After exploring different ways of storing my notes, I’ve developed a system inspired by a plentiful of productive gurus.

I call it CUP and it stands for Cabinet, Unfold and Play.

Cabinet

The Cabinet is a spin on the Cabinet of Curiosities and this is where I store most of my notes. The Cabinet is more than just storage - it’s a curated collection of knowledge, ideas, and inspiration. Like the historical cabinets of curiosities, it’s where we keep our most interesting findings. This could include book notes, research, interesting articles, concepts, or any piece of information worth preserving.

Unfold

Unfold captures life as it happens. By keeping daily notes, meeting logs, and journal entries here, we create a chronological story of our days. Through backlinks, these daily captures stay connected to our broader work, making it easy to trace how ideas and projects develop over time.

Play

By choosing “Play” over “Projects,” we create a space that invites creativity and experimentation. This section houses our active work and responsibilities, but approaches them with a lighter, more engaging mindset. Whether it’s writing, coding, or planning, framing it as play helps maintain curiosity and reduces the pressure we often associate with traditional project management.

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Like the name suggests, CUP is a container - but one that’s designed to grow and evolve with our needs and interests.

After decades of coding, I can read and understand code as naturally as English or Swedish. As AI becomes the primary code generator, this skill will become invaluable.

We’ll evolve into the gatekeepers - like editors who approve manuscripts or art curators who authenticate masterpieces. But our stakes will be higher. We’ll be the ones signing off on code that artificial intelligence produces, code that could move markets or impact millions.

We’ll be the final human eyes, the ones who understand both the poetry and potential pitfalls in machine-written code.

How often do we pause to question if our goals still fit the person we are today?

Like hanging onto a jacket that no longer fits just because it used to be our favorite. We often cling to old dreams and ambitions that we’ve outgrown.

Are we still trying to achieve the goals of our past selves? Following an outdated map. Moving in a direction that no longer excites us.

Remember - the real failure isn’t in changing direction or letting go. The real failure is staying stuck. Doing nothing. Being afraid to admit we’ve changed. Every step forward teaches us something new about ourselves. Even if it means leaving old dreams behind.

Is this still your dream? Or are you just afraid to let it go?

Decisions are roadblocks in your story.

But they need to be made.

They are the way to change our stories, our identities.

Stories change through action, and action starts with decision. Changing your identity story isn’t easy.

Missing a few days is not a failure.

Stopping forever, might be.

Getting back on track is what matters.

Productivity alone is a flawed metric.
It often leads to an endless grind.

Connect it to other factors that matter.

Is the fun? Is it efficient? Are you collaborating? Does it make you happy?

The battle is in the start.

Once you start moving, it gets easier. Write the draft, copy-paste, steal, use AI — do whatever it takes to get away from the blank page as fast as possible.

Your first sentence does not need to be unique. Your last edit needs to be.

To spark creativity, sometimes you need to pitch the crappiest idea.

But be prepared to back off if your team starts taking it seriously.

We’re living in a world obsessed with output, heck even this page is a proof-of-it.

Our economic systems reward quantity, and now AI tools let us create more content than ever before.

As business publishing evolved from 500-page bricks to concentrated 30 minute reads, we might see a similar shift in digital content.

People don’t want more, they want better. They want signal, not noise.

The real question for the future will not be “How much can we produce?” it will be “How can we deliver value with less?”.

We often jump straight to solutions before really understanding the problem. It’s backwards, right?

When our ideas are too polished from the start, we leave no room for others to contribute.

That’s why rough ideas work better for team innovation.

Share them early and watch your team create something awesome.