My task management workflow has evolved and changed over the years. At the beginning of April, I wrote about the process that I used over the last 6 months. Since then, that workflow has undergone a major change that I’m really happy to tell you about.

I like simple systems.

The thing is that a lot of the time, we have to go through the weeds to get to the flowers.

I try to keep Gall’s Law in mind when it comes to my productivity practice but it’s not always as easy as it sounds. Many times, my workflow is clunkier than I would like due to features like application pricing tiers, offline availability, mobile access and overall personal preference.

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. The parallel proposition also appears to be true: A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a working simple system. — John Gall, Systematics

If a workflow in my system uses more than 1 tool, I try to consider how I can consolidate by using less tools. Tim Ferriss’ “What would this look like if it were easy?” question helps to drive this point home in my head. A lot of the time, easy means less.

If you happened across my 2024 Techo Kaigi article, this “less is easy” maxim may sound contradictory given that I wrote about “multiple apps to rule my world.” This is where I make a clear distinction for my own purposes:

I’m happy to use multiple apps in my personal productivity system as a whole because this system is made up of multiple workflows. For example, task management is just one of these. When it comes down to the individual workflow, the less tools that I use the better. This is because I want my work to — flow. The more tools I use, the more complex it becomes, the more variables I have to interact with and the more time I spend switching between these tools.

With that said, it’s no wonder I was near ecstatic when I realised that I could reduce the number of tools in my task management workflow from 4 to 2. Before consolidating, I used Toggl to track my time, Notion Calendar for scheduling events, Notion for my 12 week year planner and Tana as a task repository. Now, I just use Notion and Notion Calendar.

Personal Profile

This profile gives some context to what my needs are for this system. Each of us has our own unique circumstances and way of working which is why this workflow is perfect for me but may not be for you.

Environment

The majority of my day is spent at home working in front of my monitor, Luna. I have practically zero external environmental distractions.

Work habits

I am highly motivated by visual cues of progress. Deadlines help but I have a high propensity for context switching if I don’t have a plan for my day. I have a tendency to add too much to my plate than is realistic and therefore benefit from inserting blocks of leisure and rest into my calendar.

Time use

I work with clients to build custom Notion systems and to develop digital workflows. I also write and create digital products. Outside of this, I go to the gym and hang out with family and friends. The rest of my time is spent wandering down rabbit holes of interest online.

My Weekly and Daily Workflow

Step 1

On Sunday night, and admittedly sometimes on a Monday morning, I open Notion Calendar to get an overview of the week’s events. This includes recurring time blocks, meetings or calls. The purpose of this is to make any necessary time adjustments based on the overall week’s schedule and for me to have an idea of my general workload for the week.

Notion Calendar before I’ve time-blocked my tasks.

Step 2

I then open Notion in an adjacent window to view my task database. The linked view of my task database lives in the Action Base section of my home dashboard. This is a board view, grouped by relative date, sorted by status and do date ascending and filtered by assignee: me.

This task database has some lovely custom features that I’ve included over time:

Daily capacity indicator (green boxes in the photo above): Earlier this week, I added a formula that calculates the amount of hours that I spend on a task. This helps me to be more realistic with the amount of work that I put on my plate on a daily basis. It also doubles as a time tracker, allowing me to see the total number of hours that I’ve spent on a project.

An incredible 350 hours logged on my last project!

Linked notes: I wrote more about this in my last article but each task is related to a hub. Because each of my notes are also linked to hubs, a rollup property pulls in all related notes for a task based on the hub that I select. This is such a beautiful feature as everything that I need is at the tip of my fingers.

Quick add buttons and projects: these are very handy and I cover them in my last article as well.

I add the things that I want to get done for the day in the Today column then look over at Notion Calendar to time block when I actually want to get these tasks done.

Step 3

Any Notion database with a date property can be connected to Notion Calendar. This allows me to drag and drop tasks directly into my calendar.

I usually do this in my shutdown routine the night before and once I’m happy with my day, that’s it.

Seriously, that’s it! Cue Raycast confetti command.

In terms of my daily workflow, I have a dedicated virtual desktop for planning which houses these two apps side by side. As the day progresses, I check tasks off and rearrange my day to suit.

Closing words

Overall, I’m very happy with the changes that I’ve made to this system over time. I’m already experiencing the clarity that comes with a more streamlined workflow and it brings me the most joy to have reached this place of peace after trialing many different things.

To workflows that flow.

How I Get Stuff Done Using Notion & Notion Calendar