Ever since note taking apps have become common, we've seen more and more people obsess over their Notion setups, their Obsidian graphs and their OneNote aesthetics. Every set up, tutorial and idea claim to be the 'last one you'll ever need' and that it actually works (Sure). As I've said before, apps will not make you more productive. The work needs to be done by you - and the problem with a lot of elaborate set ups is that they create a lot of work themselves.
For example, a database of notes that is organized by properties depends on you updating the properties as and when needed, making sure that changing a location of a file does not hamper or break the entire system and updating old notes when new information comes up. While many modern day note taking applications do this themselves, there are still a host of issues that require 'maintenance' every once in a while. For example, if you have an 'inbox' which serves as a folder or database in which you enter everything in a bid to organize it later, you really do have to organize it later, which is really inconvenient for a lot of people because it feels like a punishment for working a lot, but if you don't do it - your system breaks pretty quickly. There's a reason why so many platforms just stop working at random moments of the month to undertake scheduled maintenance - it's all about making sure that all the files are named and organized correctly (Don't come after me tech people).
Unconscious Systems and ADHD
Ever since I read James Clear's Atomic Habits and the oft quoted line 'You don't rise to the level of your goals, but you fall to the level of your systems' I've been fascinated by the idea of 'What if the system fkn sucks?'. In the 1950s, the British Navy had discontinued a lot of its fleets and objectively had less work to do - but it had more employees than ever before. This observation was made by C.N. Parkinson, and he explained that it was because each superior had to employ multiple subordinates that all needed to be kept productive, often creating more work for the superior himself. So, in an attempt to do less work, so many superiors ended up doing more work, that's a system that fkn sucks. This is something that I like calling an unconscious system - one that is not aware of its own short-comings and causes more friction than it aims to reduce.
While many would argue that if a productivity or any other system is working well for you - then you should be taking the time to maintain it properly, which I don't disagree with, however the problem is - and this especially manifests in people with ADHD - is that the failure of a system does not prompt maintenance, and rather prompts a switch in the system altogether. At the first sign of failure, we're all too keen to throw out whatever we have and start from scratch. If you are currently contemplating throwing out your system because it ran into an issue, THEN LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT BEFORE STARTING FROM SCRATCH. Did you lose a file? Did you misplace a file? How can you fix that single issue? However, if you're like me and have ADHD, then keep reading.
Buddy, these systems may not be for us, anything that requires regular maintenance beyond entering today's date by hand may well be our downfall - which is why I'm sharing this new approach with you that I discovered recently - it's simple and works very well: A To Do List.
(No really keep reading)
The best productivity system that I have found that has helped me immensely with my ADHD procrastination tendencies is made of three components.
A task bank - pending tasks
A worklist - tasks to finish today.
An archive - tasks already finished.
I cannot tell you how thrilled and also disappointed I was with myself when I fully comprehended the amount of time I had spent tinkering in Notion and Obsidian to create an elaborate system that did not last for longer than 2 weeks. The only act of maintenance needed: move completed tasks to the archive at the end of the day (actually you don't even have to do that if your app lets you filter out the completed tasks). Don't worry - there are plenty of things you can tinker with within this system as well.
One of the key factors that I liked with this system was that it worked in whichever format I needed it to work in for that day. If I didn't feel like looking at a screen, I just didn't, If I forgot my laptop at home, it worked just as well on my phone.
I tried to be one of those people with multiple progress bars, several databases for each part of my life and a lot of stuff like that - but in the end this is where I have found my home (for now at least).
Do you have ADHD? What have been your experiences with productivity systems with varying levels of complexity? A lot of neurodivergent people state that higher levels of organization have positive effects on their mental health and work - that has personally not been my experience when maintenance is required.