When to Use
Use this skill when the user wants a real productivity system, not just one-off motivation. It should cover goals, projects, tasks, habits, planning, reviews, overload triage, and situation-specific constraints in one coherent operating model.
Architecture
Productivity lives in ~/productivity/. If ~/productivity/ does not exist yet, run setup.md.
~/productivity/
├── memory.md # Work style, constraints, energy, preferences
├── inbox/
│ ├── capture.md # Quick capture before sorting
│ └── triage.md # Triage rules and current intake
├── dashboard.md # High-level direction and current focus
├── goals/
│ ├── active.md # Outcome goals and milestones
│ └── someday.md # Goals not committed yet
├── projects/
│ ├── active.md # In-flight projects
│ └── waiting.md # Blocked or delegated projects
├── tasks/
│ ├── next-actions.md # Concrete next steps
│ ├── this-week.md # This week's commitments
│ ├── waiting.md # Waiting-for items
│ └── done.md # Completed items worth keeping
├── habits/
│ ├── active.md # Current habits and streak intent
│ └── friction.md # Things that break consistency
├── planning/
│ ├── daily.md # Daily focus and must-win
│ ├── weekly.md # Weekly plan and protected time
│ └── focus-blocks.md # Deep work and recovery blocks
├── reviews/
│ ├── weekly.md # Weekly reset
│ └── monthly.md # Monthly reflection and adjustments
├── commitments/
│ ├── promises.md # Commitments made to self or others
│ └── delegated.md # Handed-off work to track
├── focus/
│ ├── sessions.md # Deep work sessions and patterns
│ └── distractions.md # Repeating focus breakers
├── routines/
│ ├── morning.md # Startup routine and first-hour defaults
│ └── shutdown.md # End-of-day reset and carry-over logic
└── someday/
└── ideas.md # Parked ideas and optional opportunities
The skill should treat this as the user's productivity operating system: one trusted place for direction, commitments, execution, habits, and periodic review.
Quick Reference
| Topic | File |
|---|---|
| Setup and routing | setup.md |
| Memory structure | memory-template.md |
| Productivity system template | system-template.md |
| Cross-situation frameworks | frameworks.md |
| Common mistakes | traps.md |
| Student context | situations/student.md |
| Executive context | situations/executive.md |
| Freelancer context | situations/freelancer.md |
| Parent context | situations/parent.md |
| Creative context | situations/creative.md |
| Burnout context | situations/burnout.md |
| Entrepreneur context | situations/entrepreneur.md |
| ADHD context | situations/adhd.md |
| Remote work context | situations/remote.md |
| Manager context | situations/manager.md |
| Habit context | situations/habits.md |
| Guilt and recovery context | situations/guilt.md |
What This Skill Sets Up
| Layer | Purpose | Default location |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Catch loose inputs fast | ~/productivity/inbox/ |
| Direction | Goals and active bets | ~/productivity/dashboard.md + goals/ |
| Execution | Next actions and commitments | ~/productivity/tasks/ |
| Projects | Active and waiting project state | ~/productivity/projects/ |
| Habits | Repeated behaviors and friction | ~/productivity/habits/ |
| Planning | Daily, weekly, and focus planning | ~/productivity/planning/ |
| Reflection | Weekly and monthly reset | ~/productivity/reviews/ |
| Commitments | Promises and delegated follow-through | ~/productivity/commitments/ |
| Focus | Deep work protection and distraction logs | ~/productivity/focus/ |
| Routines | Startup and shutdown defaults | ~/productivity/routines/ |
| Parking lot | Non-committed ideas | ~/productivity/someday/ |
| Personal fit | Constraints, energy, preferences | ~/productivity/memory.md |
This skill should give the user a single framework that can absorb:
goals
projects
tasks
habits
priorities
focus sessions
routines
focus blocks
reviews
commitments
inbox capture
parked ideas
bottlenecks
context-specific adjustments
Quick Queries
| User says | Action |
|---|---|
| "Set up my productivity system" | Create the ~/productivity/ baseline and explain the folders |
| "What should I focus on?" | Check dashboard + tasks + commitments + focus, then surface top priorities |
| "Help me plan my week" | Use goals, projects, commitments, routines, and energy patterns to build a weekly plan |
| "I'm overwhelmed" | Triage commitments, cut scope, and reset next actions |
| "Turn this goal into a plan" | Convert goal -> project -> milestones -> next actions |
| "Do a weekly review" | Update wins, blockers, carry-overs, and next-week focus |
| "Help me with habits" | Use habits/ to track what to keep, drop, or redesign |
| "Help me reset my routine" | Use routines/ and planning/ to simplify startup and shutdown loops |
| "Remember this preference" | Save it to ~/productivity/memory.md after explicit confirmation |
Core Rules
1. Build One System, Not Five Competing Ones
Prefer one trusted productivity structure over scattered notes, random task lists, and duplicated plans.
Route goals, projects, tasks, habits, routines, focus, planning, and reviews into the right folder instead of inventing a fresh system each time.
If the user already has a good system, adapt to it rather than replacing it for style reasons.
2. Start With the Real Bottleneck
Diagnose whether the problem is priorities, overload, unclear next actions, bad estimates, weak boundaries, or low energy.
Give the smallest useful intervention first.
Do not prescribe a full life overhaul when the user really needs a clearer next step.
3. Separate Goals, Projects, and Tasks Deliberately
Goals describe outcomes.
Projects package the work needed to reach an outcome.
Tasks are the next visible actions.
Habits are repeated behaviors that support the system over time.
Never leave a goal sitting as a vague wish without a concrete project or next action.
4. Adapt the System to Real Constraints
Use the situation guides when the user's reality matters more than generic advice.
Energy, childcare, deadlines, meetings, burnout, and ADHD constraints should shape the plan.
A sustainable system beats an idealized one that collapses after two days.
5. Reviews Matter More Than Constant Replanning
Weekly review is where the system regains trust.
Clear stale tasks, rename vague items, and reconnect tasks to real priorities.
If the user keeps replanning daily without progress, simplify and review instead.
6. Save Only Explicitly Approved Preferences
Store work-style information only when the user explicitly asks you to save it or clearly approves.
Before writing to
~/productivity/memory.md, ask for confirmation.Never infer long-term preferences from silence, patterns, or one-off comments.
Common Traps
Giving motivational talk when the problem is actually structural.
Treating every task like equal priority.
Mixing goals, projects, and tasks in the same vague list.
Building a perfect system the user will never maintain.
Recommending routines that ignore the user's real context.
Preserving stale commitments because deleting them feels uncomfortable.
Scope
This skill ONLY:
builds or improves a local productivity operating system
gives productivity advice and planning frameworks
reads included reference files for context-specific guidance
writes to
~/productivity/only after explicit user approval
This skill NEVER:
accesses calendar, email, contacts, or external services by itself
monitors or tracks behavior in the background
infers long-term preferences from observation alone
writes files without explicit user confirmation
makes network requests
modifies its own SKILL.md or auxiliary files
External Endpoints
This skill makes NO external network requests.
| Endpoint | Data Sent | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| None | None | N/A |
No data is sent externally.
Data Storage
Local files live in ~/productivity/.
~/productivity/memory.mdstores approved preferences, constraints, and work-style notes~/productivity/inbox/stores fast captures and triage~/productivity/dashboard.mdstores top-level direction and current focus~/productivity/goals/stores active and someday goals~/productivity/projects/stores active and waiting projects~/productivity/tasks/stores next actions, weekly commitments, waiting items, and completions~/productivity/habits/stores active habits and friction notes~/productivity/planning/stores daily plans, weekly plans, and focus blocks~/productivity/reviews/stores weekly and monthly reviews~/productivity/commitments/stores promises and delegated follow-through~/productivity/focus/stores deep-work sessions and distraction patterns~/productivity/routines/stores startup and shutdown defaults~/productivity/someday/stores parked ideas
Create or update these files only after the user confirms they want the system written locally.
Migration
If upgrading from an older version, see migration.md before restructuring any existing ~/productivity/ files.
Keep legacy files until the user confirms the new system is working for them.
Security & Privacy
Data that leaves your machine:
- Nothing. This skill performs no network calls.
Data stored locally:
Only the productivity files the user explicitly approves in
~/productivity/Work preferences, constraints, priorities, and planning artifacts the user chose to save
This skill does NOT:
access internet or third-party services
read calendar, email, contacts, or system data automatically
run scripts or commands by itself
monitor behavior in the background
infer hidden preferences from passive observation
Trust
This skill is instruction-only. It provides a local framework for productivity planning, prioritization, and review. Install it only if you are comfortable storing your own productivity notes in plain text under ~/productivity/.
Related Skills
Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:
self-improving— Compound execution quality and reusable lessons across tasksgoals— Deeper goal-setting and milestone designcalendar-planner— Calendar-driven planning and scheduling supportnotes— Structured note capture for ongoing work and thinking
Feedback
If useful:
clawhub star productivityStay updated:
clawhub sync