ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE
with Peter Akkies
Get your to-dos and notes in order, take action on your big goals, build a system you can rely on, and create a process for staying on track with this four-week live course that starts February 27, 2023.
Sometimes, you just need to take a step back, organize, and make a plan—perhaps with a little help.
This is one of those times, if any of these sound familiar to you:
- Your email inbox, task manager, and notes are super disorganized
- You feel overwhelmed by all of your responsibilities
- It’s not clear what you should work on next
- Things are slipping through the cracks
- You rarely get around to doing the work that makes an impact
- You postpone, procrastinate on, and eventually pause projects
- Your goals are purely aspirational; you’re not getting any closer
Many people are in this position. You probably are too. And it’s so easy to stay in this position for years or even decades. In fact, just about every month I get an email from a student that goes something like this:
“Peter, I recently retired after a long career. I’m finally getting around to organizing my to-dos with the help of your course. I wish I had done this years ago, but I never got around to it!”
Whether you’re starting your career, are in the middle of it, or you’re a little older, there is never a better time to get organized than right now. Of course, when you’re working hard and you have lots of responsibilities, it can be tough to make the time.
But imagine this:
- Your to-dos, notes, and so on are all neatly organized
- You feel comfortable focusing on one thing at a time
- You priorities are clear: you know exactly what to work on next
- You have a foolproof system for hitting your deadlines
- You have plenty of time for your most important work
- You work through big and small projects with joy and ease
- And you make consistent progress towards your biggest goals and dreams
If you join us, you can have all of those things, and more.
“After so many years of trying, I finally have a good framework in place for planning my life on a recurring basis. More importantly, I also understand the principles behind the framework. I’ll be able to make adjustments when my life needs change in the future.”
“[Peter’s earlier live course] significantly changed my viewpoint of productivity. I no longer obsess over getting the most tasks done, but I feel a much deeper sense of purpose and satisfaction as I complete tasks in key projects that help me reach my bigger goals.”
Introducing: Organize Your Life
Organize Your Life is a four-week live course. It starts February 27, 2023 and runs until March 26, 2023. I designed it to help you get organized and be more productive.
The course features:
- Live, interactive video calls (teaching as well as Q&A)
- Group weekly review calls
- Recordings of all calls
- Peer-to-peer accountability sessions
- A private learning community with Peter and your fellow students
- A course workbook with guided exercises
There is also a premium edition of the course that includes one-on-one access to me for the duration of the course, with unlimited direct messaging and three one-on-one video calls.
This is not a course that consists of videos to watch—it’s a course where we show up together and take action. (Although the live sessions will all be recorded, so no worries if you can’t make it to a few.) Together, we’ll create a social, practical, playful, encouraging, supportive, and action-oriented vibe.
“I hated starting the day without a well-defined agenda and the tasks I needed to get done. Now, [after taking Peter’s task management course], for the first time in a long time, I’m actually starting to consider myself ‘organized.’ The spillover effect is noticeable too: organizing my office, starting a morning routine, etc.”
Course schedule
The course runs for four weeks. We start on Monday, February 27 and end on Sunday, March 26.
All times are in U.S. Eastern Time (New York). Note that U.S. daylight savings time starts March 12, so starting from that date, calls might be shifted by an extra hour for you.
The weekly schedule is:
- Mondays 12:00–1:30 pm - Interactive theory + action calls with Peter
- Wednesdays (suggested, student-scheduled) - Peer-to-peer accountability calls
- Fridays 12:00–1:30 pm - Q&A calls with Peter
- Sundays 12:00–1:00 pm - Group weekly reviews with Peter
To see how these sessions fit in your schedule, download the course calendar from Google Calendar or in iCal format.
All calls will be recorded and available for you to watch soon after they happen. So don’t worry if you can’t make it to a session or two.
The private community and course environment
We’ll run the course on a platform called Circle. It’s easy to use and easy to access with any browser. You can also use the excellent Circle app on iOS or Android.
Circle is the hub for the course. Our video calls will be on Circle and recordings of each call will be available there shortly after the session. I’ll be on Circle every day answering your questions and helping you along—either in structured posts or in a group chat, whichever you prefer. Your fellow students will be there too, so you can connect with people, get and give support, and inspire and be inspired.
On Circle, you’ll also find the course material, a variety of productivity resources, and the course calendar.
The course workbook
The course comes with a workbook to help you implement what you learn. The workbook exercises are your ticket to getting results fast.
Each week, I’ll tell you which workbook exercises correspond to that week’s topic. You’ll work on the exercises, share your results, get feedback from myself and your fellow students, and take inspiration from others’ work.
“The coursework was grueling. And I mean that in the best possible way. To this day, I have printed copies of select pages on my desk.”
Four modules to get you organized
Week 1: ORganizing Your To-Dos
- Getting your to-dos out of your head and onto “paper”
- Taking stock of your responsibilities and commitments
- Identifying your most important (“deep”) work
- Cleaning up and organizing your task manager
- Setting up a weekly review process
Week 2: Taking Action on Your Goals
- Structuring your goal-setting process
- Clarifying your goals so they’re really clear
- Identifying manageable action steps for your goals
- Defining “good enough” outcomes for your projects to avoid perfectionism
- Prioritizing your projects to avoid procrastination
Week 3: Building a RELIABLE System
- Creating a process for planning your days and weeks
- Setting up a system for capturing and processing to-dos, notes, documents, events, and goals
- Saving time and effort with templates
- Handling team to-dos alongside your own to-dos
- Avoiding fake deadlines and anticipating real ones
Week 4: Staying on track
- Building a periodic check-in system
- Creating decision heuristics
- Removing obstacles to building better habits
- Evaluating potential commitments, protecting your time, and saying “no”
- Handling common distractions like email, unnecessary meetings, and excessive notifications
“Managing 500 employees and a $40 million budget means I have a lot of projects and tasks. Thanks to Peter’s [task management] course I’m starting the week super-charged with my schedule and tasks lined up.”
What you’ll get out of the course
Here are some changes you might see after taking the course:
- Organize your to-dos, notes, goals, and projects
- Clean up stale tasks in your task manager
- Keep your task manager up to date
- Capture and process all to-dos and notes with a system
- Establish clear priorities and reliable systems you can trust
- Feel less overwhelmed because you’re in control
- Work with focus, knowing you’re doing the right thing
- Say “no” with confidence to work that doesn’t serve you
- Clarify what exactly is your most important (“deep”) work
- Spend more time on your deep work
- Set clear intentions before starting work
- Create a process for planning your day, your week, and your quarter
- Set up systems today to get more done tomorrow
- Set up project templates
- Produce more reliable and consistent work
- Get clear on what belongs in a to-do app vs. a calendar app vs. a notes app
- Formulate razor-sharp goals
- Translate those goals into manageable action steps
- For perfectionists: define “good enough” outcomes for projects and goals
- Understand the difference between real and fake deadlines so you don’t feel so rushed
- Finish and ship completed projects, rather than letting your ideas die slowly
- Anticipate and meet all of your deadlines
- Set up a weekly review process
- Set up a system for batch-processing email
- Break down large projects into manageable chunks
- Reduce the number of notifications/reminders you need to set
- Feel less scatterbrained
- Set up repeating to-dos and projects
- Understand the difference between lists and projects so your to-do app stays actionable
- Start building healthier habits, like a daily meditation practice
- Define what being organized and being productive mean for you
- Divide your life into areas/roles/hats
- Design a weekly schedule that works better for you
- Evaluate potential commitments
- Feel more comfortable saying “no” to what doesn’t serve you
- Build a system for tracking team to-dos alongside personal to-dos
Just imagine how different your life would be if you achieved some of these results.
Still not sure, though? This might help:
This course is for you if:
- Your priorities aren’t clear because your to-do list is way too messy.
- You never get around to organizing your to-dos, notes, documents, and so on.
- You have big goals but never seem to get any closer to achieving them.
- You want to build a system you can trust.
- You spend too little time on work that matters and too much time on tedious work.
- You’re good at executing, but you’re also messy.
This course is not for you if:
- You’re looking for a magic solution that requires zero effort.
- You don’t like to be on live calls or to participate in a community.
- You’re not willing to experiment with new productivity systems and methods.
[Having taken Peter’s goal-setting course] “I have improved my life in many ways.”
“Not only in terms of organization and effectiveness, but also in terms of health, since I find myself much less stressed and with a very pleasant feeling of control over the things that I have to do every day.”
“It is amazing the feeling of peace when you know what things you are doing and, although it may seem paradoxical, the peace of mind that comes from knowing what things you are NOT doing, because you have consciously decided not to do them.”
Frequently asked questions
Are my results guaranteed?
You’ll get out of this course what you put into it! I promise that if you commit to the process and do the work, you will see results.
That said, I do offer a money-back guarantee until the end of the day of our kickoff call: if you’re not happy, just let me know by that time and I’ll give you a full refund, no questions asked.
What tools will we be using?
This course is tool-agnostic. The methods and systems you’ll learn work with any tool and I will help you choose the right tools for you.
How does this course differ from your other courses?
This course is a live course. You will be part of a group of people who are motivated to organize their lives. You’ll be engaging with them during the live sessions and in the community, which is an amazing way to create results for yourself.
You will also have lots of access to me during the live sessions and in the community. (And optionally 1:1 access if you enroll in the premium edition.) That means I can help you with your specific challenges, as opposed to you watching videos of me explaining something.
Put that together and this course combines theory with action and community motivation for maximum results.
What support WILL I get?
There are many ways to get support in this course! It’s a live course, so support is what it’s all about.
You’ll be on calls with me and your fellow students. There will plenty of time to ask questions about your unique situation. You’ll also get access to the private community, where I encourage you to share your progress and your challenges. I’ll be active in the forums, answering your questions and offering you support and encouragement. Of course, the idea is for students to motivate each other, too!
If you enroll in the premium edition, you’ll also get 1:1 calls with me as well as unlimited direct messaging access to me for the duration of the course.
When does the course start and finish?
This course starts Monday, February 27. It finishes Sunday, March 26.
Can I ENROLL my team?
Yes, as long as the process is not too cumbersome. Just email me.
“[Peter’s live course] allows you to know that you are making progress toward a goal, rather than grinding through another quarter and being able to say ‘I made it’ but without having navigated meaningfully in any particular direction, or being able to tick a proper, well-defined goal off of the list.”
“Peter’s [task management] course is life-changing. He has a vision: ‘I want you to be productive, but not overwhelmed’. And it shows throughout the course that he cares.”
That was it
You’ve reached the end of the page.
Trust me, now is a great time to take a step back and get organized—finally. You’ll get lots of help from me and your fellow students. Take the leap.