The Rhythms of Productivity (1st edition ebook)
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The 1st edition ebook of The Rhythms of Productivity released on April 16, 2024.
Hopelessly unproductive
I've been there, just like you have. As I say in the Introduction to The Rhythms of Productivity....
It was August 2014, and I was at my wits’ end.
I had written a musical and we were touring it around my home state of West Virginia. I was producing a short film about a 1968 coal mining disaster, while simultaneously revising the feature-length screenplay based on the same catastrophe. I was teaching voice lessons to fifteen students and serving as a piano accompanist for another ten. I was directing the choir at a church.
I was a new father, and my wife and I were raising our one-year-old bundle of chaos… er… joy. I was recovering from the loss of my own father and reeling at the burden of mortality that sparks many midlife crises.
I was spinning plates like a circus performer, and those plates threatened to crash to the floor and shatter into a ceramic hellscape.
I was overwhelmed. I was anxious. I was desperate. I read Getting Things Done, and though it started me on my productivity journey (which I'm grateful for!), the benefits of GTD were fleeting. If you’ve ever tried GTD—or just about any productivity system—I’m betting these challenges will sound familiar. And if you haven’t, you’ll still get the idea.
I usually emptied my Inbox every day. But sometimes it piled up. I’d capture a bunch of ideas or tasks that I didn’t know what to do with, and because of that indecision I left them in the Inbox. Once that Inbox became cluttered, I’d stop using it. I’d schedule tasks for tomorrow just to ensure I’d see them again. I’d let ideas slip away because I didn’t want to add to the mess.
And I usually did my Weekly Review. But sometimes a week or two or three or four might pass when I hadn’t reviewed. Projects would get out of sync, tasks would expire undone, and I’d stop trusting—and using—the system I had built.
Even when I was reliable with my Inbox and Weekly Review routines, I would still have to overhaul the structure of my productivity system every six months or so, because it would gradually get outdated and less useful.
The switch flipped for me when I shifted my GTD system into Tools for Thought (first Roam Research, and now Tana). My work changed when my tasks were with my notes, and as it evolved from GTD into my own approach, I found freedom and flow in my productivity that never existed before.
This book explains that approach. I know why my former systems failed, and I'll teach you how to avoid those failures yourself. And I know why my current approach works, and why it can work for you, too.
Here's the first thing you need to know...
Take Action & Capture Recurrence™
Master those two skills—they will change your life.
Most productivity seekers chase the "perfect system," an elaborate, all-encompassing behemoth that ensures every task gets done and all work serves important goals. This pursuit is understandable, but it's a wild goose chase. The one perfect system that solves everyone's problems does not exist.
The problem is simple. When you implement a system, you impose a predefined structure on your work and life. This prescriptive approach—here's how I should work—is destined to fail. It will not be aligned with the work you do or the way your mind works.
But what's the alternative? Drifting aimlessly in a system-less void?
No. Build a toolkit, not a system.
Action first, structure follows
The Rhythms of Productivity draws on my background as a productivity consultant and a musician to teach you this simple approach:
1. Take Action
Do the work that's in front of you.
2. Capture Recurrence
Look at what you did and ask yourself "How can I do this work better the next time?" Then capture that recurrence in a Productivity Bridge.
What is a Productivity Bridge?
A productivity bridge is a structure that increases the speed, accuracy, and quality of future work. It is a category that includes templates, procedures, recurring tasks, automations, and a variety of other tools.
As you construct the bridges that improve your work, you assemble your productivity toolkit. This toolkit of real, practical solutions beats the "perfect" theoretical system every time.
In short, if you impose structure, you restrict action. But if instead your productivity toolkit reflects the action you actually take—and accepts that 80+% of the work you do will be work you've done before and work you'll do again—you can quickly assemble bridges that actually make your work easier.
The concepts presented in The Rhythms of Productivity are not prebuilt systems, but rather building blocks for you to assemble your productivity toolkit. Don't be afraid: nothing needs to be built in advance, and the ideas aren't complicated. You can "think little"—create simple templates, procedures, automations, and so forth that solve little problems, and pretty soon the big problems melt away.
Roles and Transformation
Two other concepts complete the Rhythms of Productivity process:
1. Define roles for big-picture planning
Don't set goals. Determine your roles—the identities you embody in your work and life—and ensure the action you take fulfills those roles.
2. Review your toolkit to Capture Transformation
All things change, including your templates, procedures, and automations. With regular reviews you can capture that transformation and keep your productivity toolkit working smoothly.