The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

Spend a lot of time on your laptop? Here's a simple way to 2X your productivity & get **** done!

Xolorr

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
520%
Jun 4, 2018
133
692
25
Cape Town, South Africa
*Not selling ANYTHING, just wanted to share my new To Do system (Which, believe it or not, you already have installed on your computer )*

"Success is simple. It's making a list, crossing everything off the list, and then making another list."

If you're anything like me, you spend HOURS a day on your computer, but you still struggle to direct all that energy and time onto what actually needs to be done. Nowadays, it is way too easy to pop open a new tab, and spend thousands of your life-rations (Read unscripted again if this doesn't ring a bell!) endlessly scrolling through Facebook and Instagram, or watching your favorite vlogger on youtube, and even this forum if you aren't directing that time towards a specific problem!

It happens to me all the time! I don't even want to know the amount of time I've wasted mindlessly strolling through the internet, even when I know what I should be doing instead!

When it comes to what you should be doing instead, I know the importance of To-Do lists, trello cards, and productivity systems, but I could never seem to stick to any of them, and just kept jumping from one to the other, wasting even more time learning each latest software and building the lists.

Until I found this ridiculously simple method.

I'm going to use the GSD method as the example here, mostly because I LOVE it, and because I'm jealous that I can't use the name. I starting using this a little after I joined the forum, and it revolutionized the way I, well, get sh*t done. It was by far the best To Do list system I've used, and I've used a lot.

The only issue? You can escape it.

I constantly had to remind myself to load up the webpage that has Trello on it, and then reshuffle all my tasks to keep track. It was so out of the way that I eventually just stopped using it. As soon as you can escape it, it is less effective. Out of sight, out of mind.

I realized this, and tried to find a way to change it. Pinning it to cover half of my laptop screen, and a bunch of other stupid ideas. Untill I found this.

Screen Shot 2018-08-25 at 23.06.35.png

Stickies? Yeah. These things are a LIFE saver, and as far as I know, they come installed on all computers. (Don't leave yet, I promise it works)

SO, my system:

Step one:
You need to open up the program and create two new stickies. I like to keep mine around the same size, and two different colors.

Screen Shot 2018-08-25 at 23.10.29.png

Step two:
Write at the top of one sticky, in bold, GOALS, and at the top of the other, TO DO.

Screen Shot 2018-08-25 at 23.15.27.png

Step three:
As the names would suggest, you should fill the GOALS segment with your goals. Give your road a destination. THIS IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE. If you don't write down your goals, this system will NOT work at cutting out your procrastination, as I will explain later.
If you don't write down your goals, this is the perfect time start. Make sure they're big and scary, and they're what you actually want.
It should look something like this:

Screen Shot 2018-08-25 at 23.20.36.png

Step four:
Write down your to-do list. Now here's the important part, this isn't the "Go to the grocery store" "get milk" type of list. (I mean if you need to remind yourself, it's a great way, but that ain't the point.) Every action on your to-do list HAS to line up with one of your goals on the sticky next to it. It pays to be specific here. Instead of putting "Billionaire by 14" as a goal, you should put "Grow my lemonade stand empire to 5 billion" WHY? Because now you're limited to focusing on what's actually going to get you there. Suddenly all those fly-by-night business ideas don't work, because they don't align with your goals.

Screen Shot 2018-08-25 at 23.28.23.png

This streamlines what you do. If you're even thinking about doing something, write it down and compare it to your goals. Does it help you get there? What I also like to do is make important tasks bold. All you do is highlight the task and hit CMD/CNTRL + B. Now you know what to prioritize at a glance.

Step five (The Magic):
See that toolbar at the top? You're going to want to open the "Window" tab, and hit "Float on top". Viola.

Screen Shot 2018-08-25 at 23.36.12.png

Make sure you do this to BOTH of your stickies, and you're golden.

Nothing happened?

Try open something on your computer.

Screen Shot 2018-08-25 at 23.38.34.png

You now have the full functionality of your computer and any software, with your to do list and goals staring you in the face THE ENTIRE TIME. They are now the most important thing on your computer, and they get treated like it. It gets really annoying sometimes, they end up in akward places covering important parts of your screen, and you have to shift them around a lot, but that's why it works.

It becomes ridiculously hard to watch a vlog, netflix, or scroll facebook, with those two huge reminders of what you're MEANT TO be doing and where you WANT TO be hovering above your Game Of Thrones.

This has worked WONDERS for me over the past month, and I hope it helps you too! There are a million variations of this, but this is what I've found works so far.

K.I.S.S.

Drop any feedback, ideas, improvements below! Let's build a kickass system ⚡️

 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

ChrisV

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
May 10, 2015
3,141
7,055
Islands of Calleja
Comes installed on all Mac* computers.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

ChrisV

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
May 10, 2015
3,141
7,055
Islands of Calleja
Oh does it? I thought Stickies was a Mac only thing, but haven’t used a Windows PC in a while. They must have added it. Sweet.

Thanks for the thread too.
 

GPM

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
376%
Oct 25, 2012
2,067
7,775
Canada
Not a bad idea. I like it!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

LiveEntrepreneur

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
79%
Aug 17, 2017
728
574
Australia
Nice, I do the same thing. It makes me take action instead of just procrastinating. Especially after reading books, write down what I've learned and how I will apply it.
 

ellepro

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
58%
Aug 23, 2018
12
7
Nice. I do the same thing but on my pin board (real life physical board, not the website). Definitely saves a lot of time. Surprised so many are Mac users. Am a windows :)
 

MoneyPhantom

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
224%
Aug 6, 2017
51
114
Germany
This one may be helpful for all Windows users like me:
Sticky Notes

I didn't fully check it out but at first sight it looks like it perfectly is what's needed.

@Sebastya
How did you realize this? Just set Trello als default tab page?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

PizzaOnTheRoof

Moving Forward
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
220%
Jul 30, 2018
1,218
2,682
Texas

DennisD

Mini Media Mogul
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
216%
Jun 16, 2012
1,488
3,207
36
Bali, Indonesia
I think I have the opposite problem.
I might try this but instead have things like:
  • Go outside.
  • Spend time with your damn wife.
  • This this REALLY need to be done RIGHT NOW?
Roughly 700% of my time is spent working.

I need to justify more relaxation time, which in turn makes my working time more productive.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Gasyhustler

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
127%
May 12, 2018
15
19
So clever;)
I'm going to implement it right now.
I've always used To Do List, but I'm out of track sometimes.
I think that having your goals staring at you will increase drastically your productivity.
 

therealmark

Bronze Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
254%
Dec 27, 2017
61
155
42
Spokane WA
I had to pop in to say thanks for the tip! I started using this and it's working for me.
One of my tasks was actually to come say thank you so I am not deviating.

Ok... checking this one off...
 

ShadowX

Be Grateful
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
82%
Dec 27, 2013
146
119
"Success is simple. It's making a list, crossing everything off the list, and then making another list."

How can you implement this sticky note system on your phone?

I mean yes we are working away on laptops but when we are going out working on phone is good too.

Any sticky app for iOS?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Xolorr

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
520%
Jun 4, 2018
133
692
25
Cape Town, South Africa
How can you implement this sticky note system on your phone?

I mean yes we are working away on laptops but when we are going out working on phone is good too.

Any sticky app for iOS?


As far as my iOS App knowledge goes, developers don’t have the functionality to make something “Stick” to your home screen.

I’m not sure how you would implement this on your phone.

Looking at the development of this thread, im definitely considering using something like todoist to ”dump” all of my ideas and tasks, and then select the most crucial ones for my sticky on my laptop. That way I’ll still have some form of reference on my phone
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Xolorr

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
520%
Jun 4, 2018
133
692
25
Cape Town, South Africa
I had to pop in to say thanks for the tip! I started using this and it's working for me.
One of my tasks was actually to come say thank you so I am not deviating.

Ok... checking this one off...

So glad it’s made a difference in your life [emoji1430] Please keep me posted with how you like it long term, and any adjustments you make to the system [emoji298]️
 

Xolorr

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
520%
Jun 4, 2018
133
692
25
Cape Town, South Africa
So clever;)
I'm going to implement it right now.
I've always used To Do List, but I'm out of track sometimes.
I think that having your goals staring at you will increase drastically your productivity.

Yeah!
For me it also helps hugely when I go off track. If I open up a new tab of YouTube for example, it’s very difficult to watch anything when those goals are staring me in the face.
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top