Get rid of the aesthetic planner

Summary:

• Build your routine first, then find tools to support it – Don’t force yourself into systems that don’t fit your lifestyle.

• Stick to a habit for at least 4 weeks before adjusting – Change happens through consistency, not constant optimization.

• Track what actually improves your life – Pay attention to what makes you feel better, more focused, and more productive.

• Keep it simple and sustainable – Overcomplicated systems lead to burnout; focus on efficiency over aesthetics.

• Take action now – Stop waiting for the perfect system—just start, refine as you go, and adapt when needed.

  
  

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I decided, that for three months, I would try the Second Brain method created and popularized by Tiago Forte, as a high school student with a lot of ambition but no drive. 

As someone who had previously used apps like Notion, Evernote, and GoodNotes to organize all of the many important things in my life ( I was 14 I had absolutely nothing to put in there ) I quickly learned ( wasted two and a half years of high school creating the perfect aesthetic templates and systems ) that it was not sustainable. 

I could say that these apps were not the right fit for me, and to some extent I’d be right, but they never worked me for because the amount of variables that I could visually customize overpowered the efficiency of what these systems could bring me. I tried to use them for years, but I still never was satisfied with a singular system and ended up:

1. Spending hours making a beautiful template with various trackers, quotes, and sections 

2. Abandoning it within 5 days;

And the cycle went on for two and a half years.

There were many things wrong with this system I was trying to force upon myself. And that was the biggest problem with it, I was trying to force something upon myself that did not suit my needs.

It took me a long time to figure out what would work for me—until I failed. Miserably and publicly. I had spent months believing I was the perfect choice for something, only to watch it slip through my fingers. I had to stand there, smile, and accept that someone else had earned what I thought was mine. People consoled me, saying what I didachieve was still respectable. And maybe it was. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had fallen short. That I was short.

For weeks, I replayed it in my head—what I could’ve done differently, how I could have worked harder, how maybe, just maybe, I had never really deserved it in the first place. It stung. It still does. But that failure forced me to turn my life around. I couldn’t stand being almost good enough anymore.

That forced me to turn it around, I couldn’t stand being average anymore. I gave up on the vanity of it all, looking like I had it all together to make other people think I was capable when I wasn’t. In the last 3 months, I have made an extreme change in who I am fundamentally as a person and I think I owe it to my failure. I am nowhere near where I would like to be, but 3 months ago I accepted that I would be a failure forever. (Which is insane, I’m only 17). 

It’s only been 3 months and I have definitely not mastered anything, but I am done waiting and underestimating the impact my experiences could have on someone else just because they’re not ‘experienced’ enough. With that in mind, I urge you to take this with a grain of salt because it is very likely that in the upcoming months or even week I could change how I operate. In fact the point of this blog is to explore different ways to manage my time and myself till one works for me!

Getting It Together

Usually, a person will find an organizational structure (like a planner or a tracking app) and try to assemble a routine around it. But what worked well for me was reverse engineering that norm. I created a routine that I thought would benefit me. I woke up at six in the morning, did some light studying, had a healthy breakfast, listened to the news and some daily podcasts, and left for school early so I could have some quiet time before a full 8-hour school day. I tried my best to learn whatever I could in school so it would not add to the already huge burden I had from ignoring my education for the four months before that. And when I got home, I kept working myself till it was nine-thirty and I tucked myself into bed with a nice book and 30 minutes of no screen time beforehand. I religiously started following my dermatologist’s advice, embedding the practices into my routine and becoming much more regular with my medications. 

Did it work? Yes, I have modified the routine a bit but it is more or less what a normal day for me looks like now. And the organizational system I built around it proved to be sustainable. The podcasts in the morning allowed me to expand my interests and limited knowledge and within days of consistent listening I was able to contribute to conversations like never before. The consistent studying schedule prepared me for my final examinations which I am currently giving and allowed me to be asleep by 9:30, max 10 p.m. before the day of an exam fully prepared and confident. The healthy breakfasts and conscious healthy eating choices improved my health , my skin and helped me loose weight I didn’t even know I had! 

Building your own routine; and your system

The routine I built, built its own system, perfectly tailored for my life. I started to store the information I heard on the podcasts into little subfolders and It created this whole network of interest I never thought I’d care about. The consistent studying led to making effective notes through practice and self testing which produced folders full of handwritten notes, digital notes, supplemental PDFs and flashcards to improve my thoroughness with a topic. I can now tolerate Physics! And the healthy eating choices led to another folder full of recipes and studies based on improving your diet which I have actually applied and seen results. 

The Second Brain system fixed a part of me that was unmotivated.

I stuck to the system through sheer will power for the first 4 weeks and when I deviated, I felt that my life was falling apart. When my routines for simple things like washing my hair twice a week and oiling it with medication went ignored, my skin visibly suffered. When I started eating junk repeatedly and forgoing my healthy meals for quick low effort food I felt lethargic throughout the day. And the most importantly, when I didn’t do anything productive, especially for days in a row during my normal life (and not a weekend or a break) I felt bad and wanted to work.

In three months, I was addicted to being better. And I fully believe it’s possible for anyone to as well, as long as they have a goal and a sense of discipline. If you feel stuck in a cycle of fake productivity, start today. Build a system that works for you, not against you. I’ll be sharing how I did it using the Apple Ecosystem, and I’d love to hear what works for you too.