On the systems that help you and the help they need from you.

[00:00:00] You're listening to the Daily Five, an experimental podcast by Aurooba, where I talk about something for five minutes. So let's get to it, shall we? I am a big fan of systems and processes, mostly because if I didn't have them in my life, I'm not sure I could be relied on to do things sustainably. I am far too excitable with far too many ideas and I am deeply prone to the nerd sniping phenomenon.

[00:00:39] So I advocate for systems and processes all the time, and the older I get and the more people I interact with, the more I see that having systems and processes allows us all to work better together. However, It's very easy to find yourself tweaking your [00:01:00] systems and processes endlessly, always hoping for the perfection that you can never achieve.

[00:01:06] When you find yourself in this very common pitfall, especially if you're a knowledge worker, every new tool can derail you. Every new technique you learn can make you want to overhaul your entire system. I've been there. I get it. It's very, very easy to over-engineer things accidentally, and as counterintuitive as it may sound at first, being able to strike the balance between simplicity and enough is an art that can take time to learn.

[00:01:40] There's actually a super fascinating video on striking just that balance, but in the context of supplying water to New York City, I'll link to it in the show notes. It's an excellent watch.

So today's thought is about making your systems work for you rather than [00:02:00] working for your systems. Building your systems and processes can make you feel productive, but if you're spending too much time doing that, then what you have is actually a false sense of accomplishment and a facade of productivity rather than the real deal.

[00:02:19] What's really happening is that you're partaking in high functioning procrastination. At some point, you have to stop fiddling with your systems and start doing the things that your systems were meant to help you do. But how do you know when you've spent too much time perfecting your system? Well, here is a simple rule that I've started to adhere by.

[00:02:44] If at the beginning of your day it takes you longer than 20 minutes to get into your system and accomplish what you need to start doing your work? You have over-engineered and failed the mission, my friend. No productivity system should [00:03:00] require more than an hour of your attention in any full day. For me, that means 20 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes at the end of my workday, and maybe 10 minutes at the end of the night.

[00:03:13] Like anything else, of course, systems need maintenance, so it's not unreasonable to need a little bit of extra time every week to tend to your processes and systems. It's probably a good thing, actually. For example, I like to spend a little bit of my time every Sunday morning reorienting and checking for things that fell through the cracks and sort of organizing the coming week.

[00:03:38] It's also a great time to review the past week and see if something isn't working well and needs adjustment. August Bradley, someone I have learned a lot from in the past couple years is a big fan of reviews and retrospectives, and I've come to appreciate having a system for looking back and making adjustments as well, after trying out his techniques.

[00:03:59] I [00:04:00] fell into this habit when I read a blog post from Cal Newport back in university. He calls it The Sunday Ritual. It's a fantastic technique that I use in some shape or form to this day. I linked to it in the show notes. It was aimed at students, but it works for everyone, honestly, and it's fantastic. It's the same way you might do groceries for the coming week or plan your lunches for the upcoming work days.

[00:04:23] You know, maintenance and some level of tweaking is a normal part of systems. But on a day-to-day basis, your systems and processes should support you, not burden you or take time away from your other work. So if you find yourself procrastinating, consider asking yourself why. It could be something to reflect on.

[00:04:45] Thanks for listening. Talk to you tomorrow.