Thread by @rjnestor

Productivity isn't getting lots of stuff done.

It's getting IMPORTANT stuff done.

🧵👇1/

#GTD #productivity

My @RoamResearch fellow #Roamans know me as the creator of the GTD-style course "Powerful Task Management in Roam Research" (courses.rjnestor.com/p/powerful-tas…)

#GTD is only part of the picture, though. You can complete 10,000 tasks a day and still be unproductive. 2/

Productivity = Purpose + Process

REAL productivity is working toward something important. And what's awesome is that YOU get to decide what "important" means to you.

Working with Purpose means working toward what's important to you. But how do you discover what's important? 3/

To work with Purpose you must identify your Priorities and establish Points to aim at.

Priorities are areas of your life that, if they disappeared, would leave you unfulfilled. Family, creative pursuits, personal growth. Or other things entirely. You get to decide. 4/

Points are like goals. They're endpoints or waypoints that orient us toward the Priorities we want to nurture. They define the direction we point—hence the name.

Priorities can shift over time, and Points don't need to be "SMART goals." They simply help us align our process. 5/

We define Purpose by discovering Priorities and establishing Points.

And then our Process can take over.
- Projects, which we make sure are aligned toward our Points
- Plans, which make our Projects actionable
- Patterns, the habits that keep us churning 6/

#GTD is a process that keeps our Projects and Plans functioning. But aligning them toward your Points within your Priorities—and ingraining the Patterns that keep you going—will require a bigger picture.

You need to see the trees, but you also need to see the forest. 7/

Folks like @GeorgeSilverman provide us tools to see the forest. He encourages us to "Go Meta"—a great way to think about it!

https://twitter.com/GeorgeSilverman/status/1369015857288994828?s=20

8/

Then there's @tracyplaces and her amazing journaling tools—implemented in @RoamResearch but applicable in whatever tool you use. Journaling helps you discover what makes you tick.

https://twitter.com/tracyplaces/status/1367589425794850826?s=20

9/

And experts like @Roamfu, whose Stallion & Rider metaphor helps clarify the various states of mind we grapple with when we try to accomplish important things.

https://twitter.com/Roamfu/status/1361663570883137536?s=20

10/

Over the coming weeks I'll be tweeting, videoing (youtube.com/c/rjnestorcoach), etc., about the big picture. Productivity = Purpose + Process

Follow me (or subscribe on YouTube) if you want to see the big picture beyond your daily grind (esp. if you want to do this in Roam). 11/

In the midst of all this, I'm working on a course—part video-driven, part live cohort based—to help you align your work toward your true priorities. But no "release date" set yet.

If that's something you'd like to know more about, follow me. I'll share more in coming weeks. 12/

When you're always busy but you feel like you accomplish nothing...

When you know there's something important for you to do but you don't know what it is...

When you can't tear away from urgent but mundane work long enough to do something fulfilling... 13/

...that's the time to revisit your Priorities.

Productivity = Purpose + Process

Find what's important for you, and point yourself in that direction. 14/