I’m always on the hunt for the ultimate productivity system, and am constantly trying to refine mine to make sure I get things done, in the most efficient manner possible. Part of the reason is because I’m easily distracted, so it’s even more important that I have a good system in place.

After many years, I think I’ve finally found something that works, and have also figured out why it didn’t work before. I was missing a crucial part of my system — but more on that in a little.

Everybody’s different and you need to find something that works for you, but here’s how I currently manage my time:

Right now I’m using a combination of Trello, David Allen’s GTD philosophy and Sunrise calendar. The calendar is the place for meetings and events. All my To Dos are on Trello, which is organized in a GTD fashion. Here’s my Trello board set up:

My Trello board, laid out using a GTD philosophy

Anything I have to do, goes into the INBOX column. It then gets sorted into one of the other columns, the goal being to move tasks across the board from left to right.

Every day I review what needs to be done and move tasks from the NEXT column to THIS WEEK, to TODAY and then to COMPLETE. The act of manually sorting tasks also serves as a reminder of what needs to be done.

The SCHEDULED column is for tasks that have a due date assigned to them (and the great thing about Trello is that tasks with due dates can be linked easily to a calendar). Lastly, the WAITING column is for tasks that I’ve done but am waiting on someone else to complete it.

Now going back to the part in my system that I felt I was missing…

It’s all well and good to have an organized To Do list, but how do you get the motivation to make your way through that list?

Recently, I came across the concept of ‘timeboxing’. This quote explains it best:

“Timeboxing is simply fixing a time period to work on a task or group of tasks. Instead of working on a task until it’s done, you commit to work on it for a specific amount of time instead.” ~ Litemind

So for example, my task is to write this Medium post. I would like to try and get it done in 1hr, so I would set a countdown timer for 1hr and get to work.

This concept intrigued me as most time tracking services count up like a stopwatch. Time boxing is all about setting a definitive amount of time and counting down to the finish.

Turns out, setting a limit on a task’s time puts just the right amount of pressure on me to get things done. I love it. And it fuels my competitive nature because it becomes like a game to try and beat the clock.

As a next step — and to complete my ultimate productivity system — I went on a hunt to try and find a timeboxing app that could help. Something super simple and minimalist that doesn’t in itself lead to more distraction (a very important quality for productivity apps !). I also wanted something that would work on Apple Watch, since a To Do list on the wrist seems like such a perfect fit.

After a bit of searching, and not finding the holy grail, a friend and I decided we would try and build something to fill that gap.

We created an iOS app called ‘Sloth’. It’s a To Do list, meets countdown timer. For each task you can allot a set time, then start the clock and see if you can beat it. Here’s a few screenshots:

Right now you have manually create your To Do list but we’re planning to add Trello integration in future. We’re almost in the AppStore, but if you’d like to get a sneak peak and learn more about Sloth you can do so here: www.getsloth.com.

So now my ultimate productivity system is complete! With Sloth, Sunrise Calendar, Trello and GTD I feel like I’m whizzing through my To Dos. And it feels great.

If you found my system helpful (or even if you didn’t) I’d love to hear from you. Am always interested to learn how other people get things done and manage their time. And of course would love to hear any feedback you have on Sloth!