Most productivity systems address managing things that have end points. We might think of these as moving parts — when I get things done, I move on to new projects or tasks. I pass a class - done! I finish a 5K - done! I create a website — done, it exists! I may choose to take more classes, run more 5K races, change up the website. But that particular project is finished. Or we might think of smaller tasks rather than projects — I schedule an appointment, I write a memo. All of these things have a deadline or an end point. Popular productivity systems such as Ryder Carroll’s bullet journal, David Allen’s GTD system, Cal Newport’s time block planning, are oriented around these kinds of tasks, getting things done that have end points.

A personal framework is different. It’s about setting your intentions for your life, and setting up the systems that maintain them - including getting things done at work. A personal framework, however, is oriented around the systems that maintain what is important to you; so that when you do get things done, you feel confident they are the right things to be doing.

Rather than projects or tasks with endpoints, think of ongoing life areas, or roles and relationships. A personal framework is the system that addresses what you want and need in your life consistently, whatever is going on in your life.

Consider your values. If one of your enduring values is to be creative, then you will want to find ways to be creative in your life whether or not you have a job, whether or not you live in the city or the country, or whatever your family situation is. Your value of being creative is consistent, even as the seasons and circumstances of your life change. This is also true of your ongoing roles and relationships — you will always be someone’s neighbor, someone’s relative. Perhaps you always find yourself in the role of a teacher, no matter what your job title is. Some patterns are consistent in our lives. You will also always need to eat; you will always need some ongoing personal practices to help you keep your mind clear. And that is what keeping a personal framework is all about: writing down what is consistently true for you — “I will always want to be creative, I will always want to have something to eat every day, I will always want to volunteer in some way” — and creating systems to support you in those enduring realities about your life. Keeping this framework, in turn, really boosts your ability to be productive in a mindful way, rather than a reactive one.

If there is too much background noise, if your life is chaotic and reactive, it is hard to get things done. And some seasons of life are just naturally more chaotic than others: if you have young children at home, you will have much less time to do things for yourself. But if you know about yourself that in order to fulfill your role of being a loving parent, you also need to make time to get out for a run (or make time to meditate, or draw some sketches), that is very useful information. Writing that down (and reviewing it regularly) helps prime your mind to find ways to prioritize that, even as your circumstances change. “Oh, yeah… the reason I need to figure out how to make time to go for a run on a regular basis is because I want to be a good human parent, instead of being like those species that eat their young, which sounds increasingly tempting if I don’t blow off some steam by getting out for a run…”

A personal framework is to your productivity what a skeleton is to your lungs. Your skeleton holds you up, gives your lungs protection, and creates space for your lungs to inflate, so you can breathe.

Another metaphor for a framework is a trellis (this is a metaphor some early monastic communities used). I live in an area with a lot of wineries and vineyards. A grape trellis holds the vine up from the ground, allows the plant to receive all the air and sunlight it needs, and keeps the fruit from rotting on the ground.

If you want the wine, you’ll need the trellis.

Or we might think of a house. Without the framework, we might have a jumble of raw materials but we would not have a house. The framework holds up the house that supports the life and energies of the people and pets and plants in it.

Your framework is what supports the moving parts of your life — your projects and tasks, your recreation and your relationships: it’s like the riverbed that holds the water.

Your framework is what holds you up.