John Lenaghan

  • How to Build a Productivity System That Works for You

    Learn how to stop searching for the perfect system and create one that’s custom-designed for you.

    How to design an effective productivity system header image

    Over the last decade (or more) I’ve spent more time trying to perfect my productivity system than actually getting things done with it.

    If you find yourself constantly tweaking your system or worse, rebuilding it from the ground up whenever you find a new method, you probably know how I felt. Building a new folder structure for your notes or restructuring and re-tagging all your tasks feels like you’re accomplishing something.

    It can even be kind of fun.

    But it’s not productive.

    Let’s look at how I went from working on my system to working on the things in it.

    My Productivity Journey

    I’ve use some sort of system to track my time and to do lists as far back as I can remember. I’m pretty sure I started with a system called Day-Timer when I got my first real job after high school.

    Day Timer Planner Layout

    Funny enough, it doesn’t look like they’ve really changed the layout in the nearly 40 years since I started using them. That screenshot really brings back some memories.

    I read the book Getting Things Done sometime around 2003 and proceeded to set up a folder system for tracking things. And I mean physical file folders, in a tall metal filing cabinet that weighed a ton, even when it was empty.

    It wasn’t long before everything went digital so I went down a bunch of rabbit holes there…

    And I’ve used PARA, PPV, Johnny Decimal, and various other folder structures for my notes and files.

    Whenever I read about a new setup or watched a YouTube video about the latest system, I would spent hours restructuring everything. I was always sure this new system would be the one that would help me become a productivity wizard.

    But none of them ever did.

    I spent a lot of time feeling like I was the problem. The systems obviously worked for a lot of other people so I must be doing something wrong.

    But a couple of years ago, I realized that the problem wasn’t me. It was that I was trying to work within the confines of systems that were designed by other people. And some things about them just didn’t click for me.

    How I Stopped Tweaking and Starting Working

    My lightbulb moment was when I was using the PARA system to organize my notes and other files. It was really close to the ideal system for me but there were a few things that still didn’t flow.

    This time, instead of trying yet another system in the hope it would be perfect, I started making small changes to the PARA folder structure to suit the way my brain works. Whenever I felt some friction about where I should save a note or where to look for something I needed, I stopped to think about where I thought it should fit.

    Then I moved it or created that folder in the system.

    Gradually, everything ended up in the first place I thought of when I was working on something new. It took a few months to get everything sorted into a system that felt like it worked for me but I gradually started getting more done because I wasn’t constantly fighting against my system.

    If you’re in the same boat I was, constantly trying new systems, switching apps, and looking for the “perfect” setup, you probably already know that’s not working for you. Instead of trying to fit your thinking into someone else’s design, the solution is to create your own.

    A system that is set up to work the way YOU think.

    There are two ways you can do this.

    1. Start from Scratch

    The first option is to start from scratch. Create folders that make sense to you whenever you’re saving a new note or file and there isn’t already a folder for it.

    The same goes for project groups and tags when you’re adding something to your task manager.

    As you add more things to your system, you can refine how those folders are laid out. Figure out how different folders are related and put them inside parent folders with a wider scope. Same for projects in your task manager.

    Streamlining your folder structure

    It’ll take some time but gradually, you’ll end up with a setup that’s designed specifically for you. And that’ll make a lot more sense whenever you’re working on something.

    2. Modify Someone Else’s System to Suit You

    The second option is to start with someone else’s system and gradually make changes to suit you. Whenever you find a friction point, figure out why it’s causing friction and what feels more in sync for you.

    Let’s look at the PARA example I mentioned above. PARA is a folder system for organizing your files, notes, or anything else.

    P = Projects (projects you’re actively working on)
    A = Areas (various silos of your life such as Personal, Work, Family, etc.)
    R = Resources (reference material or anything you might want to refer back to)
    A = Archives (anything that’s completed but you want to hang onto)

    Where this system broke down for me was the Projects and Areas sections. Having all my active projects mixed together in one folder didn’t feel right. I think in terms of the different areas of my life first, and then organize things within those silos.

    So instead of having Projects and Areas as the top-level folders, I moved the areas to the top level and put everything else inside the appropriate folder.

    The Personal, Work, Family, and other “area” folders are at the top of my folder layout and the projects, notes, and other things are all filed inside the appropriate area.

    Changes I made to the PARA layout

    If you’re not sure where to start, customizing an existing system is the better option of the two. Just keep in mind that no one system is right for everyone so when you find those points of friction, it doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong.

    And it doesn’t mean the system doesn’t work either. If you see other people who swear by it, that’s great. It obviously works for them. That doesn’t mean it’s exactly what you need.

    Just like PARA wasn’t quite right for me.

    Create Your Own “Perfect” System

    If you’re still searching for the “perfect” system, think about what you like and don’t like about whatever you’re doing now. Instead of reorganizing everything in your system based on another YouTube video, start chipping away at the stuff you don’t like to make it more like the stuff you do.

    You might be surprised by how much you get done when you’re actually working on the stuff in your system instead of the system itself.

    If you want to see a walkthrough of how this works, I go through the details in this video:

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  • How to Change the Text Size in Apple Reminders for Mac

    A quick guide to adjusting the “Preferred Reading Size” for Apple’s built-in apps without changing your screen resolution.

    Screenshots of the Apple Reminders app on the Mac. The screenshots show "before" with a small font that's hard to read and "after" with a larger, easier to read font.

    The default text size in the Mac version of Reminders can be a little small. There’s no option in the app itself to adjust the size but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

    It’s kind of hidden so unless you know where to look, you may never see it.

    Apple’s Hidden Settings

    On most of Apple’s platforms (macOS, iOS, iPadOS, etc.) there’s a treasure trove of options hiding in the Accessibility settings.

    As the name suggests, these settings are intended for people with accessibility needs. But a lot of the settings can help you personalize the way your device works, whether it’s an accessibility need or simply a preference.

    One of the options on the Mac is to adjust the text size in a bunch of the built-in apps from Apple.

    First, open System Settings on your Mac. Click the Apple logo in the top left corner of your display and then System Settings.

    A screenshot showing the System Settings option on the Apple menu in macOS.

    Click on Accessibility in the list of options in the left navigation menu and then Display in the options on the right. On the Display settings page, click on Text Size.

    Screenshot showing the Text Size option in the Accessibility > Display settings on macOS.

    You’ll get a list of the apps that support independent text sizes. The list doesn’t include all of Apple’s built-in apps but a lot of them are here.

    Screenshot showing list of Apple apps that support independent text sizes in the Accessibility settings on macOS.

    You can adjust the default text size for all the apps in the list using the slider at the top. Or you can leave it at the default setting and adjust the apps individually.

    To change the text size in Reminders, click the dropdown beside Reminders, where it says “Use Preferred Reading Size”. You’ll get a list of all the different font sizes available.

    Screenshot showing the various font sizes supported by the accessibility settings for Reminders in macOS.

    Choose the size you like and click Done. It’s easiest if you have Reminders open beside the System Settings app so you can see how the different sizes look as you change them.

    Once you click Done, the change is saved so Reminders will always use that size. You don’t need to change the setting again unless you want to adjust the size further.

    If you ever want to go back to the original size, change the setting back to “Use Preferred Reading Size” and it’ll set it back to whatever the slider at the top of the settings page is set to.

    If you prefer to see a step-by-step walkthrough of this process, I show how to do it in this video…

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