The Evolution of My Productivity System

From Paper to Notion via Evernote and Todoist

In today’s fast-paced business environment, staying organised and efficient is paramount. Last year, I shared insights into my productivity system, which then revolved around Evernote, Todoist, and Pleexy. This system marked a significant shift from my initial paper-based approach. However, in a world where adaptation is key, I've further refined my methods. I'm excited to share the latest evolution of my productivity system, now centred around Todoist and Notion.

Embracing the Second Brain Concept

My current system is inspired by Tiago Forte's Second Brain concept, a methodology for knowledge management and productivity. This approach has allowed me to create a more structured and efficient system in Notion, tailored to service both my personal and work requirements. Notion serves as the cornerstone for managing work-related notes, which I've categorised into two primary pages: one for general notes including technical research, and another dedicated to customer interactions.

Notion: A Game-Changer in Customer Interaction Management

One significant enhancement in my new system is the management of these customer interactions. Notion has proven to be superior to Evernote in this regard, primarily due to how it’s based on databases. I have established several key databases in Notion:

• Customers
• Contacts
• Meeting Notes
• Tasks

This structure ensures seamless integration of information. Whenever I initiate a new meeting, I can swiftly add an entry to the Meeting Notes database, linked to the relevant customer. Attendee details and any arising tasks are logged directly into a custom view of the Tasks database, filtered for that specific meeting.

Bridging the Gap Between Notion and Todoist

Although Notion excels in many areas, its integration with task management tools like Todoist isn't as seamless as I'd like. Pleexy's support for Notion was inadequate, leading me to manually transfer tasks from meetings into Todoist. I add these tasks to Todoist, setting their status in Notion to “Added to Todoist” and including a link back to the Notion task in the Todoist entry. This workaround, while not ideal, maintains a connection between the two platforms.

A Day Structured Around Todoist

Todoist remains the backbone of my day-to-day task management. Each task, once completed in Todoist, is also marked as complete in Notion. This dual update ensures that my main customer page in Notion always reflects an up-to-date view of all open tasks across customers.

This latest evolution of my productivity system, integrating Notion and Todoist, provides a holistic overview of my tasks and projects, far surpassing my experience with Evernote. Not only has it enhanced my efficiency and organization, but it also offers cost savings by eliminating the need for multiple subscriptions. In our journey to peak productivity, it's crucial to remain open to new tools and methods. The fusion of Todoist and Notion in my system is a testament to the power of adaptable, integrated productivity solutions