Tag: productivity systems

Cynefin and GTD: the weekly review as a sense-making practice

The Getting Things Done (GTD) weekly review is often described as essential maintenance for your productivity system. You gather loose papers, process your inboxes, download your head, update your projects and review your calendar. This keeps your system current and trustworthy.

But the weekly review can do something deeper. It can help you notice when your understanding of a situation is no longer accurate.

Seen through Cynefin, the weekly review becomes a regular opportunity to notice what has changed and adapt our response.

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Why trust matters more than optimisation

Productivity advice often focuses on optimisation.

We are encouraged to find the fastest tool, the most efficient workflow, or the perfect morning routine. There is always another app to install, another system to refine, another technique to master.

But the deeper purpose of productivity is not efficiency.

It is self-trust.

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Cynefin and GTD: when your next action is an experiment

In Getting Things Done, a next action is the next visible, physical activity needed to move something forward.

That might mean:

  • email the completed proposal
  • telephone the garage
  • book the appointment
  • proofread the final chapter

These actions move us towards completion. But in an uncertain situation, we may not yet know which route will produce the outcome we want.

Sometimes the next action needs to help us learn.

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Beyond consistency: why sustainable productivity needs rhythm

Consistency is often treated as the secret to productivity: show up every day, maintain the routine and keep the streak going.

But consistency can become unhelpful when we interpret it as doing the same amount, at the same intensity, every day.

In this short post, I explore why sustainable productivity is less about maintaining a constant pace and more about finding a healthy rhythm between effort and recovery.

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