Every morning, I start my workday by looking at a 3×5 index card I prepared the day before. It has all my meetings and all the things I need to do.
This is how I make it—and why it works.
How it works
The design has gone through many iterations, but here’s what I use today.
- Top left: Day of the week + week number of the year
- (Week numbers help me stay aware of how fast the year’s moving. “Week 18” feels more real than “April 30”.)
- Top right: The date
Below that, the card is divided into two main sections:
- Left side: My schedule
- Right side: My task list
The schedule
For the schedule, I draw hours from 9–6 on the left, and 6–3 on the right. These represent EST and PST hours—side by side. That way, I can quickly cross-check time zones when scheduling across teams.
Then I copy over my meetings from Google Calendar by hand.
Yes, I still use Google Calendar. But writing it out helps me remember my day better—and internalize how much time I actually have.
After blocking the meetings, I calculate how much focus time I have left. Lately, it’s been about 4 hours of focus time per day.
(That's been my normal for over a year now. And it's fine. All good!)
The tasks
On the task side, I migrate any unfinished tasks from the previous day. Then I pull in relevant items from my weekly list, and add anything new.
Each card has room for 10 lines. That might not sound like a lot—but in practice, it’s plenty.
Most days, I don’t exceed 10 major items. Each task may have its own sublist elsewhere, but this card shows me the big picture.
(For example, one item today has 9 sub-tasks written out on a separate sheet.)
All days
If I’m on call or involved in a full-day initiative—like Engineering On Call—I write that at the top.
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
By the time the card is filled out, I have a crystal-clear, 10,000-foot view of the day:
- Who I need to talk to
- What I need to get done
- How much time I actually have to do things
- How often I’ll need to context switch
It gives me a sense of control, not just over my tasks, but over my time.
This practice is something I’ve done for over two years. The 3×5 card just happens to be what it looks like today.
Because of this, I’m able to do more—and do it better. To understand the work. To understand the people. And to show up as my best self, every day.
Ritual
At the end of each workday, I process the card:
- I review what got done
- I prepare the card for tomorrow
- I archive today’s card in my running stack
If you’ve ever practiced bullet journaling, this is exactly what its creator, Ryder Carroll, meant when he described it as:
“A mindfulness practice disguised as a productivity system.”
That’s what this is for me too.
And that’s why—every single workday—I write out my schedule and my tasks by hand, on a plain 3×5 card.