Ambling through a local office supply store I pass shelf after shelf of expensive but cool things that would look good on my desk. A set of steel balls suspended in parallel by wires, allowing the transfer of energy from one end to the other. As far as I can reckon, this apparatus serves no other function but to induce a trance-like state akin to… meditation?

Who knows.

What I was really shopping for is an item I consider so valuable to my productivity that I’d brave the sub-zero temperatures we have here to replenish my supply. So is it?

A package of 3″ x 5″ index cards.

I know what you’re thinking… (Yawn…)

Well, it isn’t the cards so much. It’s what I do with the cards and how I set out the next days priority items. Over the years I have developed a shorthand method of itemizing the tasks and tracking the progress on them. At the end of my workday I’ll make up my list for the next day. I try to keep the descriptions brief and I also estimate the time it takes to do each task (my accuracy isn’t great).

My little twist on the to-do list: I draw a circle on the left hand margin beside each task and color in my progress throughout the day, either in thirds or quarters. I don’t know how to explain it exactly, but the best explanation I can give is — it just feels good to see my progress on paper and gives me a little shot of motivation to continue on. Crazy? maybe… but I like doing it.

The thing about these cards is they are easy to store and they stack nicely. When I complete the items on my list I toss them into a small compartment on my desk where they fit perfectly. During moments of fatigue I refer to my completed pile of cards for a quick reminder that I can be, indeed, productive. Even though I have an iphone with to-do apps galore, the visceral impact isn’t the same. Go figure.

Try it out for just for the fun of it.