how to follow a schedule even if you lack discipline

Summary

The video discusses the struggle with procrastination and time management, particularly for those with ADHD. The creator shares their personal journey and introduces the 'two calendar method' to address time blindness and fluctuating energy levels. They also highlight the importance of prioritizing tasks using tools like 'task score' in the EMP Note app to overcome analysis paralysis and make consistent progress towards goals.

Takeaways

• 📅 **Procrastination Issue**: The speaker struggles with procrastination, often only becoming motivated the night before a deadline.
• 🗓 **Planning vs. Execution**: Despite having a planner and a schedule, the real issue is not creating a plan but following through with it.
• 🔔 **Ignoring Notifications**: Calendar notifications reminding of tasks often lead to ignoring or deferring actions.
• 🤯 **Self-Blame and Stress**: The speaker used to blame themselves for procrastination and the stress it caused, promising not to repeat the cycle.
• 🔄 **Cycle of Procrastination**: There's a repetitive cycle of procrastination, hyperfocusing before deadlines, and then self-reproach.
• 🏃 **Lack of Fun in Procrastination**: Even while procrastinating, the speaker isn't engaging in enjoyable activities.
• 🚫 **Burnout and Lost Potential**: The constant cycle of procrastination led to burnout and a feeling of wasted life and potential.
• 🤔 **Questioning Abilities**: The cycle of behavior led to questioning one's abilities and a loss of confidence.
• 🏥 **ADHD Diagnosis**: The speaker was diagnosed with ADHD, which made traditional productivity methods less effective.
• 🔄 **Time Blindness**: A concept introduced where individuals lack a natural sense of time, affecting their ability to stick to a schedule.
• 📈 **Energy Level Fluctuations**: Energy levels vary, making it difficult to adhere to a rigid schedule.
• 📊 **Two-Calendar Method**: A method to manage time and energy levels by planning tasks and logging what actually happens to understand time usage patterns.
• 🔄 **Adjusting to Energy Peaks**: Aligning most demanding tasks with peak energy periods and saving easier tasks for low-energy times.
• 📉 **Overcoming Overwhelm**: Prioritizing tasks to prevent feeling overwhelmed and to break the analysis paralysis cycle.
• 📝 **Task Score Tool**: A tool within the app 'empo' that helps prioritize tasks based on factors like urgency, importance, and frequency of attention.
• 📱 **empo App**: An app that combines to-do lists, notes, habits, and calendar, using task scoring to help manage tasks effectively.

Q & A

Why does the speaker struggle with following a schedule, even though they use planning tools?

The speaker struggles with following a schedule because the issue isn't planning but actually sticking to the plan. When reminders or calendar notifications appear, they tend to ignore them, leading to procrastination. This cycle causes frustration and burnout, despite having systems in place.

What is time blindness, and how does it affect the speaker’s ability to manage time?

Time blindness is when someone lacks an accurate sense of how time passes. This makes it difficult to judge how long tasks take, either underestimating or overestimating time spent. For the speaker, this contributes to their inability to stick to schedules, often resulting in chaotic days.

How does fluctuating energy levels contribute to the speaker's struggle with productivity?

Fluctuating energy levels mean that some days the speaker feels energized and productive, while other days they struggle to even start tasks. Traditional time management techniques don't account for these variations, making it hard to stick to a routine.

What solution does the speaker propose for managing both time blindness and fluctuating energy levels?

The speaker proposes the 'two-calendar method.' This involves planning tasks on one calendar while keeping a second 'reverse log' of what actually happened. This approach helps track time accurately and manage energy levels by observing when the speaker is most productive.

How does the reverse log in the two-calendar method help with time blindness?

The reverse log helps with time blindness by showing a visual comparison between the planned schedule and what actually happened. Over time, this allows the speaker to see patterns, improve their time estimates, and make more realistic plans in the future.

How does the two-calendar method help with managing fluctuating energy levels?

By tracking not only time but also energy levels throughout the day, the two-calendar method helps the speaker identify patterns in productivity. This allows them to schedule demanding tasks during their peak energy periods and reserve easier tasks for when their energy is low.

What is 'analysis paralysis,' and how does it affect the speaker?

Analysis paralysis occurs when the speaker feels overwhelmed by a long list of tasks, leading to indecision and inaction. With so many urgent and important tasks, the speaker's brain freezes, making it difficult to prioritize and causing procrastination.

What is Task Score, and how does it help with prioritization?

Task Score is a tool that helps the speaker prioritize tasks based on factors like how often they revisit a task, its urgency, importance, and whether it's blocking other tasks. This system ensures that critical tasks rise to the top of their to-do list, preventing important work from getting lost.

Why does the speaker recommend EMPNote, and how does it differ from traditional to-do lists?

The speaker recommends EMPNote because it integrates to-do lists, notes, habits, and calendars in one app with a focus on prioritizing tasks using Task Score. Unlike traditional to-do lists, EMPNote continuously updates the task list, ensuring that urgent and important tasks remain at the top.

How does the speaker's method combat perfectionism and burnout?

The two-calendar method combats perfectionism by encouraging observation and learning rather than following a rigid plan. By seeing the day as a series of adjustments, the speaker reduces the pressure to stick to a perfect schedule, which helps avoid burnout and stress.

Outlines

00:00

😫 The Struggles of Procrastination and Self-Doubt

The speaker describes their chronic procrastination and how it leads to a cycle of stress and self-blame. Despite using planners and scheduling tools, they struggle with following through on plans, often ignoring reminders and notifications. This leads to feelings of laziness, self-doubt, and burnout. They share how procrastination impacts their productivity and self-esteem, resulting in a sense of wasting time and potential. After being diagnosed with ADHD, they realized that traditional productivity methods don’t work for them, and they had to find an alternative solution to manage their time and energy effectively.

05:01

⏳ Understanding Time Blindness and Energy Fluctuations

The speaker introduces the concepts of time blindness and fluctuating energy levels, particularly relevant for people with ADHD. Time blindness makes it difficult to gauge how long tasks will take, leading to misalignment between plans and reality. Additionally, inconsistent energy levels complicate sticking to a routine, as traditional time management assumes constant productivity throughout the day. The speaker explains that managing time is only part of the equation; without considering energy levels, even well-planned schedules can fail. They emphasize the importance of recognizing and adapting to one's energy patterns for more effective time management.

10:02

🗓️ The Two-Calendar Method for Better Time and Energy Management

The speaker introduces the 'Two-Calendar Method' as a solution for time blindness and energy management. The method involves maintaining two calendars: one for planning tasks and another for recording actual activities and energy levels. This reverse log helps identify discrepancies between planned and actual time usage, allowing for more realistic future planning. Over time, this method helps improve time estimates and understand personal productivity patterns. It also aids in managing fluctuating energy levels by aligning demanding tasks with peak energy times and avoiding burnout. The speaker highlights how this approach fosters flexibility and reduces perfectionism.

🧠 Tackling Overwhelm with Prioritization and Task Scoring

The speaker addresses the challenge of feeling overwhelmed by long task lists, a common issue for people with ADHD. They explain 'analysis paralysis,' where too many tasks lead to indecision and inaction. The key to overcoming this is effective prioritization. The speaker introduces 'task score,' a feature of the Ampo app that helps prioritize tasks based on factors like urgency, importance, and frequency of attention. This method ensures that critical tasks aren’t buried under less important ones, making it easier to focus and reduce overwhelm. They recommend Ampo for managing time, energy, and priorities, particularly for those who have struggled with other productivity apps.

📅 Finding the Right Tools and Mindset for Productivity

The speaker emphasizes the importance of finding a personalized system for time and energy management, especially for those with ADHD. They advocate for Ampo, highlighting its unique ability to dynamically organize tasks based on urgency and alignment with goals. The speaker argues that traditional to-do lists often fail to distinguish between urgent and important tasks, leading to ineffective prioritization. By using the right tools and focusing on progress over perfection, individuals can regain control over their time and reduce feelings of overwhelm. They invite viewers to explore Ampo and sign up for their newsletter for additional productivity tips and strategies.

Keywords

💡Procrastination

Procrastination refers to the act of delaying or postponing tasks. In the video, the speaker discusses their personal struggle with procrastination, describing how it leads to last-minute stress before deadlines. This concept is central to the video's message as it explores the reasons behind procrastination, particularly in individuals with ADHD, and the need to overcome it for better time management.

💡Time blindness

Time blindness is the inability to accurately sense the passage of time. The speaker explains that people with ADHD often suffer from time blindness, making it difficult to judge how long tasks will take. This misjudgment disrupts daily schedules and leads to stress when planned time does not align with actual task durations. It highlights one of the root causes of procrastination and poor time management.

💡Energy management

Energy management refers to understanding and working in alignment with fluctuating energy levels throughout the day. The video emphasizes that managing time is insufficient without considering how one's energy levels change. Traditional time-blocking fails when energy is low, so it’s crucial to schedule demanding tasks during periods of peak energy. This concept is introduced as a solution for people who struggle with procrastination and inconsistency.

💡Two-calendar method

The two-calendar method is a productivity strategy where one calendar is used to plan tasks and a second is used to log what actually happens during the day. This method helps address time blindness by showing discrepancies between planned and actual time spent on tasks. The speaker emphasizes its effectiveness in improving time management and adjusting schedules based on real-life patterns of productivity.

💡Reverse log

The reverse log is a key component of the two-calendar method, where one tracks how the day actually unfolds compared to the planned schedule. It helps individuals visualize where their time goes, making it easier to recognize patterns and adjust future planning. The reverse log offers insights into both time management and energy management, improving productivity by revealing real behavioral trends.

💡Perfectionism

Perfectionism is the tendency to set excessively high standards for oneself, often leading to procrastination due to fear of failure. In the video, the speaker explains how the two-calendar method helps combat perfectionism by encouraging observation and learning instead of rigid adherence to plans. This shift in mindset reduces stress and burnout by focusing on progress rather than flawless execution.

💡Analysis paralysis

Analysis paralysis is a state where overthinking prevents decision-making or action, often due to feeling overwhelmed by numerous tasks. The speaker describes this as a common challenge for those with ADHD, where the inability to prioritize tasks leads to inactivity. The video suggests that task prioritization is key to overcoming analysis paralysis and improving productivity.

💡Task prioritization

Task prioritization is the process of determining which tasks are most important or urgent and focusing on them first. The speaker highlights that prioritizing tasks can break the cycle of feeling overwhelmed. This concept is essential for overcoming procrastination, as it helps focus attention on the most critical tasks, preventing analysis paralysis and improving productivity.

💡Task score

Task score is a tool that helps prioritize tasks based on their urgency, importance, and how often they are revisited. In the video, the speaker introduces the task score feature within the EMPNote app, which automatically ranks tasks, making it easier to focus on what matters most. This system is especially beneficial for people with ADHD who struggle to manually prioritize their to-do lists.

💡Overwhelm

Overwhelm is the emotional state of feeling overloaded by too many tasks or responsibilities, leading to stress and inactivity. The speaker mentions how they often feel overwhelmed by long task lists, which triggers procrastination. Prioritization and using tools like task score are presented as solutions to break through this feeling, making it easier to take action and stay organized.

Highlights

The struggle with procrastination and difficulty following schedules is common, especially for those with ADHD.

Traditional productivity methods may not work for everyone, particularly those with ADHD.

Time blindness is a challenge where individuals struggle to accurately gauge the passage of time.

Fluctuating energy levels can make it difficult to adhere to a strict schedule.

The two calendar method can help address time blindness by comparing planned versus actual time usage.

Reflecting on daily productivity can reveal patterns in energy levels and help align tasks with peak productivity times.

Tracking energy levels along with time can provide insights into what factors contribute to high and low productivity.

Perfectionism can hinder productivity; the two calendar method encourages observation and learning over rigid planning.

Analysis paralysis, or feeling overwhelmed by too many tasks, can lead to inaction.

Prioritizing tasks is key to overcoming analysis paralysis and focusing on what truly matters.

Task score is a tool that helps prioritize tasks based on urgency, importance, and other factors.

Empo Note is an app that combines to-do lists, notes, habits, and calendar, making it easier to manage tasks.

The two calendar method and tools like Empo Note can help manage time, energy, and priorities effectively.

Finding a system that works for you is more important than striving for perfection in time management.

The speaker offers a free email newsletter for further tips on managing time without relying on discipline and motivation.

Understanding why traditional productivity advice may not work for everyone is crucial for finding personalized solutions.

Transcripts

I'm a pro procrastinator and the only

time I get motivated is the night before

the deadline and when I tell this to

people often times I get recommended to

use a planner everyone recommends

writing things down you need to do put

them in an order block time on your

calendar and don't forget to add it that

reminder as if I'm already not doing it

for me the issue is not planning it's

the following the schedule part when I

get a calendar notification reminding

what I'm supposed to be doing I notice

it stare at it sigh and ignore for the

longest time I thought it's because I'm

lazy and I lack discipline whenever I

would pull an old nighter the day before

my deadline I would blame myself for

putting myself in a such stressful

situation I would promise myself I will

never do it again but the next day I get

the calendar notification again notice

it and still procrastinate and the funny

thing is when I'm procrastinating and

running away from my schedule I'm not

doing something fun the more I repeat

this cycle of procrastination

hyperfocusing before deadlines and then

beating myself up the more I started to

question my abilities I lost confidence

in myself and I felt like I was stuck on

a treadmill constantly running but never

getting anywhere and this constant cycle

didn't just like stress me out but it

also led to burnout I started to feel

like I was wasting my life my potential

and also my time and we all know that

time is our most valuable asset right we

all have dreams and goals we want to

achieve but if you keep letting

procrastination run the show those

dreams could slip right through our fing

fingers if you're feeling stuck like I

was it's time to make a change before

you find yourself further away from the

life you want to live that's basically

when I knew I had to do something about

it I got diagnosed with ADHD and most of

the popular productivity methods just

don't for for my cytic brain but through

the years of trial and error I finally

found a way to fix this issue and this

method allowed me to grow this YouTube

channel to 1.4 million subscribers

establish a consistent workout routine

where I used to have it and make time

for my family as well as for my hobbies

obviously I'm not a productivity machine

and there are periods of time where I am

less consistent than I used to be but if

nothing has worked for you so far and if

you want to take control over your time

and stop feeling about yourself this

video can help let's start with a

problem that many of us face especially

if you have ADHD and that is time

blindness time blindness is when you

don't have a natural sense of time

passing you might sit down to work on

something and then get completely

absorbed and before you know it hours

have slipped by or it can be the

opposite you know you think you've been

working on something for hours but when

you check the time it's been like only

10 minutes and it makes it incredibly

difficult to stick a schedule because

we're kind of like constantly misjudging

how long tasks will take you know I

would like plan my thinking I can knock

out a project in an hour and then I

would only find myself like working on

it for 2 hours and when that happens the

rest of the day just like falls apart

because they don't match and this isn't

just like about poor time management

it's actually more deeper than that if

you don't have an accurate sense of how

long stin take your entire schedule can

become chaotic because suddenly you're

behind your schedule stressed and

feeling like you have never control over

your time and it's just just that ADHD

that can cause this anyone can struggle

with time blindness to some extent but

here's the thing time blindness is only

part of the problem and another major

issue is fluctuating energy levels you

know some days you wake up feeling ready

to conquer the world and other days you

can barely drve yourself out of bed like

I was today and this fluctuation in

energy is a major reason why sticking to

a routine can feel impossible now it's

not that you're lazy or lack discipline

it's that your energy isn't consistent

and most schedules don't account for

that traditional time management

techniques tell us to like break our day

into neat little blocks assuming that we

can perform at the same level all day

long but that's just not how it works in

reality this is where a lot of us go

wrong especially me because we focus so

much on managing our time feing

everything into a calendar blocking of

hours of tasks setting reminders that

we're going to completely Overlook time

management is important for sure but

it's just a part of the equation you

know if your energy is low it doesn't

matter how much time you've blocked off

our task you're not going to gain get it

done efficiently if at all think of it

this way time is a finite resource right

like we all have 24 hours in a day but

energy is dynamic it like es and flows

depending on a variety of factors like

how much sleep you got what you have

eaten your stress levels and even time

of the day and if we don't pay attention

to our energy we are setting ourselves

up for failure and when we plan our day

based purely on time we're ignoring how

our energy levels align with those

plants you might like schedule your most

demanding tasks for the morning thinking

you will be fresh and ready to go but if

you're someone whose energy peaks in the

afternoon like me you're literally

setting yourself up for frustration in

the morning and potentially burn out by

end of the day solution for time

blindness and energy management so how

do you manage your time when your energy

levels are all over the place and you

struggle with time blindness that's

where the two colar method comes in and

this is something that I'm big fan of

here how it works every day you plan out

your tasks estimating how long each one

will take and blocking of that time in

your calendar this step alone helps

address time blindness because it forces

you to make an educated guess about how

long something should take but and this

is the key you also keep a second

calendar where you log what actually

happened and this is your reverse log

let's say you scheduled a big project

for like 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. but

you find yourself still working on it at

2: p.m. or maybe you just like got

distracted and didn't even start it

until 11:00 a.m. either way you log that

to your second calar and this visual

comparison at the end of the day between

what you plan and what actually happened

helps you understand where your time is

really going and if you have time

blindness this method is a GameChanger

because over time you will see the

patterns in how long things actually

versus how long you would thought they

would take this helps you to improve

your time estimates making your future

planning more accurate and realistic the

more you do this the better you get at

it but the benefits don't stop there

this method is also incredibly effective

for managing fluctuating energy levels

because when you track your time and

also with your energy you start to

notice some patterns at the end of the

each day take a few minutes just to

reflect back okay look at your reverse

log and look at your estimated calendar

and ask yourself when you felt the most

productive during the day when did you

struggle and whether you hit at a wall

at any point or whether you had the

burst of energy that you didn't expect

and over time you will start to see some

patterns maybe you find that you're

consistently more productive in the

morning or that you hit it like a slump

after lunch once you identify these

patterns you can start aligning your

most demanding task with your Peak

energy periods and save the easier stuff

for whenever you're feeling low and if

you want to dig even deeper you can

track other factors that might influence

your energy energy levels like what you

ate how much sleep you got or whether

you exercise these can all play a big

role in how you feel throughout the day

by paying attention to those details you

basically get a clear picture of what

works best for you and I think this

method also helps a lot with

perfectionism instead of beating

yourself up in writing a rest of the day

the two calendar method really

encourages you to observe and learn

because you start to see your day as a

series of adjustments rather than rigid

plan you have to follow perfectly there

is another big challenge that can mess

with your schedule which is feeling

overwhelmed I feel overwhelmed a lot

when you got a like long list of tasks

staring back at you it's like really

easy to feel where you don't even know

where to start and when that happens

like my brain literally freezes up I end

up doing nothing or I get distracted by

the things that really don't matter and

it's quite like common especially if you

have ADHD and it's called analysis

paralysis where I got so much on your

plate that you can't even make a

decision you're stuck because every task

feels urgent and important and it's

really hard to figure out what to do

first the key to breaking out of this

overwhelm is learning how to prioritize

when you know what's most important it's

a lot easier to focus on and let go of

the less important stuff but to be

honest prioritizing can be quite

difficult especially when like

everything feels like it needs to get

done right now I've tried a bunch of

apps and methods but came into

conclusion that OTE is best at

prioritizing tasks to allow creating a

flexible schedule match to my energy

levels emply note unites your to-do list

notes habits and calendar in a single

app with a Twist that I've never seen

before called task score when I

discovered like the task score tool and

how it works like really well with ADHD

I approached them to ask if they would

sponsor this video and thankfully they

agreed and I'm really glad they did

because it's genuinely a game changer

and here how task score Works imagine

you got a bunch of tasks to do but

you're not really sure which one to

start right task score helps you out by

looking at few things first it considers

how often you are opening a task note if

you keep coming back to it task score

bumps it up the list because it's

clearly on your mind and next it looks

at the urgency and importance if

something is urgent like it needs to get

done in a couple in the next couple of

days it's going to score higher and if

it's important meaning it aligns with

your goals it will score even higher

this way the stuff that really matters

isn't buried under less important tasks

but it also doesn't stop there if a task

has a deadline or if it's holding up

another task it gets an extra boost this

makes sure that time sensitive tasks and

blockers don't get ignored and it all

does it without you thinking about it it

sounds complicated but it does it for

you so you don't have to worry about it

if you're user traditional to-do list

you probably know like they can get

quite overwhelming fast and tasks that

aren't immediately handed often sink to

the bottom and you forget about it but

with task score your list is always

evolving the most relevant tasks rise to

the top and you can easily snooze or

dismiss tasks that don't need your

attention right now one of the big

problems with classic to-do list is that

they don't differentiate between what's

new what's urgent and what's important

everything kind of like gets jumbled

together and it's really easy to get

stuck working on recent tasks that

aren't the most important even if you

don't use ampo you can apply this idea

to your own system whenever you are

prioritizing try to focus on tasks that

are Urgent or aligned with your goals

and don't be afraid to let go of tasks

that are no longer relevant we need to

say no if you're someone who struggles

with ADHD like I do or if you just find

it hard to stay on top everything EMP

note is hands down best app out there

for prioritizing your tasks and getting

organized so if you're looking for a

tool that can help you manage your time

energy and priorities and especially if

you have tried other apps and they just

didn't like stick with you give emplot a

try it's made a huge difference for me

and I think it could do the same for you

remember following the schedule isn't

about being perfect but it's about

finding a system that works for you and

helps you get a little better every day

and with the right tools and the right

mindset you can take control of your

time reduce overwhelm and start making

real progress towards your goal if

you're interested in how you can get

better at managing your time without

relying on discipline and motivation

check out my free email newsletter that

I send every single Friday and if you

want to learn more about why most

productivity advice don't work for you

and how you combat them you need to

check out this video