Not to disappoint you off the hop, but this blog isn’t going to solve all your problems and make you more productive. I’m not sure that blog exists, and believe me, I’ve looked—maybe you have too if you’re stumbling onto this. All this is, is a little list of the tools I plan to use to tackle my problems with productivity in 2025. Some I’ve already tried and found useful, and some are new to me that I hope will be just as effective.
And who am I? You’ve either found me because you’re a friend, an Alternative Routes alum, or follow my disability advocacy, or maybe you’re just really into productivity and somehow the algorithm got you here. I’m just an entrepreneur with a disability who, without the structure of a usual 9-to-5 job, finds themselves drowning in diverting streams of focus without knowing which direction to follow. Most entrepreneurship lacks structure; we don’t have a job description, and the list of tasks to complete is never-ending. So figuring out how to prioritize them without burning out should help me be better at my job. This year, I am determined to tackle the list and manage my time more efficiently.
This is a short list of the real tools I am going to use to try to find my way to a more productive workflow. Sharing them is another tool I’m trying, because if I put this all out there to an audience, I’ll feel more accountable to the effort. Maybe, along the way, I can help you, and you can help me, and that’s productivity squared—or something.
Listen, I’m not proud to admit it, and I sure hope it was worth spending hours of my time on, but last week I dove deep on YouTube into the world of planners and agendas. Did you know there are hours of videos reviewing productivity planners? This may not be a shock to you, but I’m pretty new to YouTube. I struggled with the price tag of this one. I won’t tell you what it is because you can go look for yourself and decide if it’s worth it. Initially, I couldn’t justify the price either (and please don’t buy it on my advice until I can at least give it a first-hand review), so I bought another one—one that probably would have suited my needs just fine. But I kept longing for the pages I saw of this Full Focus Planner. So, I did it. I ordered it. It still hasn’t come, but I’ve been thinking about how I’ll fill those pages, brainstorming away and trying to live my productivity queen dream since the day I watched those videos. Just the anticipation of how productive I’m going to be once it’s in my hands is making me more productive, so there must be some magic to it, right?
YNAB (You Need a Budget):
You need a budget. And so do I. I really, really do. I’m sure I could go into some psychoanalysis of my spending habits, and the truth is there would be a lot of reasons why they are so terrible. But the biggest one is that I avoid them completely. I have an accountant who is probably far too kind with me, managing the business side of things, but personally, I have no structure for how I deal with my money. This isn’t easy to admit, but I know I’m not alone. Because I’ve managed to run a business for 8 years, people just assume I’m good with this stuff. But knowing how to make money and knowing how best to manage it are two very different things. I think, for those of us who thrive on the creative side of business (with a touch of ADHD), money isn’t the thing we do best. We struggle to care about it because it’s not something that excites us. I have some random savings and investments with no real plan attached to them or understanding if they are the best choices. I have some innate entrepreneurial ability to understand the flow of how and where money is coming from and where it’s going, but no solid picture or plan of what to do with it. Money is numbers, and I really have no excuse for not doing the math. So finally, for the first time in my adult life, I’m going to plug in the numbers. I’m going to know exactly how much my dogs cost me each month, how much I spend eating out, and take a long, hard look at all of my subscriptions and whether or not they are necessary. And maybe this isn’t directly connected to productivity, but just because I don’t like dealing with money doesn’t mean I don’t think about it. Knowing where I stand financially will free up so much space for other, more productive thoughts.
The most clever act of self-sabotage I engage in is never putting anything away—making just enough mess so that I always need to be dealing with it. Procrasticleaning is real, and the more of it I have to do, the less productive I am, going forward just to get back to the same place. I just made dinner, and because I’m multitasking by writing this too, the kitchen is a disaster. Did it have to be? No. Why is it that way? Because I didn’t put a single thing away. And why do I do that? Because I need something to do to distract me from more important things, like sitting down to write. That question can keep going deeper, but that is something I will be leaving to the therapist. But this app—trust me when I tell you—when you actually do it and keep up with the list it gives you, I’m able to stay on task without getting overwhelmed. If you keep track of when you’ve cleaned something and how often it needs to be cleaned, you’ll be presented with a daily list of what needs to be done. It can be tempting to go into something else in the room you’re in, but just don’t, and in a week, you’ll have the cleanest house of your life. Another helpful tip is probably something I stole from a childhood (my cousin’s, not mine) TV show called the “ten-second tidy,” but I’ve adapted it to adulthood. When I really just feel overwhelmed and don’t know how to get started, I set a timer for every room in my house—5 minutes, that’s all—then drop whatever you are doing and move on to the next room. For me, I have 5 rooms in my home, so that’s 25 minutes of cleaning. I can definitely schedule that every day, and it’s amazing what you can actually get done in just 5 minutes.
Some people like to go to the gym, some people like to get on a bicycle and ride for 30 km every evening, some people play sports, and some people run. There are so many ways to get your exercise. Personally, I like to do it from the privacy of my bedroom on a yoga mat for 15-20 minutes a day. I’m not sure what the science is behind it, but I know that when I’ve stuck with it—starting with their 28-day wall pilates challenge—I’ve never been more fit or in less pain. I don’t live for those big highs, and I like mine better when they come from my thoughts. Exercise is not my most favourite thing on the planet. I like to write, read, craft, do puzzles, but I also like my life enough to know I need to take care of my body. Fifteen minutes is something almost anyone can commit to. Something else I like about these exercises is that anyone can do them; mostly, you’re using your own body weight, and you only need to push as far as you can. But if you keep with it, the improvement comes fast. I’m not your doctor, just some girl giving unsolicited advice on the internet, but you should probably get some sort of cardio into that cycle. I hike with the dogs, maybe that’s enough, and maybe it isn’t, but it’s what I can manage and what I enjoy. On top of that, I started taking a dance class once a week—something fun that will keep me engaged.
Meal Planning:
I’m not going to use an app for this one; I’m not sure I need it. But I did dive back deep into those YouTube videos, and I found a method that seems like it might work for me.
Step 1: Make a list of all the meals you like to make.
Step 2: Make a list of all the ingredients you have in your fridge, freezer, pantry, etc.
Step 3: Figure out what meals you can make from your list with what you already have.
Step 4: Pop them into your days of the week.
Step 5: Make a grocery list of the things that are missing.
This has always been a real challenge for me, and I harbour tremendous guilt for the wasted food. Sure, I can blame it on the ADHD, but really sometimes I’m just impulsive, and I have no plan. Planning has always been seen as something I needed to fight against, but really, planning should be welcomed because what it’s doing in the end is saving me time. All the time wasted on extra trips to the grocery store, cleaning out the fridge, or money I didn’t need to spend just because I didn’t plan my day right. I’ve tried meal planning like this this week. It’s only day three, and I’m not staying exactly on the schedule, but I am sticking to the dishes on my list. I’m just finding a better order to do them in. I’m sure this method will improve over time and I’m already enjoying the benefits of not having to think about it.
So, there you have it—my 2025 productivity toolkit. Some tools might work, some might not, and some might just help me feel productive without actually doing much at all (looking at you, Full Focus Planner). But that’s the journey, right? Trial and error, mixed with a little bit of hope that one of these methods will stick and transform me into the productivity powerhouse I dream of becoming. Did you know you can leave comments on these blogs? I’m curious: what tools or tricks do you use to stay on track? Hit me up— this journey will feel so much better with company, we can swap notes, gripe together, or maybe you have a tool or two to share, and hopefully this year we save each other from drowning in a sea of tasks, dishes, and forgotten budgets.