my work system

My Work System

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s crucial to have a system that helps you stay on top of your tasks and manage your time effectively. I’ve developed a system that works for me and helps me stay organized, prioritize my work, and make the most of my time. In this post, I’ll share my work system and how I use different tools to manage my inputs, plan my day, and track my progress.

Inputs

There are several inputs that I need to manage on a daily basis:

• Emails: I have two choices when it comes to emails. Either answer back immediately, which may lead me to creating a new task in Trello related to the email, or drag the email to my daily tasks via Sunsama and answer later.

• Meetings: I block time each morning to prepare an agenda for my meetings. I use Sunsama to take meeting notes and record action items. I also use Chat GPT to clean up the notes and convert them to text.

• Reading Papers: I block time for reading papers during my weekly planning.

• Talks: During talks, I bring a note pad and handwrite ideas. As soon as the talk is over, I convert these to text using Chat GPT.

• Teaching and Hallway Conversations: If a student needs something from me, I either add it to my Trello or tell them to email me.

Planning My Day

Every night, I use the end of my day to plan the following day of work. I use Sunsama to plan my day, which involves time-blocking my tasks. I also make sure that everything I recorded that day gets documented somewhere meaningful, such as Sunsama.

Contexts

In Sunsama, I use the concept of “Contexts” to categorize my tasks. Each task in Sunsama is labeled as a particular context, such as Deep Work, Shallow Work, or Personal. This helps me prioritize my tasks and focus on what’s most important. I also select how much time a task is intended to take in Sunsama, which helps me manage my time effectively.

Tracking My Progress

I use Trello for individual tasks and Notion for team tasks. Both Trello and Notion integrate with Sunsama, allowing me to manage all of my tasks in one place. For personal tasks, I use Todoist to keep work and personal separate.

I use the CCC method (Capture, Configure, Control) recommended by Cal Newport, to manage my tasks. When I have meetings, conversations, or new ideas, I need to capture them. I then add the information from these meetings to concrete tasks that I can work on, and add these to my calendar using Sunsama. The control step involves refining the time blocks and assessing my progress towards my goals.

Conclusion

This is my work system, and it has helped me stay organized and manage my time effectively. I hope that sharing my system can help you develop your own and make the most of your time. Remember, the key to a successful work system is finding what works for you and making it a habit.