In my last video I talked about how I optimized my environment to make the best use of my peripheral vision using subtle cues to improve my attention, creativity and productivity as well. And in that video I briefly talked about how keeping a simple node card in my proximity can act as a kind reminder of the stuff I need to take care of. And I've been always taking notes using a node pad of some sort as I do enjoy the physicality and simplicity of paper technology. But this is a simple system I used in the past three months that had helped me improve my productive output and making sure I'm first taking care of the stuff I want to do and also helping me capture ideas, thoughts, intrigue and variety of other things. I'm using a small and cheap A7 memo pad I believe you can pretty much buy this anywhere and I do keep it on my desk. This makes it small enough for me to approach it and also makes it very portable although I'm not keeping it in my back pocket but simply I might carry it inside my bag. The workflow is simple. If there's a full page inside that means that the page needs to be processed. Once I crossed off the items on the page I will throw the page away. I view it as a physical inbox for my thoughts so I want to make sure that I can record the task anywhere and with ease and this is why the pen always sits in close proximity. Also I want to be able to deplete this task tank and make them go away. I also want to be able to delegate the structure or delete bin tasks that I can't prioritize. So what I usually do is dedicate one page for a macro level view of the things I need to do. I outline this with bullets and tackle them one by one. Then what I can also do is use a separate page if an idea comes to my mind while saying random things around the house and if I have more thoughts about it I will dedicate a full page to that idea. I will then go and use my computer to process it expand my horizon on it and then distill it and make it atomic. I would also sometimes place them on my blackboard so that I can quickly take one with me if I have to leave the house and work on my laptop somewhere else. And I found that it is much easier for me to quickly capture that piece of thought in a physical entity instead of placing it in some two-dualist app or folder. And don't get me wrong I still use to do apps as well. But the problem with these apps is that they give you too much choice, feeding the paradox of choice. With you having to actually decide in which folder to put that specific to do, to which project you need to attach it, choose a deadline. If you want to postpone it you need to pick a date as well. Quite a lot of decisions to make this smooth. If you want to complete a task and cross it off your to-do app, the task goes away and you don't see it anymore. This is why I like a simple system that should be easy to use that I don't have to think about. And even if you manage to create this beautiful structure, assigning icons to folders and having this neat, category-based system to track your stuff, the app, the UI will treat all of your tasks the same way. Now to do lists and systems should work together. I do not use this for big projects but I found that having it on my peripheral vision and also keeping all of these trapped inside small squares that are again in my proximity, approachable and also very satisfying to throw away. And I gotta say there's something beautiful about finishing a bunch of deduces, discarding a note and throwing it in the bin.