digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: Use Apple's three free apps together as one productivity system: Notes as the central project hub, Reminders as a lightweight trigger for action, and Calendar for time blocking. Start each project on paper, move the key details into a project note, and let Reminders and Calendar prompt you to work on it.
Key Points
- Begin brainstorming with pen and paper, which the speaker says (citing unspecified science) gives better clarity, focus, and creativity than a digital device, before moving anything to Apple Notes.
- Make a single project note in Apple Notes that holds everything: links to documents and confirmations at the top, a checklist of next actions below, and packing lists or other details kept there too.
- Keep Reminders clean by using it only to prompt you to work on a project, with the relevant note linked directly to the reminder, rather than duplicating every task.
- Use Calendar for time blocking with general labels such as "project time" (the speaker uses Tuesday afternoons, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays as project days), keeping the flexibility to work on the most urgent projects.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- Step 1: Brainstorm the project on paper, using capital letters, notes in the margins, and any layout you like. Use one colour per pass, returning on separate days (for example black, then green, then blue for complex projects) to empty your head fully.
- Step 2: Scan or transfer the paper notes into Apple Notes and create a project note with the initial thoughts.
- Step 3: Structure the project note with links to key documents (such as airline confirmations) at the top, then checkbox next actions below. Completed items stay in the note with a line through them, so you can prove what was done.
- Step 4: Keep packing lists and confirmations (such as a car rental confirmation) in the same note so everything is in one place.
- Step 5: In Reminders, create tasks that only trigger action (for example "Discuss trip with my wife" or "Check parents' passports are up to date"), and attach the project note directly to each reminder.
- Step 6: In Calendar, block general "project time" rather than specific tasks, so you can decide which project to work on when that time arrives.
- Step 7: For time-sensitive bookings, the speaker recommends buying tickets only when ready, avoiding checking prices repeatedly because of airline pricing algorithms, and booking flights with a second person to avoid date errors.
- The method is not limited to travel. The speaker says the same structure works for children's summer activities, business projects, creating or updating courses, and any other project.
- The speaker's example is his father-in-law's 70th birthday trip to visit his parents in Ireland and perhaps the UK, about six weeks away at the time of recording.
- The speaker mentions a separate video covering a similar system built with Todoist and Evernote, but that is not part of this method.
Bottom Line
The system works because each app has one job: Notes holds the details, Reminders prompts the next action, and Calendar protects the time to do the work, so you can run projects with only Apple's free tools.
