system salvage, linguistic mergers, and the art of adaptation

Last week we talked about why productivity systems fail.

It's not you, it's the mismatch between how systems are designed and how you actually work. 

It's easy to think that means it's all bad.

But we don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater... productivity tools exist because they DO help.

We just need to adapt them to work with our wiring. 

I went through this exact thing when I was learning how to use time-blocking in my entrepreneurial post-burnout life.

Traditional time-blocking asked my brain to live on cortisol and stress, and I built in flexibility to accommodate my neurodivergent brain.

I had tried time blocks many times over the years.

In my corporate life, they worked great. I worked in high-energy, adrenaline-fueled environments that made it easier for my brain to focus. But when I became a full-time entrepreneur, it completely fell apart. 

Today, I still time-block, but I had to learn to work with my PDA ("pervasive drive for autonomy," a behavioral profile for some with autism.)

Essentially, this means my brain has a response of feeling overwhelmed when a "demand" is placed upon it—whether it's by me, for something I want, or by others. What was seen as defiance as a kid was actually me needing strategies that focus on choice and collaboration. 

As an entrepreneur, it took a lot of trial and error to make time blocking work for me.

I needed the visual of seeing blocks on the calendar for realistic planning, but the flexiblity to not feel locked into a forced schedule.

Now, the only hard blocks are appointments—client calls, doctor visits, meetings with other people. Everything else can shift within the day or week based on my energy and deadlines 

Marketing might move from Tuesday to Thursday if I'm having a flare-up.

A slow morning might mean a hyper-focused afternoon, or a 5-hour focused morning followed by a gentle afternoon. (And the occasional 11 hour day just because I'm obsessed with what I'm working on.)

Knowing this is a need, I build timelines that allow my internal work to flex without breaking commitments.

Same system (time-blocking), different rules (autonomy over rigidity).

The magic happens when you take the underlying principle and ask: "How does my brain/body/life need this to work?"

Most productivity advice gives you the "what" but ignores the "how should this work for YOU specifically."

Try This: Single System Salvage 

Pick one productivity method you've abandoned.

• What was the core principle that initially attracted you? (Protected time? Focused work? Structured planning?)
• Now ask: "How could I get that benefit in a way that works with my patterns instead of against them?"

The goal isn't to force yourself into someone else's system. It's to extract what's useful and rebuild it around how you actually function.

This week, I'll also be sharing two other stories of how people took classic productivity systems—the 5AM Club and Pomodoro Technique—and adapted them to meet their actual needs.

Because once you see the pattern, you can systematically adapt any system to work for you.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED

• Linguistic Mergers. Then, this TikTok came up yesterday and I fell down a rabbit hole of these unique linguistic characteristics vary throughout the US. It was immediately relatable because my partner and I have talked about his pen-pin merger many times over the years. Words are fascinating. 
• The Moon. Today is both the final Blood Moon of the year and a Lunar Eclipse (but it's not visible from the Americas 😔) That's it. I just love space. 
• More Chocolatey Indulgence. A few weeks ago, I shared about my jello chocolate fudge pudding turned protein mousse was perfect when eaten from a spatula. Well, in my constant pursuit of balancing blood sugar, I may have gone too far this time—but I regret nothing. If you add a small keto + gf brownie layer, top it with 4-6 oz of chocolate protein mousse, and a nice big dollop of fresh made whipped cream... you have a chocolatey, fudgey trifle and when you add a glass of milk, you get approximately 50g protein, 25g carbs, and 28g fat. Is it basically a meal? Yes. Is that a bad thing? DEFINITELY NOT. 🤤 
  
  

P.S.

This is exactly what we'll be doing in Same You, Better Systems. Enrollment opens Tuesday, September 23rd, and the challenge starts Monday, September 29th. Instead of giving you another rigid system to follow, we'll spend 30 days helping you identify your patterns and needs so you can build sustainable systems around them. 

If you're ready to stop forcing systems and start adapting them to actually work for you, snag your spot on the waitlist here! 

Be sure to join before the waitlist closes this Friday, September 12th to ensure you hear about waitlist-only bonuses. 

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