Since returning from vacation (and then being down with a cold for a week), I started to feel behind on my work and overwhelmed.

Mostly from trying to catch up on my backlog of emails and getting my clear on upcoming task and project deadlines.

To throw more into the mix, a couple of new collaboration opportunities also popped up in the last few weeks, which I’m super excited about (more on that in the future).

So what did I do about this?

I channeled my inner Cal Newport! 😆 

I went back to Slow Productivity basics to quickly regain control over my time and workload.

Now, I feel less anxious about about what’s on my plate, I’ve got more clarity on what’s important to do right now and what to ignore (for now).

Today, I want to dive into my three go-to Slow Productivity strategies that I’ve designed right into my Notion system that helps keep me on track in both my consulting business and life.

These systems make it quick and easy for me to get clear on my priorities when I start getting stressed. So I can spend my time being focused and productive on the work that needs to get done.

Now Lets Get into It…

Cal Newport’s book, Slow Productivity, is jammed packed with brilliant ideas to help you manage your time and productivity without burnout (you should go read it if you haven’t).

But if I had to pick my three of my favourite practical Slow Productivity strategies, here they are:

1. Limit your projects

2. Timeblock plan your day

3. Use a “pull-based system” for managing tasks and projects

I don’t think there’s truly any “new” productivity advice under the sun. So these might sound familiar to you.

I think the key to these strategies working is truly understanding why it works and actually turning these into practices that you do on the regular in your business (and life).

You don’t need any fancy tools.

But if you want to turn these strategies into a system that you use daily in tools like Notion, they’re actually simple to implement and it gives you a big return on your investment (once it’s up and running).

The Slow Productivity Strategies You Can Adopt Today in Under 30 Minutes

1. Limit your projects

Are you plagued with too many projects on your plate?

I know how that feels.

As an ambitious coach or consultant, you’re probably excited about lots of projects.

A simple strategy from the Slow Productivity book chapter “Do Fewer Things” is all about limiting the number of projects you commit to.

Newport suggest having no more than 3 work-based projects at any one time.

This is the key to avoiding overload and generating too much administrative overhead work that makes you unproductive and feeling stressed.

For example, in your coaching business, your 3 active projects might be working 1:1 with client X, creating a new lead magnet and finding 5 leads to get in touch with each week.

Each of these projects will generate a bunch of tasks to do.

Ideally you’re spending most of your working hours on tasks related to one of these 3 active projects.

Notion’s powerful feature of linking different database together makes it so easy to visualise what tasks are related to which projects.

Above is a snippet of a project page that for one of my Notion consulting clients.

I built a Notion workspace that let her easily track her goals, projects and tasks, along with a system for planning at multiple time scales.

For each project, she is able to clear see all the tasks related to that project and decide when she wants to work on it.

This clarity avoids stress, overload and gives her the comfort of knowing she’s working on the right things at the right time.

(If you'd like me to create a similar system for you, let me know —I'm happy to help!)

2. Timeblock plan your day

Cal Newport’s strategy of timeblock planning your day is all about giving every minute a job to do. 

You’ll become more intentional with your time when you confront the reality that you only have so many working hours a day.

You can timeblock plan on paper, in a calendar or in tools like Notion.

This is a great illustration of the “right way” to timeblock plan your day.

Give yourself chunky blocks of time to work on key activities. Like a deep work block to work on one of your active projects. And smaller blocks to work on lower leverage tasks like dealing with emails and posting content on social media.

Feel free to return to you timeblock plan throughout the day to adjust your plan.

The goal isn’t to execute the plan perfectly, but to actually have a plan and a target to keep you on track.

I timeblock plan in Notion which flows into calendar apps like Morgen calendar and Notion calendar (these apps integrate with Notion).

Both of these are my go-to calendar apps on my laptop. You timeblock plan directly in the calendar, which will update your Notion tasks.

If you’re timeblocking for the first time, just do it on paper.

3. Use a “pull-based system” for managing tasks and projects

If we’re not intentional with how we manage our workload, we let work be pushed onto our plate.

Your client gives you a new request, your boss gives you a new project to work on, your colleagues asks for you to review a document etc.

Don’t keep all of it in your head and let it take up precious headspace either.

Cal Newport advises us to adopt a workload management workflow where you pull new items and requests into your “active” list only when you’re ready to work on it.

It’s super simple, gather all your projects into 2 lists.

1. Backlog

2. Active

Make sure you limit your active list to a maximum of 3 projects at any one time (see strategy 1 above).

Aim to spend your working time focused on the tasks related to one of these active projects. Don’t devote any headspace to what’s on your Backlog list. That includes not having meetings, conducting research or do any administrative work on them.

Once you’ve completed a project, you can move a Backlog list project on your Active list.

Once a week, make sure to do a list clean.

This means updating the list, moving or re-prioritising projects based on new information or eliminating projects that are no longer relevant.

The Kanban board feature in Notion makes it easy to create, plan and track your projects and tasks.

Above is Kanban board example in Notion, from a recent client Notion build project.

Now every month, when the client does her monthly planning and review, she can easily visualise her projects and schedule them out accordingly.

Feeling like you had a successful and productive day comes from pursuing meaningful work you care about during your working hours, and being able to enjoy a life outside of work where you have time for your important relationships, hobbies and contributing to your community.

Unfortunate that doesn’t happen magically.

Having some simple systems and strategies in your business and life is how you move closer towards your version of a successful life.

If you’re interested in putting any of these strategies into action in Notion, like my clients, hit reply I would love to help.

🔓️ Behind the Scenes

It’s been so great to hear from the email course waitlisters about the one takeaway they’re hoping to get from this email course!

If you’re on the waitlist and haven’t emailed me, just hit reply to this. I’m always eager to get feedback and hear what you think.

I just finished the first draft of the email course and I’m going out for my first round of feedback!

Quick recap, the email course is to help coaches and consultants who are frustrated with Notion:

• Declutter their messy workspace.

• Cut and organise at least 70% of their pages and databases.

• Stop using Notion as a dumping ground for information (that they can never find again)

If that sounds interesting to you, get on the waitlist for early access and some goodies.

That’s it! Thanks for reading.

Just one more thing, I’m curious to hear which Slow Productivity strategy sounds most helpful to you? —I’ll be sure to reply with a specific suggestion to help you implement it in your business (or life)!

Have a slow weekend!

Janice

📌 Resources for Coaches and Consultants

1. 10 Ways To Be A More Effective Coach (Josh Spector)

   Practical tips that you can start adopting in your business today (if you don’t already do them!)

   → Check out the thread

2. How to Craft the Perfect Coach’s Website (Donald Miller)

   As a coach or consultant, your website is your pitch to why someone should hire you to help them solve their problems. This video breaks down what’s important to put front and center on your website.

   → Watch the video

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