We built Akiflow focusing on making fundamentals of productivity much faster to execute: capturing tasks, processing them, and executing.
Increasing the speed that it takes to keep yourself organized, has a massive impact on your ability to be consistent in doing so.
The process
- Capture in the Inbox
- Process with shortcuts
- Go to today and get things done
Capture
The Inbox is where all the new tasks get collected before entering your schedule.
External Brain - Developing a capture habit
A brain dump is a simple technique to help you declutter your mind and thoughts. It helps you gain focus on things that matter. It also helps you organize your time and efforts, meaning you are usually much more productive and calmer.
Mastering the art of task capturing is the key to never miss a thing and having a clear mind.
We kept the task inbox separated from your today's tasklist for a few reasons:
Action VS Motion
We can define
- motion as the moment when you plan or prepare yourself to work and
- action when you actually get your work done.
Keeping those 2 moments separated (so inbox VS today) is crucial to keep your mind clear and always know what to do. Deciding what to do at the time you actually want to get things done can be very distracting and stressful, especially if your day has started hours before and your mind is not 100% clear.
Keeping your schedule clean
New incoming tasks coming up can be very distracting.
We tend to process 'easy wins' (tasks that are easy to complete) other than sticking to our plan.
By separating the inbox from your schedule, Akiflow makes sure your plan won't be cluttered with new things that still need processing. It will also be easier for you to separate the moment when you make decisions from the one when you just execute without distractions.
Process
Inbox Zero
Ideally, you want to get to "Inbox Zero" (an empty inbox) a couple of times a day and keep your Akiflow mostly on the 'Today' view (your schedule).
How to process
I would like to share the most common methodology applied using Akiflow.
Select a task and:
- Can you do it in less than 2 minutes? → Do it
- Takes more time and you know when you want to do it → Plan it
- You need more time to decide when to do it → Plan it for a Time Frames (this week, this month,..)
- It's not actionable anytime soon → Plan it for Someday*
*remember to review your 'Someday' list on a regular basis to move tasks that become actionable on a timeframe/day.
How to increase the speed by 10x.
Learn 2 keyboard shortcuts a day
Keyboard ShortcutsGet Things Done
Open the 'Today' section, switch your calendar to the "Day" view (hit D or “1” on your keyboard) and get to work!
We suggest to drag&drop your tasks in the calendar.
This way you'll have a clear pattern to follow and you won't find yourself stuck in deciding what to do next.
Read more about how to manage your calendar here:Time Blocking 101