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Hey there, my fellow weirdo! How are you holding up today? Doing ok? Are you super overwhelmed right now? Exhausted and overstimulated? 

If I had to guess, I’d say most likely all of the above, right? If you’re like me, your brain’s probably been doing that thing where it plays pinball with your thoughts all day. And it’s definitely not the Pinball Wizard good at pinball – it’s the really, really bad at pinball type of pinball playing.

How many different systems do you think you’ve tried over the years to get your shit together? My guess is a lot. Like, a whole slew of apps, planners, color-coded spreadsheets—anything to get a grasp on the Everest-sized mountain of tasks, to-dos, and random things you need to remember. 

How many times have you heard someone say, “This one system will solve all of your organizational and time management problems for the rest of your life!” 

About a million times, right? Yeah, I figured.

Let me ask you—how often does trying to fit into those cookie-cutter systems actually work for you? And how often do you wind up beating yourself up because you “should be able to figure this shit out”? 

The frustration, the guilt, the “what the hell is wrong with me” feeling—it’s enough to make anyone want to scream into a pillow or, I don’t know, find a nice cave to go and hide in for a while.

But before you ditch society all together, let’s look at things in a different way. Let’s throw away the cookie cutters and talk about how you can create your own unique system for focus and organization. One that works for you and your wonderfully weird brain.

I have a story for you. Heading all the way back to the late nineties and early aughts. Why does that have to actually be so long ago? I’m still in denial.

Anywho…anyone else remember those agendas we’d get in elementary and middle school? The ones with the holographic covers that were supposed to help us “stay organized”? 

Yeah, I sucked at using those. I’d start the year with all the best intentions—filling in homework assignments, staying on top of everything my teachers wanted us to write down—but after a couple of weeks, that thing was gathering dust. I’d carry it around with me from class to class like a good little student, but it was nothing more than a colorful, spiral-bound paperweight. 

And that trend followed me for years. I tried every kind of paper planner you could think of, from the cheap ones at the dollar store to those fancy planners with stickers and washi tape. My attempts at bullet journaling? Yeah…pretty pathetic given my embarrassing art skills.

Then came the digital age: I dabbled with Trello boards, Asana setups, Notion pages, spreadsheets for all of the things. I tried all sorts of template systems and step-by-step courses that promised that this was the last system I’d ever have to use. 

And then I would feel like a complete failure because everyone else seemed to be thriving with these perfect systems and tools. I couldn’t understand why my brain just couldn’t click with them. They were supposed to be the end-all-be-all system that everyone succeeded with. But not me.

This was the case until I started allowing myself to experiment. I took the bits and pieces of each system that I tried that DID work for me, and started to piece together my own system.

 And that’s what we’re going to talk about today—how to break free from those cookie-cutter systems and design your own.

Here’s the thing about cookie-cutter systems: they’re not designed for your unique brain. They’re designed for an imaginary person who doesn’t exist – someone whose brain just molds perfectly into whatever they’re told to do. 

But when we try to force ourselves into these one-size-fits-all approaches, it backfires horribly. When we do this, we’re setting ourselves up to feel overwhelmed, anxious, guilty, and like an epic failure.

We hear it all the time, but we need to keep repeating it so that it really sinks in. Not everyone’s brains work the same way, and that’s okay. 

Society likes to push expectations onto us, saying that things need to be done this way or that way in order to be acceptable. So we end up being pigeonholed into using tools and systems that may or may not make sense for our brains or our needs. 

And when those systems don’t work, we blame ourselves. We feel like failures because we can’t seem to stick to them. We’ve internalized that because these systems don’t work for us, we must just suck at being consistent, we’re broken, we’re useless. 

It’s embarrassing for us to admit how much time we spend just trying to figure out how the system works, let alone actually try using it!

Then there’s the guilt. The guilt for abandoning—or even thinking about abandoning—the system you sunk your time, energy, and sometimes money into. You feel like you’re doing something wrong if you don’t make it work. Like you’re an embarrassment to society, to your friends and family, to yourself.

But I’m here to tell you, you’re not failing. The system is failing you.

You’re allowed to do things in your own way. You’re allowed to make things easy for yourself. Being different, being weird, going against the mold isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes, you need to recreate the wheel to work for your specific vehicle, and that’s perfectly okay.

But it all starts with self-acceptance and understanding. We need to recondition ourselves to be okay with being different, with not needing to force our lives and needs into a template that doesn’t fit. It’s important to reflect on what works for us and what doesn’t. And most importantly, to feel the feelings—fear, guilt, frustration—but not let them keep us from being ourselves.

So, let’s talk about designing your own system. And designing your system while giving up the need for perfection. 

Yeah, I said it. Give up your perfectionism. Easier said than done, I know. Recovering perfectionist here.

But your system doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be yours. Start by setting goals and priorities that are meaningful to you. What do you really want to accomplish in your personal life, your home, your work or business, and even what you do for fun?

Once you know what you want to accomplish, you need to figure out how you want to accomplish it. Try experimenting with different tools, techniques, and strategies. 

There’s no “one right way” to do this. That’s the whole point of experimenting. It’s determining what you want to figure out, piecing together how you want to test it, and then perform that test in the way that works best for you.

The results of your experimentation will be unique to you and your brain. Maybe you’ll find that a combination of digital tools and paper planners works best for you. Maybe you’ll invent a completely new way of organizing your time that makes your heart do a happy dance. 

The point is to test things out and see what clicks. There’s no right or wrong way to do this – don’t let your brain or its conditioning by society tell you that you’re not experimenting correctly. You do you.

And don’t just try it for a day and give up. Give each experiment that tickles your brain a fair chance. Try it out for as long as your brain allows you to without malfunctioning. Reflect on how it’s working—or not working—and don’t be afraid to tweak things as you go.

And hey, you don’t have to do this alone! Finding support and accountability can make all the difference. Whether it’s a coach like me, a coworking group, or an accountability partner, having someone else in your corner can help keep you on track and give you a fresh perspective.

Sometimes, just knowing that someone else is there, silently coworking with you, is enough to keep you motivated. Or maybe you’re into gamification—turning your tasks into a game where you earn points or rewards. Or checking in with a coach every other week. Find what works for you, and don’t be afraid to change it up if or when it stops being helpful.

That’s the beauty of our brains – they’re constantly changing and evolving. We’re constantly growing and learning and we’re allowed to change up the tools we use to support the new evolution of ourselves.

Take some time to reflect on what truly matters to you. What are the things that light you up, that just make sense to your brain? Start experimenting with small changes in your daily routine or organization methods. Remember, we’re not going for the one-size-fits-all solution here—it’s time to break free from those cookie-cutter systems and design one that works for you.

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