Your Productivity Personality Is...
Commited Creative
Your mind is built for creation. Ideas just flow out of you, you've probably got stacks of notebooks sitting around just full of things you could do. But while you can ideate all day, when it comes to actually bringing those ideas into reality … you struggle.
However, chances are...
It might show up in you as procrastination, or as shiny object syndrome, where you can never stick with an idea long enough to see it through. Or you may find yourself working really, really hard … but you're not sure if it's actually on the right things or the wrong ones. Or, if we get into some deeper waters, you might even have a deep-seated self-doubt about your ability, because after all, you're a “creative” — you just can't work according to a system, right?
Here's how I know...
You're really good at what you do, and put you in the middle of a task or a system, and you shine. But if left to your own devices, you'll tend to go round in circles. (And then beat yourself up for doing that.)
It drives you crazy to hear people say things like, “Just create a nurture campaign” or “Do a business strategy!” because you're very willing … but nobody tells you how.
And so all those lovely projects keep living in your head, instead of out in the world where they belong.
What I Recommend
I won't tell you how to fix your system right here, because effective systems start from you. But I can give you some tips that tend to work for people of your creative nature.
A system is what you do. it's not some super secret hyper nerdy thing that only nerds can have. You don't need to be “Type A”. You can be free-flowing and still achieve a TON.
Solid Systems spark creativity. Give yourself creative boundaries to work from. Your creativity will give you soo many ideas, don't ignore them, but keep it focused.
Bring things together in one place. As a creative mind, you benefit from switching up how you do things every so often. It helps keeps things fun and interesting. But you want all your ideas to come into a single place and create your “second self.”
And As You're Thinking About Your System...
You need a system that creates clear boundaries that help keep you focused on what's important to you. You also need to have a place to store your ideas. By putting gentle boundaries on your system it'll stay simple and manageable leaving you free to just create.
Your system needs to feel invisible. It guides you in the shadows and helps keep you on track with invisible nudges but it should feel as frictionless as possible, with boundaries that gently pull you back to focus.
Your first step? Start paying a little more attention to how you work day to day. Keep a journal of how you do each task. This can be a video, drawings or notes in a notebook. Get to know yourself and your system will create itself.