Don't overcomplicate productivity. Use simple rituals to get things done 🎯

There are a lot of helpful suggestions when it comes to being a productive builder: using task management apps, blocking out time, meditation, etc.

However, many of them are high-maintenance habits. They take too much effort/energy to plan and follow every day.

I want to share one simple, low-maintenance habit that works for me: looking at things from a macro POV and building a feedback loop around it.

Quite early, I realized I couldn't pre-plan every minute of my day like many others. My motivation and focus would vary quite a lot. Instead of planning out each day, I would set my priorities for each week.

At the start of each week, I take 15 minutes and ask myself:

What are the top three things I want to accomplish this week?
What steps do I need to take to accomplish each of them?
What are the challenges or blockers that stand in my way?

This gives me a clear roadmap of what I need to achieve, how I need to achieve it, and what my blockers are.

It also helps me be more flexible in planning my days. I can set my to-do's with the full picture in mind.

At the end of the week, I ask myself:

Compared to the priorities I set on Monday, how did I do?
What did I do well? What made me happy?
What didn't go as planned? Where can I improve?

It's a good system that helps you iterate upon your approach each week and improve. I would recommend you try it out!

Funny thing is, I got this idea when one of the first teams who signed up for MyCheckins did a Weekly Planning and Weekly Retro team check-in. I put a personal spin to it and have been doing it for 6 weeks now.