Hi,

I didn’t start this to be more efficient.

I started it because I was tired of wasting the first hour figuring out what I was supposed to be doing.

Even with a decent system—Builder Notes, PARA, Daily Notes—
my mornings felt scattered.
Open laptop. 12 tabs. Random notes. A loose plan.

I’d end up rereading old drafts, digging through inboxes, or worst, starting something new just to feel productive.

What I needed wasn’t another layer of planning.
I just needed a way to reset my focus.

So I built a 5-minute PKM routine.
Nothing fancy. Just enough to get me pointed in the right direction.

Here’s what it looks like.

I open the last note I touched.
If there’s an idea still alive, I start from there.
Most days, that saves me from creating something new just to feel useful.

Quick scan in Notion:
What’s my project for today?
Writing? Editing? Finishing something?
I don’t plan tasks—I just name the focus.

This becomes my working surface for the day.
It’s where links, thoughts, quotes, and sparks get dropped.
One page. Clean start.

That’s it. I don’t touch my task list until this is done.

It’s not a “system.”
It’s a checkpoint.

The goal isn’t to control your day.
It’s to stop you from getting dragged in 12 directions before you’ve even begun.

This routine:

It connects the dots between what I captured, what I’m building, and what I need next.

That’s why I still do it.
Because once I’m grounded, I don’t need more structure—I just need to start.

If you want to try it:

Until next time,

Gav