Why I’m breaking my own systems for back-to-school

Hi, Gopi here.

It’s that time of year again. The back-to-school energy is in the air, and with it comes the urge to completely rehaul my life.

You know the drill. Figuring out the new note-taking method, finding that fresh Notion template that promises to organize your entire brain, maybe even planning a few outfits to impress the homies.

My ritual is always the same. I spend a week meticulously cleaning up my digital life. I look at the new curriculum, pretending I’m getting ahead. I build a beautiful, intricate system in Notion - a masterpiece of interconnected databases and filtered views.

And for about two weeks, it works.

Then, inevitably, it all collapses under its own weight. I’m left using maybe 20% of what I built, and the rest becomes digital clutter I feel guilty for ignoring.

I fall for this trap every single year. I know all about Shiny Object Syndrome. I’ve read the articles, I understand the theory. But the moment I see a slick new to-do app trending on Twitter or a perfectly aesthetic Notion setup, a naive little voice in my head says, "This will be the one that finally fixes everything."

It never is. I always end up back at my whiteboard, scribbling tasks with a messy marker.

This isn’t because I’m stupid. It’s because I’m an optimist. I genuinely believe that the next tool, the next system, will be the thing that makes me consistent.

But this year feels different. It’s not just because I finished my bachelor's degree and have a piece of paper that proves I’m worth at least something. It’s because I’m tired of this game. The spiel has gone on for too long.

So my plan is to do the opposite.

Instead of adding, I’m going to remove and reduce.

It sounds silly to break the systems you’ve spent so much time building, but think about it. The entire point of a system is to be more efficient, to reduce friction. So why do we build systems with five different apps and duplicated information that add more friction to our lives?

My new strategy is to simplify until it’s almost impossible to fail. To free up my time by freeing myself from the burden of maintaining the system itself.

I’m starting by gutting my Notion. No more filling in my course schedule on a fancy calendar view when I already have it in my Google Calendar - the thing I actually check every day.

If it already has a home, it doesn't need a second one.

Here's what my Notion hub looks like now. It's less of a command center and more of a quiet workspace for the few things that truly belong there.

Maybe productivity isn't about finding the perfect tools. Maybe it's just about ruthlessly getting out of your own way.