When dealing with a mess and chaos around you, while needing to organize an efficient workflow, it’s important to develop a methodology.

This system should aim to counteract the disorder and work in harmony with your abilities and environment. The focus should be on the positive aspects—the “pluses.” By this, I mean creating a system that offers some benefit beyond just willpower, so it remains sustainable over time.

Small strategies can help. For instance, using a timer can keep you focused. Sit for an hour with the timer ticking, and avoid distractions during that time.

Another effective tactic is to schedule activities you need to do, such as exercise or certain work tasks, immediately after daily routines like breakfast or a shower. An obvious “before bed” routine doesn’t work well for me since you’re usually too tired to do anything serious at that time, but reading books works fine.

In general, your self-management system should be based on positive incentives—a proactive agenda. This approach is more effective than relying on prohibitions or forcing yourself. The key is to figure out why you enjoy these tasks and want to do them.

Set high priorities at the start of the day: tackle the most important and difficult tasks first, leaving less critical ones (like reading) for later in the evening.

And of course, sometimes you just need to push hard on your will—rare cases require forcing, life is hard and complicated in general. But usually smart understanding where to apply positive based management works better.