Earlier today I was on a call with a group of people who enrolled in one of my live programs.

We had a fascinating discussion about people who seem to have it all together.

And in particular about people who adhere to rigid weekly schedules that make it seem like they have time for absolutely everything.

Here’s one example:

(And it is just an example. It doesn’t matter whose schedule this is. This person actually has some great ideas.)

What matters is that this is productivity porn.

When you look at this, you might go, “ooh, I want that!”

I try to make my productivity apps look pretty too. Nothing wrong with that.

But when you see this, you might think, “if only I could be disciplined enough to structure my week like that, I would finally have time for everything!”

And I hate to break it to you: you wouldn’t.

There will always be more things worth doing than you’ll have time for.

But that’s not even my main point here.

While you can see the pretty calendar of someone who religiously time blocks, you won’t see them stopping mid-task, right when they’re in the zone, because their arbitrary 2-hour block is over.

You won’t see them, a week later, struggling to remember where they had left off.

You won’t see the cost of switching context all the time.

And you also won’t see what’s messy about their life, anyway. Most of our lives are pretty messy, behind the curtain.

I have nothing against time blocking. It’s just an example.

But I want to stress that techniques that might seem appealing and that appear to work for others might not work for you. And if they don’t, that’s not a failure on your part.

For example, time blocking has never worked for me. I doubt it ever will. Once I get going on a task, I like to ride the momentum until it dissipates. Anyone who does any kind of creative work should understand.

So beware of productivity porn.

When you see a technique (or an app) that you think will instantly fix all of your problems, be very skeptical.

Of course there are smart techniques you can learn and smart systems you can build. And you should have a personal productivity system.

But there is no one silver bullet. Building your system will take trial and error. Therefore, it will also take time.

It is absolutely worth it, though.