Complete productivity system for a maker
Tags: productivity, help
Published: 2020-03-11 18:30:23

---
title: "Complete productivity system for a maker"
published: true
description: "Maximize your productivity by creating a system!"
tags: 'productivity, help'
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/now264ykpy5jey7szasc.png
canonical_url: https://www.markolo.blog/posts/complete-productivity-system
---

Do you want to maximize your productivity? If so, you'll need to create your productivity system. Luckily there are tons of options available. As I've used many of them, I'll share my thoughts with you on which ones are (in my opinion) the most important ones.

## Todo list

You most likely expected that :) Todolists are super useful for remembering what you have to do during the day. They can also help you build routines, for example by setting tasks that repeat in a certain amount of time.

Here are some good options:
- Todoist
- Microsoft ToDo
- Notion
- Habitica

## Project board

The Project board is useful where the simple todo list just won't cut it. It allows you to easily organize tasks, set due dates and assign team members for them.

One popular way of using them is creating multiple columns (for example backlog, todo, in progress, done). Then you create your tasks and move them across the columns according to the progress in them.

Some notable project boards:
- Trello
- Notion

## Pomodoro / time tracker (active)

Pomodoro is a really useful technique for improving your focus and productivity. You set your timer to 25 minutes, then you focus as much as you can and work during that period. When the time is up, you go for a 5-minute break, after which you continue to work for 25 minutes and the cycle continues.

I found these bursts of focus to be extremely beneficial, no more staring at the screen for 2 hours trying to figure out something. You're forced to take a break after a pretty short period, giving your brain room to relax and maybe come up with some idea/solution.

Cool time trackers:
- Toggl
- Clockify

## Time tracker (passive)

I put these trackers as a separate category because I feel their use case is slightly different. These trackers run in the background and clock the time you're spending on various apps and websites automatically. Then at the end of the day, you can see if you were that productive as you think you were. Results will probably shock you in the beginning!

Time trackers worth looking into:
- RescueTime
- ActivityWatch

## Calendar

I feel like the traditional calendar has been replaced by other tools I've mentioned earlier (for example todo list where you can set dates of the tasks), but it still has its place. 

I use it for setting the general day to day schedule. I get reminders on my phone telling me when to start doing something.

Best calendars:
- Google Calendar
- Apple Calendar

## App / website blockers*

I'm also using a blocker to prevent myself from using distracting apps and websites during the time in which I planned to do something productive. If you're the kind of person who can't control the urges to take a peek at Instagram when you're supposed to be reaching out to potential customers - using a blocker will benefit you.

The blocker I'm using is called Freedom. It's available for both desktop and mobile, so you can block apps and websites across all your devices.

## Summary

As you can see, there are a plethora of apps that you can use to create your productivity system. I hope my post gave you a general idea of how to create your own. With today's tooling, it's easy to fall into a trap of too many productivity apps, but as you can see, with 2 or 3 apps you'll be able to create a system that will support you!

## P.S.

If you want to see more posts check out [my blog!](https://www.markolo.blog/)