At the beginning of this year, I did something that i'd call ... a tad uncomfortable. I stepped back and looked at how I actually spent my time last year. Not what I intended to focus on. Not what I told myself was important. But what my calendar (and task lists) proved I did.

And if I'm honest? I was busy. Productive, even. But I didn't move the needle on the things that actually mattered to me.

What I noticed was that I was great at creating work for myself. And some of it even felt valiant and important. But here's what I've forced myself to come to terms with: when you choose to do one thing, you're choosing not to do a hundred others. And too often, I was choosing the wrong thing.

So this year I got clearer on my priorities. More empty space. More thinking time. More time for relationships. More focus on the highest-leverage parts of the business.

Truth is, that part was surprisingly easy. The hard part was actually holding myself to it.

Ya see, I've done this exercise before. It works for a few weeks. Then life happens. The edges blur. Old habits sneak back in. So this time I built some god damn enforcement.

How I'm ACTUALLY sticking to my intentions in 2026

Here's the system. I took my priorities (and not-to-do rules) and uploaded them into a custom GPT project. I told it: "You are here to hold me accountable to this."

Throughout the day, I keep a scratchpad list in my notes app. Whenever something pops into my head, I jot it down. Big, small, personal, business. Doesn't matter.

Then every morning, I paste that list into the GPT. It does three things:

1. Sorts everything into an Eisenhower matrix (urgent/important, etc.)
2. Recommends what I should actually focus on today
3. Flags anything that violates the rules we agreed on

For example: If I write, "Quick design tweak for client." It will literally tell me: "You don't do design work. This should be delegated." If I write something that smells like busy work, it calls it out.

Now, is this some magical solution? No. But it's almost just as good... it's friction. And I've realized that friction is powerful.

The Results

Yes it's been helpful to have a third party force of accountability. But what's really surprised me is how it's changing the way I think.

Because I go through this every single morning, I now feel when something doesn't belong on my list. Before I even paste it in, I know I'm going to get yelled at. It's literally retraining my instincts.

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The truth is, most of us don't need more productivity hacks. We need a system that forces us to confront the trade-offs of our choices. Every yes is a no to something else. Even the "quick things" have an opportunity cost.

And if you don't build a filter, your day will fill itself. Mine certainly did. Now, at least, I've got something that pushes back.

— Shane