Box of delight

Google “bullet journal”. Actually, don’t. I do not want to scare you away. For readers who have never heard of the cult productivity system, a quick Instagram search will reveal elaborate paper diary pages created by more than 4m strangers: intricate illustrations, complex layouts, borders painted lovingly in watercolours. Some pages have tiny boxes in which people track how often they exercise, hydrate and meditate. These self-defined “Bujo-ers” debate the perfect pens and notebooks, and the advantages of something called “washi tape”.

Productivity is something we all want more of. Now that we are riding a new wave of self-optimization strategies aided by technology, we expect life and work to become easier, not more complicated. But that’s not always what happens. Sometimes we need to take a step back from the shiniest new tool in the box and assess what will actually help us achieve the things we want to achieve.

One essential part of enhancing productivity is to know how the brain works. For example, in our effort to get more done, we can’t ignore the fact that our brain needs to rest and take breaks.