So I finally got around to watching We Are EP 4 last Thursday night, right? Had my notebook ready because the trailer hinted it’d be packed with workflow tweaks. Grabbed some cold brew, kicked back around 8 PM hitting play. First ten minutes had me scrambling to pause every 30 seconds – dude was dropping spreadsheet shortcuts like confetti. Copied seven new Excel formulas before the intro even finished.
Halfway through, the host starts demoing this crazy time-blocking method using color-coded post-its. Paused immediately, raided my junk drawer for sticky notes. Cleared off the whole fridge door and started mapping my week like a maniac. Orange for client calls, yellow for content writing, green for errands – looked like a rainbow explosion by 9:30 PM.
Then came the disaster:
- Tried implementing the “5-minute inbox zero” trick next morning
- Deleted three important client emails by accident
- Spent 45 minutes digging through Trash folder sweating bullets
- Forgot scheduled Zoom call because I was still hunting emails
Called my buddy Dave who’s obsessed with productivity hacks. He just laughed and said “Told you that rapid-delete crap backfires!” We spent lunch troubleshooting while I facepalmed over soggy tacos. Key realization hit me: not every shiny method fits real life. Adapt or drown.
Salvaged two gems though:
- The Pomodoro variation using smell instead of timers (brewing coffee after 25 mins)
- That double-check protocol before deleting ANY email now
Ended up modifying the post-it system too. Realized I don’t need 47 colors – just three broad categories. Also stopped trying to imitate YouTube gurus exactly. Who cares if my fridge doesn’t look like a TEDx backdrop? It works for ME.
