Surprising Low-Tech Tool Boosting Focus

What’s your go-to app or tool for writing down your daily tasks?

Has it helped you focus, or do you feel a bit overwhelmed?

I’ve gone back and forth over the years trying out different apps and methods…

This year I’ve been using a decidedly low-tech solution that has been doing wonders for my focus and reducing overwhelm.

Interested in what it is? Keep reading!

The Low Tech Reason

As I mentioned in the introduction to the email, I’ve bounced around a few tools and apps to help with my daily tasks.

One of the problems with using a digital app is that you can have, and see, an unlimited number of tasks to do in a day.

Solution?

Use your calendar.

What if you don’t want to use only your calendar or want to be offline?

You can try what I’ve been doing off and on for the past couple of years and have been doing daily this year - use a piece of paper and write down your actual top goals for the day.

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The Paper Solution

There’s several reasons why this works so well for me, and can work for many others.

First, I love my project management tools. I use ClickUp and it’s great to have digital tracking of tasks, projects, due dates, all that good stuff.

However, what’s not so awesome is being stuck in your project management system all day and seeing the odds and ends you’ve added today, getting notifications from others on your team…you know the drill.

Going through a morning review and getting everything captured (nod to David Allen and GTD), sorted, and prioritized still needs to happen.

From there you can write down what the truly important projects or tasks are that you need to focus on today.

Grab that piece of paper, or Midori Travel’s notebook in my case, and write them down. Keep it to a minimum; you’re not trying to fill your day, you want to see what the big “must do” tasks are, everything else can be done later.

Give this a try with a 3×5 index card, post it, or your own notebook for a week.

I guarantee this will help your focus and overwhelm.

Extra Extra

• Do what you can with what you have. Use the “MVP” (minimum viable product) mentality from time to time to see what you can accomplish without going overboard with tools, time, and finances.

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P.S. Looking for resources to improve your productivity? Check out the tools I use right here.