Hello Reader,

It's the thick of tax season, and I'm scrabbling daily on a drawbridge of an analog to-do list that goes over a moat of project and task management.

The overwhelm is real (including the healthy dose of fear that comes with putting out this honesty).

How many of you start your day by reviewing your intentions for the day, dive into an email, and then all hell breaks lose? Or you start in on a project and that project is bigger, meatier, and more time consuming than expected? And then it's late in the afternoon with two hours left before you want to end and the day has shaped up very differently from those intentions at the start of the day.

That's my least favorite feeling. And it's why I take the time to look at what's expected of me at the start of the day and prioritize on paper.

Everything I need to do is somewhere in a digital system - most likely ClickUp, Acounta, and/or Akiflow. These tools handle the big perspective and the micro checklists. (And, yes, two of those three links will send me economical benefit if you use the link and sign up for a service but it won't cost you anything). They keep everything in one place, put reminders in front of me, and tell me when I've gone off the rails.

But they don't handle the in-the-middle. They're also tiring and difficult to re-prioritize in the moment. For that, I keep an anonymized, confidential analog system that works right next to these digital tools. There's no AI. There's no automated reminders. Just pen, paper, some layouts, and some decorations. It's an opportunity to greet that long list of to-dos with calm and peace.

My analog system is threefold. I use a Weekly Duo from Just Scribble and a daily list of 9 things that follows something of a 1-3-5 rule for Crayon Advisory/work things. My day to day in the planner is focused on the two weekly layouts

• A horizontal layout holds larger goals for the week as well as things-that-must-be-done, daily habits, and a place to celebrate specific actions.
• A vertical layout I use as the day goes along to leave quick notes of what I did thematically (email responses, portal responses, preparation, continuing education, marketing, etc).

The third part of my system is a near-daily 1-3-5 checklist. Head to Google, and you'll see eleventy billion versions of this that usually focus on the size or intensity of the task. Mine is focused on feeling - what will leave me feeling least productive if I don't do it? What will have the biggest impact if I do get it done? What will I find exciting but only acceptable if I do it?

I also often ignore that prioritization, pick something of the list, and move forward. It's fine. Everything gets done, though may not everything gets done today.

Using an analog system gives me the flexibility to do what feels right for the day or week without having to overhaul or revise digital tools that, when left alone, really do their job very well. But in an y moment, their inherent rigidity blocks productivity.

And there's the magic of the brain-pen-paper connection. When I give myself the space to make this connection, I'm much less likely to get stuck inside myself and not get anything done.

Before you go out and buy that notebook-that-will-clearly-solve-all-of-your-problems-overnight, stop and think about how you're working and how you'd like to work. As much as I've consumed this kind of content and practiced with pen and paper, I don't keep the research at my fingertips. Instead, I'll leave you with the people I've found the most helpful when it comes to productivity and planning.

• ​Rachelle in Theory really focuses on utilitarian use of analog and digital planning and productivity systems. She takes what makes sense from many systems. I don't subscribe to her newsletter, but I'm sure it's delightful.
• ​Jess ​Siacci is a former teacher and now full time planning content creator. She does cyclic planning, so everything moves in weekly cycles of 13 weeks. It's a surprisingly refreshing and liberating way to think about time.

There's so very much more I could write about planning and productivity systems. And maybe I'll come back and write some more about this. Even though all of this planning isn't accounting, accounting is the expression of everything that happens in your business. Most of it does have to do with money. But, the planning brings in money, lets you do the things you need to do in your business, and helps you know what money is leaving your business.