The Productivity System I Taught to 6,642 Googlers

During my time at Google, I ran Googler to Google GDG workshops every quarter for 9 years. And in that time, I taught over 6,600 Googlers the core workflow, a system that took the productivity frameworks from the classics like getting things done, make time, building a second brain, and implemented them in an actual corporate environment. The end result is a systematic workflow that ensures we never lose another file, task, or note. And if that sounds interesting to you, then let's get started. All right, before we dive into

a real world example of the core workflow, there are two quick things you need to know. First, broadly speaking, there are four types of information we encounter in the workplace. Tasks, ideas, notes, and media, which is basically our digital files. And the core workflow gives us a framework to deal with all four types of information so that nothing slips through the cracks. Second, even though we're using Google tools as examples in today's video, the system itself is platform agnostic, meaning it works with whatever tools you're already using, Notion, To-Doist, Apple Notes, or even the inferior Microsoft suite, right? It doesn't matter. Now, onto a real world

example I'm sure that we can all relate to. It's Monday. I'm eating lunch in the cafeteria and my VP drops by asking me to prepare a few slides on how the Japan market is doing and she needs it by Thursday for her quarterly business review, QBR. Now, at that moment in time, I don't have my laptop with me. I have backto-back meetings right after lunch. So, there's a very good chance I'll forget about this request entirely by tomorrow morning. As David Allen famously said, "Our brains are for having ideas, not holding them. " So, this is where the core workflow kicks in. Step one, capture. I pull out my phone, tap the Google Tasks widget on my home screen, and add a task. Schedule time for Japan market data. Set the due date to today. add detail for Prrisca's QBR on Thursday and we're done. The task has been captured and my brain can now forget about it. Step two, organize. In this example, the organized step actually happened automatically because a task without a due date gets lost, right? So, by assigning a due date to our task, we've already completed the organized step and no further action is required. Step three, review. During my evening review session before leaving the office, I check my task list, see the request, and immediately block two hours on my Google calendar for Wednesday morning. And only once that time is blocked, can I mark the original task as complete because it has now transformed into a concrete commitment on my calendar. Step four, engage. On Wednesday morning during my block time, I execute and actually do the work and that closes the loop on the core workflow for this specific task. It was captured in a mobile app, then organized with a due date. I was reminded of it during a review session, and then I blocked off time to actually engage with the task. Now, before we break down each

step in detail, I can already see some of the comments. Jeff, this is so much extra work. Why over complicate it when it's probably easier and probably faster to just do the thing? Fair point. For those of you who aren't productivity nerds like me, here's a quick recap on the three core productivity principles. First, relying on willpower and motivation is unsustainable. James Clear said it best in Ato atomic habits. We do not rise to the level of our goals. We fall systems. Second, the purpose of a system is to help us do the thing even on our worst days. When we're tired, unmotivated, and don't feel like doing the thing. Third, and this is what made it click for me all those years ago, the short-term discomfort of adopting a new routine will always be less than the ongoing stress and disappointment of not making progress on my most important goals. Put simply, the core workflow, or any workflow for that matter, isn't extra work. It just redirects the mental energy you're already wasting into a reliable system where the benefits compound over time. Speaking of awesome benefits, if you want to boost your Google Workspace productivity by 1% every week, sign up for my weekly newsletter to receive a bite-siz tip you can apply in under 60 seconds. Link down below. All right, now that you're somewhat bought into the benefits of

having a system, let's break down each step of the core workflow. And since we used tasks as an example earlier, let's use the ideas information type here. First up, capture. As we've covered, our brains are for having ideas, not holding them. So, we need to offload those ideas onto an external platform like an app or a notebook as quickly as possible. Here's an example. During my commute, a podcast gives me the idea to use Chris Voss's negotiation techniques to ask my manager for a pay raise. I immediately open the Google Keep app and write it down. Use AI and Voss to roleplay for a comp chat. Pro tip, I use Google Keep here because it's specifically designed for quick capture and not long-term storage. Step two, organize. Once information has been captured, we need a lightweight system to sort it for easy processing later. Continue our example. At the moment of capture, I simply tag the note in Google Keep with the label thoughts. And that's it. The note now sits in my Google Keep inbox until it's processed in the next step. As a quick aside, I don't want to overwhelm you in this video, but broadly speaking, information that originates from ourselves is categorized as thoughts, while information from external sources like meetings or YouTube videos is categorized as notes. Third, the review step is all about regularly processing what I call our information inboxes because capturing and organizing all that information means absolutely nothing if we never look at them again. Most people don't do this because it's too much work. The key is to schedule those review sessions and protect that time like any other meeting because again, none of us can rely on willpower alone. I personally have three 30-inute review blocks scheduled every day. One in the morning, one after lunch, and one before I sign off. Continue our example. When I get to the office, my calendar reminds me to review my inboxes. The event description has a direct link to a Google Keep view showing all my unprocessed notes. When I see the idea about negotiating my pay raise, I do three things. First, I block off time in my calendar to prepare for the negotiation. Next, I add a topic, discuss compensation in the 101 meeting notes with my manager so I don't forget to actually bring it up. And by the way, in contrast with Google Keep, Google Docs was specifically designed for long-term storage. Finally, I archive the original Google Keep note so it disappears from my inbox. It's done. It's processed. I can forget about it. Step four, engage. In a nutshell, this step is just about executing, actually doing the work. To close a loop on our example, after using AI to prepare for the negotiation, I add a few detailed talking points in my one-on-one meeting notes document so I'm fully prepared for my chat. And that's the core workflow.

We turned a fleeting idea into a fully prepared negotiation that hopefully results in a higher pay raise. All because we captured, organized, reviewed, and engaged with it. For those of you who don't have an existing system in place, I know all this seems like a lot of work, but I can promise you after just 2 weeks, all this will become second nature. And I can't emphasize this point enough. The tools and platforms you use do not matter. I receive way too many questions about this. You can use to-doist, tick, Apple notes, Obsidian, Notion, it doesn't matter. The workflow doesn't change. capture quickly, organize clearly, review frequently, and engage effectively. That said, if you do happen to rely on Google Workspace tools, I highly recommend checking out the full Workspace Academy course where I break down in detail how the core workflow applies to the essential Google products, Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, Tasks, Keep, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Thousands of students have now gone through the course and a crowd favorite is an automation I created for Google Drive that automatically organizes all the new files and folders you create. So you don't even have to think about the organize step. I'll leave a link to the course down below. If you found this helpful, you might want to check out how to build essential AI habits next. See you on the next video in the meantime. Have a great one.