title: Making Productivity Work date: 2025-09-30
Productivity
After years of trial and error, I’ve found the trifecta that drives my personal productivity: Prioritization, OKRs, and Progress Tracking. The key is breaking big goals into smaller, manageable chunks.
Not All Goals Are Equal
Every project, big or small, ends up on a list. Then I ask myself:
- Why am I doing this?
- What outcome am I expecting?
- Why should I do this now?
After prioritizing, I assign timeframes (days, weeks, months). I also cut the bottom items. Two rounds of filtering later, the list feels manageable.
Goal-Keeping with OKRs
When I first came across OKRs, I wasn’t impressed. Over time, I saw how powerful they could be. Now I use a Google Sheet to track goals by quarter, grouped into themes or projects. Each goal gets a timeline, priority, and 3–4 measurable key results — sometimes stretched to test my limits.
Good Ol’ Tactics
OKRs are strategic, but not tactical. So I break key results down further and track them in Trello. I update progress weekly, group tasks by stage, and set due dates. Trello’s power-ups make visualizing progress (and the lack of it) much easier.
Rinse, Execute, Measure, Improve, Repeat
I almost gave up on these systems. It took many false starts before things clicked. The biggest game changer? Embracing the concept of “No Zero Days.” Even a small win keeps the momentum alive.
Hope this helps.
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