quick actions to move it to other storage systems (If needed) in one click. Less friction is absolutely key
I've used Drafts myself! I really like how you open up a new note everytime haha. And yes less friction is a MUSt
Drafts together with Tot which is limited to seven notes and meant for temporary (meeting) notes that need to be processed / moved daily or weekly at least
This system is very minimal which in my eyes means it’s going to be more useful and easier to stick to. Thank you for this!
Exactly! The best systems are the ones you can stick with consistently!
Excellent! I watched all of the videos you referenced and I am drowning in trying to A. Figure out what apps to use and B. Learn all of the intricacies of each. Your video has simplified the method so I can actually start and allows me to figure out the details along the way. Your real world examples were extremely helpful. Cheers.
Happy to hear the real world examples were useful my friend. Let me know in 2 weeks if you ended up implementing some of these tips 😁
I am so glad that I found this. Productivity Influencers were driving me nuts. This is simple and practical.
Glad to hear it my friend!! 😁
Perfect. Thanks for keeping things simple, Jeff👌 I use Things instead of Todoist.
Ah I see we have a rich person in our midst 😏
All jokes aside Aurelius how is Things 3? 😂 Is the subscription worth it?
@@JeffSu I love it’s simplicity and intuitiveness. I believe it’s a one off payment actually. But I bought it for both my iPhone and Mac.
@@AureliusTjin Oh interesting...I should check it out... Thanks Aurelius!!
Simple and effective. I get overwhelmed by the number of apps and thing the produ tivity influencers recommend. But I like how you have kept it simple.
That's what I love to hear my friend 😁
I love how you always simplify everything!
Can't help it 😉
Love the simplicity. I can’t explain how much you helped for the year to come. I felt so overwhelmed the whole of 2023 because of these gurus and that I had to use 5 different apps for my daily life. Excellent content, excellent channel! Keep it up
Will do my friend 😁
The amount of energy you put into talking motivates people to better productivity 😂 (content was super useful too)
Soo..... basically my content is average but my voice is motivating... 🤔. I'll take it 😉
I have been an avid onenote user for the last 10+ years. I use it so much that if you have ever had a conversation with me within the last 10 years, I will most likely be able to provide you with the notes I've taken about that conversation. What I have always struggled with is capturing and organizing my thoughts. This video makes a lot of sense and I can't wait to add that widget to my phone for todoist and try it your way!
Wow you take a lot of notes, that's awesome! Yes I guess the next step for you is to organize them in a way where you can access any one note very easily. Excited to see what you come up with 😁
This is the most simplified yet most efficient systems I've seen. It covers everything needed with less friction indeed. 🙈 New subscriber here.
Glad to hear you say that Mary!! And welcome 😁
I love simple! Full time job + full time life, I don't have the time or brain power to juggle so many apps. Thanks for keeping it real 😊
Me and you both my friend! You're very welcome 😁
Glad to see that our systems mirror each other but with different tools. It took many false starts of paper, programs, mindmaps and a ton of other stuff to distill to get to the 2 step you've demonstrated here. For capture I use GQueues instead of ToDoList. GQueues also syncs to my Google calendar and like ToDoList has natural capture with date/time and tagging. There are no doubt others as good as GQueues but I've used it without a hitch for 11 years.
Instead of Notion, (which is just too much for me) I use Nimbus Notes which is a program that is a nice simple blend between Evernote and Notion. Nimbus also has a nice web capture extension which I use extensively as well as tagging.
Wow I never heard of GQueues until now. They seem to be a solid app! Thanks for teaching me something new today Marshall 😁
Jeff- you're channel is CRIMINALLY undersubscribed. From this to job searching and career tips there's so much great and easy to understand content. Thank you
No arguments from me Henry 😏, but haha thank you!
Have to say just one thing. This approach seemed very much familiar to me, and handled the same gripes I had with productivity gurus around YT. Then I clicked on your profile and saw you are a fellow management consultant 😂😂😂 - now things make much more sense, and thank you for this!
Hahahaha we consultants have the best processes and workflows 😉
Finally. This video is a breath of fresh air. I started a podcast last year on the side. Trying to expand it, add segments to the business for monetizing, newsletter, etc. takes time and effort. I don't know how many videos I've watched and apps I've tried to use only to go back to pen and paper for speed. This makes me have a clear step-by-step action plan to follow. I hope it works. Thanks!
First of all, congrats on starting a podcast! Must be exciting 😁! And thanks for hte kind words, sometimes I think simpler = better haha
That intro made me laugh loudly! congratulations for this excellent video, its super clear and instantly applicable, great work!
Hahahahahaha glad you enjoyed the intro Juan!! I honestly felt that after watching some advanced productivity videos 😂
Thank you so much! This video really helps me a lot. I watched a LOT of productivity videos, and this video are the BEST!! 😍 Simple yet very powerful
Glad to hear it! 😁
What a great video! A nice mix of clarity, simplicity, and humor. Thanks Jeff!
Glad to hear it!! Thank you 😁
Thank you Jeff for keeping it simple and stupid. It helps massively!
No problem! Stay simple and stupid 😂
The beginning of this video was classic and TOTALLY identifiable. Great job
Hahahaha glad you think so my friend 😁
Super crisp and concise content highlighting how to hack productivity! Loved the video, keep up the great job, Jeff.
I recently started using Notion to capture my ideas, but would fail intermittently because of the same reason mentioned in the video. Now I can use Todoist to capture, before hoping to Notion
Thank you my friend 😁! And glad to see I'm not the only one that needed an extra "Capture" tool
This is actually the best advice for productivity here on youtube. No BS straight to the point! Thanks
You're very welcome!
Very good, Jeff. Like you always say, a good productivity system must be easy to use and hard to avoid. The more simple it is, the better. Even GTD itself is complicated to follow
Thanks for the input Leandro! Agreed! And hopefully as start using "simple" systems, we will continue to grow and evolve and create our own "advanced" systems as we see fit 😁
Thanks Jeff! That was totally my reaction after watching Ali’s video too! 😂 The way you break it down makes it WAY more easier and practical to follow. I also found Notion hard to use to create quick tasks on the fly. I now use Taskade, which is a Notion-like version of Todoist in terms of visual appeal.
I've heard about Taskade before! How does it stack up to Todoist (if you've used Todoist before as well)
@@JeffSu Taskade has an iPhone app and online web based app that sync together well so if I need to quickly add a task on my phone, I can do that and then later go back on my laptop to refine it. I can create a Work space separate from my Personal space and create Folders and Projects or Lists within each. The greatest feature is being able to visualize your projects and tasks in several different ways. Kanban style, vertical Lists, Mindmap, Org Chart views. Within each type, you can create nested lists that can fold up when you just want to see the main headers. I can create personal habit tracking lists based on a custom template that I created. Templates are also great so you save time when you want to create a new list or project. You can have a Folder as your Bullet Journal and use a daily journal template with lists and sublists of things you want to capture everyday. You can write paragraphs and bullet points in addition to tasks. I have created mini knowledge bases on topics of interest, reading lists with sections for reading notes and ratings. It’s very flexible and visually appealing. You can add custom image backgrounds or use their standard images to make each Project or List page look nice. They also encourage the use of cute icons to make it more fun.
On the scene in the gym, I remembered that I had already seen this video from my old account in 2023. I kept watching and realized that for at least half a year my productivity system has been based on this video and your tips!
After watching this video for the second time, I have a better understanding of what has had a positive impact on me:
1. Flexibility of the system.
You offered a comprehensive idea, but at the same time it fits any app that is convenient for me.
2. Examples.
This is something that is extremely important to me - when the author does not just show how to do something on a random example of "building a Second brain in Notion on the tasks of going to the groceries and checking the emails", but demonstrates his own personal example of using the system.
Even though it seems intuitively that such examples may be too specific and individual, in my opinion, they help to better grasp the idea and apply the process to your own experience.
3. Light humor and presentation of ideas.
Nothing to add here. I think that with such a thorough approach as yours, you could have written my comment in half the size with more clarity 😊
Thank you, I owe you a second like (from both accounts) and a subscription as I can't wait to finish this comment and go watch the other videos!
Nah I wish this comment were longer because it's the best comment I've come across all week. thank you my friend 😁
This video helped me simplify my quick capture / inbox step to my productivity system.
I thought I needed different capture step for each area or system I have (work, person, side projects) because I use different tools for those areas.
Rather have a single place to quickly capture your ideas and then organize later.
Yes! Funneling everything into 1 platform/app seems to work for me the best. However I do understand why some people use Readwise for Kindle highlights, pocket for online articles etc. But I try to keep it as simple as possible
Thank you for talking about systems that aren't just built for freelancers and students. I need to get organized (desperately), but I also don't need a dozen separate Kanban boards across three different apps (in fact, even one Kanban board might be too much unless it's a life-dominating project like moving).
Hahaha I know what you mean! Glad this was helpful 😁
This was great! I love productivity UA-camrs, but they can be quite overwhelming. Thanks for simplifying!
No problem Andrea 😁
I just love the way your videos look. The graphics and animation are so sleek, smooth, helpful and not disturbing. It all aligns with each other. Love that. 🤩
Glad to hear it David! Thank you 😁
@@JeffSu Just curious, is it some kind of graphic package or something you've developed over time? I would love to create a similiar (and personal) style for myself :)
@@DavidLindgren89 You can check everything out here: www.jeffsu.org/gear/
@@JeffSu Love it, thank you Jeff! 😃
Great idea, Jeff. Keeping the system simple and tailored to your unique features and goals could indeed help you stay focused and achieve more.
Definitely 🙌🏻
This is the most helpful productivity video -- precise, short, and accurate. Thank you!
Thank you my friend 😁
This is so helpful. I was feeling “guilty” for mixing my To Do app Thomas Frank’s Notion methodology. This makes perfect sense.
Trust me I've been there Stephen!! 😁
WOW! I just got my life back! This was awesome! Thanks Jeff!
Glad I was able to help Papi!! 😁
Thanks for understanding us "Normal People"
PS: Man your energy is unmatched!
Hahaha anytime my friend 🙌
I love the idea of linking and having a centralized location where all the info is used (In my case i use Google Sheet instead of Calendar). Thank you so much for sharing!
Nice!!! No problem 😁
That intro was hilarious. I love Ali but he talks so fast and his steps are so complex. Love your simplification of processed. ❤
Thank you! I have huge respect for Ali (obviously) but sometimes simpler is better :P
This couldn't come in a better time! I was just rewatching your video "how I never forget a task". Nice one!
Ah I hope you weren't bored in this video then! The concepts I share are very similar, I just refined it 😂
God I hate those "second brain" productivity systems for robots. Write it down here, then move it there, schedule it on your calendar, create a page in Notion, create a checklist, link it to a database, and so on and so on. Life is tough by itself, who needs to make it even more complicated with tools that are supposed to make it easier? Love your approach, though! I follow a similar system that I developed for myself, but got some good insights from the video. Subscribed. 🙏
Woohooo thank my friend 😁
Were you always this good at video editing? This video is just incredible.
Nope. If you look at my first ever video it was terrible
You’re the man. I’m generally well organized but have been having such a hard time remembering things and using my iPhone calendar for reminders takes too many steps. I always have a list of things to accomplish each day and unfortunately it’s easy for me to forget things like that. It’s weird because I’m quite intelligent and can complete complex tasks easily but remembering appointments and scheduled tasks is almost impossible for me. My life was organized via yellow post-it notes and that doesn’t work well when you’re moving around. Thanks man.
You're not alone! Our brains weren't created to capture ideas long term!
hahaha I love the "normal people" part! I gave up with Notion for my personal stuff and now just sticking with Obsidian, Google Calendar, Google Keep and handwritten journal (thanks to Matt Ragland's W.R.A.P method especially)
Interesting, never heard of WRAP method before, will check it out. Thanks for sharing Monique 😁
great video. Im a simple man. with simple needs, living a normal life. this system Works!!!!
Same here! 🙌🏻
I HAD A GREAT ONE watching this video. Finally something that me (and probably most of the people) can relate and APPLY in terms of productivity system.
Well I had a great one reading this comment Winner 😂. Thank you so much!!
This is the best free software Ive seen. Respect.
Glad to hear it Sarah! Thank you 😁
Good video. I've noticed, from my own experience, that some apps will lead you down a rabbit hole. You can spend more time setting up, tweaking, and organizing some apps that you become less productive. That happened to me with Omnifocus and Notion.
Exactly! I found the sweet spot to be: set it up just enough you can start using the system, then when you have "down time", play around with it 😁
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:00 🧠 *Introduction to Second Brain Concept*
- Explanation of the concept of a "second brain" for productivity.
- Importance of the capture step in getting ideas out of your mind.
- Brief overview of the four steps: capture, organize, distill, and express code.
00:55 📝 *Simplifying Productivity for Everyday People*
- Acknowledgment of the complexity of productivity systems like those of Tigao, Ali, and Thomas.
- Introduction of a simple two-step process for 80% benefit with 20% effort.
- Emphasis on real-world examples to illustrate the productivity workflow.
01:24 📥 *Step One: Capture*
- Significance of minimizing friction between idea generation and recording.
- Example use of Todoist for quick capture with action verbs.
- Real-world examples of capturing tasks related to work and personal life.
02:51 🗂️ *Step Two: Organize*
- Tiago Forte's advice on organizing information by the location of use.
- Importance of identifying suitable locations for organizing.
- Examples of organizing ideas and tasks into specific locations like Google Workspace, Calendar, and Notion.
05:14 📅 *Managing Time-Specific Tasks*
- Managing time-sensitive tasks using the calendar.
- Example of blocking off time in the calendar for a future task.
- The real-life consequence of missing deadlines and the importance of calendar reminders.
06:13 ✉️ *Inbox Management*
- Utilizing Gmail's snooze feature for effective inbox management.
- Explanation of how snooze serves as the organized-to-location step for emails.
- Reference to a detailed video on achieving inbox zero for further insights.
06:40 🔄 *Summary and Next Steps*
- Recap of the two main steps: capture and organize.
- Recommendation to check out Tiago Forte's Second Brain video for a comprehensive process.
- Closing remarks and invitation to the next video.
Made with HARPA AI
1. Continue what you are doing. Superb.
2. I ACTUALLY started using To-Doist and Notion JUST beacause of this and the Widget demo
3. In between sets thoughts hit different! haha
Thakn you!!
Hi Jeff! Great video. I am retired, and all those other productivity workflows are MASSIVE overkill. Yours is straightforward and cost-effective. I am still working out the best capture method. Notion seems like a lot of effort for a "simple life." Maybe you should do a vid on capture for the retired/stay-at-home types who still want to capture ideas and such. I like to write or hear an interesting story and what to capture the idea. Great enthusiasm and clear presentation for a large amount of information. Keep up the good work!
Got it, thanks for sharing your experience! What's stopping you from using todoist as the default capture step?
Use Apple reminders as a capture with Siri
Mi inglés no es muy bueno. Así que tengo que traducir el contenido. Aún así me merece la pena, fantástico. Productividad para gente normal 👏👏👏👏
I see it’s Jeff Su. I click.
Very very very good habit you got there Caeden, I'm impressed. You should share it with others
@Daniel J great minds, my friend!
same
@@JoeCartersChannel Everyone's so supportive 😂
@Daniel J Yayyyy 🙌🏻
Thanks Jeff, I really like your Intro and sense of humor. True, if the system is so complicated, it is a huge hindrance to ever start it. The entry hurdle should be small and easy to get onboard.
Haha glad you found it entertaining (and useful I hope)! Thanks so much Lee 😁
Great stuff as usual! I'm watching Ali's videos from time to time now. Fun, but his productivity videos aren't that easy to implement if you're not a productivity junkie (I'm not 😊). Your systems on the other hand are very straightforward. I love the idea of storing notes where I can use them. Will definitely give another try for todoist (I have used it for various purposes over the years but never as a temporary inbox, go figure).
Glad to hear it Andrey! Hopefully one day both of us can get to where Ali is (because his systems ARE great) and think it's still "simple" 😁
The first 45 seconds was literally me minutes before I watched this......sooo freaking good! lol
Hahaha you and me both. Hopefully the rest of the content was helpful 😏
Actually, this is funny because the more we are creating overwelming productivity systems, the more we are unproductive because we feel completely lost... That how I felt ! Thank you a lot for your refreshing video !
Can't agree more Adrien 😁
Your system fixes the need to have two or more notes app to capture ideas. You can add ideas in Todoist as a task and any additional information on the task description field and comments. Thanks Jeff, you have simplified the Second Brain system for me and made it practical for me. 👏
Glad to hear it John! Let me know how it goes 😁
Awesome! Thanks Jeff! Completely related to Ali's overkill mind-boggling system 😀
Question: I really like Google Keep, but still not sure for what part of the system to use it exactly. Currently my Google Keep is a mess. Do you have any suggestions for organizing it, and for which part of your system it can be used? Would love to hear your thoughts about it and maybe a video about Keep :)
Yes, he has some suggestions :) Check this out ua-cam.com/video/-jCyuBLLcvs/v-deo.html
If you using Keep as a task management tool, I would suggest switching to Google Tasks. I was in same boat and Tasks has been a life saver, especially its integration into Google Calendar.
Thanks so much Amitai for the question and 777whatwhat for helping out!
If I'm being honest, I don't use Keep as a task management tool at all, I use it mainly to capture notes I've taken at work, then organize those rough drafts into something more structured later on
I've been using Keep to remind me of payments of the day, but recently I'm willing to give Tasks a try, and let Keep for capturing my ideas along the day.
There isn’t a reason to use gtasks over keep
Hey Jeff! You can save links directly to to-doist by sharing the page. You can even put it as your preferred sharing option
Thanks for letting me know Alberto! I actually did try this but I want to input the action as the title instead of the title of the link if that makes sense haha
Listen.... this is my 30th time sitting down trying to watch Thomas Franks tutorial in the last 6 months... and it went EXACTLY like your skit. I start watching.. make it 10 mins in.... then devolve into twitter, facebook etc... and an hour later tell myself I'll try again tomorrow. LOL
hahahaha I know right??
Everything in this video was incredible but the snooze option blew my mind. Already using it. Thanks Jeff!
Also, Jeff, I’d love to pass an idea to Google. Is there a protocol for it?
Glad to hear it Juan!
Honestly I'm not sure because I don't work on B2C Google products haha
@@JeffSu ah! no problem at all 😁
I actually liked your approach quite a lot. Much simpler and easy to follow. Thanks for always bringing some valuable insights.
I actually found. Thank you.
No problem 😁
again: Awesome Work Jeff! Why are you using ToDoist for your task tracking/creation? I mean, if you are only creating the tasks to move them to another program you also can use the default reminder app or?
You mean the default Apple reminder app? I just prefer Todoist 😁
@@JeffSu yes :) Well, I can understand it. ToDoIst looks more clean 😅
I also love google calendar, although I love the Tasks function within google calendar in Schedule View, tasks and Events listed in one view - helps my possible ADHD brain to see both together in one list on my phone or iPad. If it’s not in my calendar, I’ve forgotten it already. I especially love the Gmail create Task function.
Yes the integration is pretty nice!
I have observed that most of the people creating videos are content creators. Their way of managing knowledge is optimized for creating content. It creates a tremendous bias.
Thank you for creating this video to show that not every person needs complex second brain systems.
No problem Danish 😁
What's funny is that I spent an entire weekend to come up with your system using the same tools and only NOW did UA-cam recommend your video.
UA-cam algorithm needs to step its game up 😂
Thanks for the helpful information. However, please slow down your speech and explanation because some of your audiences need more time to process the information. 😁
Thanks for the feedback! Some other people have told me I speak too slow 😂. I guess it's a good thing UA-cam lets us speed up/down the video!
Ah I swear!
These productivity videos are a gift from Heaven! Thank you so much for your content!
You're so sweet asami! I'll be so sad when I stop seeing your comments one day 🥲
"in between sets of 800 kilograms" 😂😭
Are you doubting me 🤔
@JeffSu Ican't thank you enough for sharing your knowledge for free. This has been a game changer for me. Recently, I went through a burnout from work and personal stress. This is simple enough to implement and yet, very powerful to have a life changing impact. Please keep up the fantastic work! You are truly helping people!
Woohooo glad to hear it 😁
Oh god thanks for that video!! Using evernote, OpenOffice, Wi0ndows Explorer and Thunderbird since years but I can't work with that system anymore and it's leading to procrastination, not taking notes, forgetting a lot of valueable information (which also means time and money), confusion and all the way up to actual panic attacks. Been researching all those tools and systems since a few days, actually by those guys you mentioned, and I was rather overwhelmed and mislead myself on what I actually need.
Your video helped me a ton to reset my mindset around all that craziness.
Thank you good sir!
Thomas
That’s awesome to hear Thomas!! Glad I was able to help 😁
PERFECT TIMING. I just went back to my Galaxy Watch 4 and started using ToDoist again because they have a GW app and was wondering how to create a good workflow around it.
But about Notion's inbox: I actually would have a good way for quick capturing for you. I had a massive "everything" list and I just filtered different views of it in different places and everything that wasn't labeled with anything stayed in the inbox-view. ...but Todoist's natural language processing for scheduling is super handy. You could link it to your calendar to do the calendar blocking on one go.
(My reason for using ToDoist is that I can use my watch to create calendar events.)
Also, the snoozing incoming emails is a great hack I hadn't come to think of!
I've heard about the Todoist Calendar sync but haven't implemented it. Will be trying to implement this week!
Been through many many videos about this thing. That’s what i need .. thanks jeff !
Glad to hear it Bos 😁
I love Todoist. I've used it for a long time. I've also been simplifying my capture process since December because I have a mobile 3-year-old. The takeaway from this video is to organize quickly. I can definitely improve on that.
We all can Rosamaria 😁
Thank you for writing the name of the app, I kept hearing "todolist" 😅
Decision overload put this “task” on hold for three months lol. Thanks for motivating me to keep it simple and get it done
Wooohooooo glad to hear it! 😁
Watched multiple videos about this topic before, but that's the one I was looking for! TY!
Woohoo 😁
Thanks for showing every important details in this video. Your way of expressing yourself is unmatched.
Woohoo thank yo u😁
Give this man a cookie. He's brilliant.
Can I get milk with the cookie?
Great video! I use Amplenote to capture, organize/distill and execute. I love that everything stays integrated within the app/system. Tasks are also given scores which, in turn, helps me make choices / weigh which tasks are most important to accomplish.
Interesting! Never used that before
绝了，就是我现在正在用的系统，不能把时间写上去，只要能把事情搞定就行了，搞不定就挪！在日程插入随机事件还能添加对应的链接！好方便！
嗯嗯是的！
When I saw that video, I thought I have to hire someone to manage my day...thanks for this video.
Hahaha definitely no need to do that