Flavio Frohlich
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8/22/2020

My System for Getting Stuff Done (Part 1)

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I enjoy answering the questions how I get stuff done. First, please let me share that I have learned a lot about how to manage processes, document my work, and get stuff done in general. I used to be a very chaotic person and I was struggling for a long time to get things in place for being productive (and happy). A lot of credit for where I am today goes to my wonderful wife Anita, who homeschools our four kids (check out her resources on how to become a learning family), works as a project manager for the Frohlich Lab, and contributes to the field of international law with her widely-read online encyclopedia of comparative and foreign law CompareLex. I have watched her be productive at an insane level and learned, in fact learned a lot. With some tweaks to my specific circumstances, I have converged on the following three basic principles:
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  1. Small notepad (like this one) and a high-quality pen next to my computer to write down all the random and fleeting stuff that comes up. There are many moments during a conversation that I do not have the time to go to my electronic systems to add stuff (see below), so that stuff goes into my notepad and gets transferred and crossed out at the end of the day. 
  2. Use a digital notebook (such as Endnote or OneNote, both free!) and have a note for each day. Everything I do gets documented. This keeps me on task and gives me a sense of accomplishment by the time the days ends. Careful note taking did not come naturally to me but, once I developed the habit, this became super helpful. Bonus tip: I start each daily note with a brief reflection statement on the previous day and my plans for the day. I address the questions of what went well and what I want to improved the next day.
  3. Use a project management tool (I personally use Wrike) to keep track of all tasks. Most of my tasks come by email. My trainees have access to directly create tasks and assign them (with a deadline) to me. This saves a lot of unnecessary emails back and forth. By the way, talking about emails, I do not use the inbox as a to-do list, rather I move things that I cannot immediately resolve to Wrike as tasks.
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These are the three pillars of my productivity system (together with getting enough sleep!). I will expand some more over the next few posts to give you full behind-the-scenes access of how I get stuff done. 

I hope this finds you well and please do share in the comments below if these strategies work for you and whatever productivity systems you have developed for yourself. Let's share. Let's learn, grow, transform together!

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5 Comments
Anant Shinde
9/1/2020 05:56:50 pm

This is interesting. Have you used any other project management tools? I am struggling with the sense of accomplishment especially during the COVID period.
What do you do on days where you don't feel like doing anything?

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Flavio
9/2/2020 05:29:55 pm

Thank yo for your question, Anant! Yes, I have tried Monday and I have also used Trello for that purpose. They are all more or less the same and work well for smaller projects. Wrike has some enterprise level features that are helpful to organize our lab.

I understand your question about days on which we do not feel like doing things. I usually prepare a reasonable list for the next day and commit to getting through them. Getting started is often the hardest part. I also have specific (healthy) rewards that I give myself for getting stuff done on these difficult days. Finally, enough sleep, fresh air, and sunlight make a big difference. I hope this answers your question. I will talk more about this on one of my next podcast episodes.

Take care!

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Flavio
9/2/2020 05:33:04 pm

You may also find this episode helpful: http://www.futurewithflavio.com/e/episode-6-how-to-deal-with-procrastination/

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9/5/2020 12:15:18 pm

If you have a system like this to get stuff done, then you are a legend. In my opinion, having a system to just be productive and more organized is amazing. I was never able to do it back when I was at college, but not that I have one, it has been a smooth sail. I enjoy working because of this efficient system that I have right now. I do hope that it all works out just fine in the future.

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Flavio
9/5/2020 12:27:46 pm

Thank you for your comment! It also took me some time to develop a system. As we travel through life, things change and we need to update our system to make sure they still are a good fit. Take care!




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