I usually just use pen and paper, which I don't think is as efficient as the one you use. I use this one called Godspeed right now. It's just a to-do manager right at your fingertips. I just write stuff. I can set a duration, for example 30 minutes, then hold command and press enter to create the task. The whole benefit is that it's based on keyboard shortcuts, which I love because I'm really fast at keyboarding. Now, is this the best to-do list? No. I think a pen and paper works just fine. I'd probably just use a pen and paper. Don't focus on the efficiency; focus on your ability to do it over a long enough period of time so you can eventually accumulate massive results.
Yeah, I've been working on computers since I was about four, when my dad had a desktop tower and I started playing flash games on Newgrounds. My computer literacy is very high because I grew up with a screen, so I'm naturally faster than most people, and that's okay. For boosting pace, I recommend doing an audit: if you spend about 10 hours on your computer, check which applications you have open (using Task Manager or similar) and see where you spend most of your time. Identify the top three or four apps that account for about 90% of your usage, then learn every keyboard shortcut you could possibly want for those apps. Learning those shortcuts takes about an hour (there are really only five or ten most-used shortcuts per platform), and after that, the rest of your work will be roughly a time-and-a-half faster. Another quick recommendation: I prefer working on a laptop because my fingers stay on the home row (ASDF JKL;) and my thumb can stay on the trackpad, so I don't have to move my hand to a mouse. This setup is at least a time-and-a-half more efficient than constantly moving back and forth to a mouse, which wastes time each time you shift hands. It's probably better for your wrists too, but I don't worry about it. Beyond those, learn some problem‑solving heuristics—simple, fast ways to achieve the 80/20 result in most tasks. Examples: lower your bar for certainty, lower your bar for perfection, and use simple tools whenever possible instead of more complicated ones that only give marginal accuracy gains. For instance, I could record high‑quality OBS videos for every client delivery, but a Loom video is good enough and saves me about ten minutes each time.
Your to‑do list should be a capture‑and‑filter system, not a calendar. First, capture every idea or task using any tool (pen‑and‑paper, Godspeed, Bear, Evernote, etc.). Then, regularly review the list top‑to‑bottom. For each item, ask: Is it actionable? If no, trash it. If yes, ask: Can I do it in two minutes or less? If yes, do it immediately. If not, delegate it, put it in ‘next actions’, or file it under a relevant project folder. This is a slight tweak on Getting Things Done—capture, clarify, then act on quick wins, defer or delegate the rest. You can add layers like projects, waiting lists, etc., as needed.
When I feel overwhelmed, I take a minute to list every single task I actually have to do on paper. The overwhelm comes not from the total volume but from my perception of the volume bouncing around in my head. My simple steps: take a deep breath, identify the first thing bouncing around that I need to do and write it out, then identify the next thing and write it out, and keep rinsing and repeating for 10‑20‑30 minutes to get a big list of actionable steps. To push further, write out the first subtask needed to move that forward—for example, after moving provinces I needed to figure out car insurance; the first actionable step was to call a phone number. Knowing the exact step reduces friction and makes it much easier to get done; this is about eliminating akrasia (weakness of will). Reduce the friction and you’ll win.
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Rather than strict time-boxing, structure your schedule by front-loading your highest-ROI, nearest-to-revenue tasks first and taking as long as needed to complete them. For instance, replying to community comments in Maker School directly drives retention, revenue, and goodwill, so it is completed first thing every morning.
To speed up execution over time, record yourself completing a recurring task, review the footage to strip out wasted effort, and establish a realistic 'ideal time' benchmark. Track your time daily as a KPI until you consistently reach that benchmark.
The key to productivity is productizing your daily schedule—repeating the exact same core high-value actions every day so you build speed and mastery, rather than constantly switching between contextually different tasks.
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