I know the secret to staying on track

Week ending February 3, 2025

That’s it. I figured it out. And maybe I didn’t figure it out FOR ETERNITY, but I definitely figured it out for now. How to stay on track. Interested in finding out the secret? I’ll tell ya, after this little button:

OK so the secret.

Here’s the truth, at least in the world according to Jason. Staying on track has been a lifetime of letdown. As a technology fanboy, I’ve repeatedly given in to the idea that technology solutions would be THE BEST solutions there are. I’ve tried Google Calendar, Monday, Trello, Notion… I’ve tried Inbox Zero, I’ve also tried using my Inbox as a to-do list. And speaking of those: I’ve tried Evernote, Keep, TextEdit, Notepad, Apple Notes… I’ve tried calendar widgets on my desktop. I’ve tried a calendar on a dedicated display that shows nothing but… a calendar! This all sounds so ridiculous, doesn’t it? Believe me, I get it. And I agree. IT IS RIDICULOUS.

I’ve had so many conversations with people offering well reasoned advice, based on their own experience as to what works to keep yourself organized and on track. I’ve implemented those ideas. And I have failed almost every time.

When it comes down to it, I have been looking for a digital system that suddenly turns me into a lean, mean, productivity machine. And almost every time I’ve faced failure. If not immediately, definitely eventually. Because the reality is that I’ve been looking for a SYSTEM, and buying into someone else’s system isn’t always going to give me what I’m looking for. Because someone else’s system is a system that works FOR THEM. They might be wonderful systems, but they are wonderful to them because they found the system that actually works FOR THEM.

As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD almost two years ago, I’ve tried like heck to find the system that actually works for me and my brain. And with every failure, its felt like a ME problem. Like, it should work, but it doesn’t because maybe I don’t work. Not a great feeling.

But then it hit me. Like a ton of bricks. And I immediately knew it was the right solution. And by golly, I can tell this is different, and that I finally cracked the nut.

OK I’ll stop dragging this out. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my new organizational system. Breathe it in. All its glory. It’s… dated and crusty no-tech glory.

I know, ain’t it beautiful?

It’s concrete. It’s tangible. It’s always there. It’s so dang easy to add something to it. I just… write it where the thing goes. And when someone tells me “oh actually, I don’t need that thing from you after all” I just step over to it and smudge out that thing with my thumb. It’s quite satisfying, actually. There’s determination in the action. It kind of feels like I’m beating up a nasty gremlin (the ugly ones, of course. Not Gizmo. He’s cool.)

Now I realize its still somewhat empty, but the bones. This bad boy will last me a lifetime. I do wish I could remove the calendar from that bottom right zone and make it plain white, use it as a list of “things I need to do/finish/keep in mind.” (I could work on a better heading for that section.)

But I get some kind of sick joy out of just looking up at the calendar and seeing immediately what I wanted to know. It’s just. Chef’s kiss. Kind of hilarious how much this one purchase brings me total joy right now. I actually have busted myself staring off “into space” with a dreamy look on my face only to realize I’m gazing into the glistening eyes of my white board. Maybe there’s actually something… wrong with me.

That’s it. That’s all I got. And honestly. Right now, that’s all I really need.

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