The Productivity Guru: Do Your Systems Work For You?

Checklist for a Well-Functioning System:

• Does it work for you?
• Does it alleviate stress?

That's it! Simple, isn't it? We get so caught up in how things look, but the truth is that it doesn't matter much what it looks. Here's what matters: How does it work for you? How does it support you? And how much stress does it take away?

I was teaching a class on productivity the other day for a company and one of the participants came up to me on a break and showed me a system she had been working with for a while. She was SO excited about it and went on and on as to how each line of the spreadsheet linked to something else and then it all looped back together and on and on. It was fun watching her explain it to me because it clearly worked well for her. She said over and over how it has helped her stress go down because she can finally track all of these different events and ideas.

She then asked, "Do you think it's okay?"

I replied, "It's great because it checks out on the check list. It works for you and it alleviates stress, however (and this might sound weird) I could never use this system because it wouldn't work for ME."

She looked a bit taken back and I explained, "It's not about ME, it's about YOU and YOU have defined and clarified a system that works beautifully for you, so that is what is important!"

So, as you think about your systems (it could be any micro-system you have or even your file system) realize that it has much less to do with how it looks and how it appears to others than how it functions and supports you.

Remember the short checklist: Does it work and does it take away stress? If you can answer "yes" to both of these questions, then your system is awesome!