Share your best and worst productivity methods along with your personal experiences. Maybe it will help others in this community choose the right method for themselves based on our collective experiences.
I'll start by sharing the best and worst productivity methods I've tried, along with my personal thoughts:
Worst — Getting Things Done (GTD)
There's no doubt that GTD is one of the most popular productivity methods out there. Many of you might even consider it the best. However, my experience with it was far from positive. In my case, I found that this method pushed me to work non-stop, completely ignoring the importance of health and well-being. Personally, I believe it fuels a toxic productivity mindset that emphasizes doing more, without considering the quality of life. It pains me to remember how, in the past, GTD led me to experience severe mental health issues, including burnout, stress, and constant overwhelm. On top of that, I often felt like a failure whenever I couldn’t complete everything on my to-do list by the end of the day.
Best — Humane Productivity Framework
I came across this method earlier this month, but I can confidently say it’s the best one I’ve ever encountered. What sets this framework apart is its core philosophy, which focuses on managing energy and attention, rather than just time. The creator argues that while time is constant, our energy and focus fluctuate—and that’s what we should be managing. Since adopting this framework, I’ve noticed a significant improvement in my productivity. More importantly, I no longer deal with the stress, burnout, or constant feelings of failure that plagued me with other methods. It’s been a game-changer for me. Also, it never pushed me beyond my limits like other methods due to its mindful and unique approach, which helped me stay focused and only do those things that are actually important.
I’m really looking forward to hearing about your best and worst productivity methods. I hope to learn something new from your personal experiences, as someone who's also on the journey of self-improvement!
EXTRA: I will add the link to the article here for easy access, just in case anyone else is interested in checking out Humane Productivity Framework.
When I was in school I used to set up everything for a paper ahead of time in a Google folder. A template for the document, PDFs of my references and them already added to the end. Then when the lighting strike of dopamine hit I'd be ready to hammer it out right there and then. I wrote so many papers on the shitter. Then one day I did it for a group project and it turned out one of the group members had ADHD too because I woke up in the morning and the wholeass paper was done.
My other winning ADHD hack is to use optimal stimulation theory to pay attention to spoken material or physical tasks by having them compliment each other. This is things like pairing a lecture with a mindless phone game (like 2048, or a match 3 game. Helps if its untimed) or pairing audiobooks with chores. It's magic I swear.
WOW! How have you discovered these hacks?
I'd not heard of OST, so just read an article summary and realized I'd discovered I needed a "distractor" to get school work done when I was about 10 years old. I had no idea it was understood since the 50's at least.
Wow.
It's a game changer when you can't take meds or they're not enough!
Podcasts and audiobooks need to be paired with headphones. Speakers on full volume just won't cut it for me