Tellzm Blog
How we think about projects, productivity, and process — with Tellzm.
Master classes — long-form guides
The Complete Project Management Playbook
A full-length guide to running projects that don't drift — from kickoff through closeout, with every cadence, artifact, and conversation that actually moves the needle. Drawn from running hundreds of projects in Tellzm.
Read the guideThe Complete Personal Productivity Manual
Everything we've learned about staying productive without burning out, distilled into one long guide. Capture, plan, focus, review — with the Tellzm setup that makes each habit easy to keep.
Read the guideThe Complete Progress Tracking Manual
Stop optimizing dashboards for looking green. Start designing them to surface slippage early. A field manual on the metrics, dashboards, and weekly rituals that catch real problems before they become incidents.
Read the guideThe Complete Goal-Setting & Planning Manual
Why most plans die by week six — and the cadence that keeps them alive. A field manual on OKRs, quarterly planning, mid-quarter pivots, and the rituals that turn objectives into results.
Read the guideThe Complete Team Productivity Playbook
How to move as one without becoming a meeting factory. A field manual on async-first rituals, handoffs that survive, the meetings that earn their slot, and the team culture that makes everything cheaper.
Read the guideGTD Mastery: The Complete Manual
The full GTD operating system in Tellzm — all five stages, the discipline that keeps it alive, and the modern adaptations that make it survive a 2026 work week. Built for people who've tried GTD and watched it collapse.
Read the guideThe Complete Processes & SOPs Manual
How to write SOPs that get followed, processes that survive turnover, and the operational habits that turn 'we should write that down' into 'we already did'. A field manual on templates, mandatory checklists, versioning, and the audit that keeps it all honest.
Read the guideFeatured
Project Management Without the Drift
Most projects don't fail at kickoff. They drift, week by week. Here's how to set up a project in Tellzm so you catch drift before it becomes a slip.
Read moreCategories
Project Management
Run projects that don't drift. From kickoff to close — scoping, sequencing, stakeholders, signals.
Personal Productivity
Your own work, without the chaos. Inbox triage, focused blocks, weekly reviews that actually stick.
Progress Tracking
Know where things actually stand. Honest dashboards, leading indicators, and reviews that catch slippage early.
Planning & Goals
Set goals you'll actually hit. Quarterly planning, OKR scoring, and the cadence that turns plans into results.
Team Productivity
Move as one. Async-friendly rituals, clear ownership, and the meeting cadence that doesn't drain everyone.
Getting Things Done (GTD)
The complete GTD playbook in Tellzm. Capture, clarify, organize, reflect, engage — without the rigid ceremony.
Processes & SOPs
Repeatable work, beautifully. Templates, checklists, approval flows — and the docs that keep them alive.
Latest posts
Personal Productivity Without Burning Out
The honest version: most personal-productivity systems collapse in week three. Here's a minimal Tellzm setup that survives a year.
Progress Tracking with Dashboards That Don't Lie
Most progress dashboards optimize for looking green. We optimize for surfacing slippage. Here's how to build dashboards in Tellzm that catch real problems early.
Quarterly Planning That Survives Contact With Reality
Most quarterly plans look great on paper and feel useless by week six. Here's a planning loop in Tellzm that updates itself as the quarter unfolds.
Team Productivity: Async Rituals That Don't Drain Anyone
The team productivity playbook that ditches half the meetings. Standups, retros, and handoffs — all running async in Tellzm.
GTD in Tellzm: The Complete Playbook
The five GTD stages — capture, clarify, organize, reflect, engage — wired into a Tellzm workspace you maintain in five minutes a day.
Processes & SOPs That Actually Get Followed
The hardest part of a process isn't writing it. It's keeping it followed when nobody's watching. Here's how Tellzm makes a process the path of least resistance.
Stakeholder Management Without the Status Meeting
If you're running a weekly status call because nobody trusts the dashboard, the dashboard is the problem. Here's how to fix it.
Deep Work Blocks in a Noisy Week
Two 90-minute focus blocks per day will outperform eight hours of scattered attention. Here's how to carve them out and protect them in Tellzm.
Cycle Time: The Only Velocity Metric That Matters
Story points are gameable. Throughput depends on team size. Cycle time is honest. Here's how to track it in Tellzm and what to do when it drifts.
OKR Anti-Patterns We Stopped Doing
Five things we used to do with OKRs that made them worse. If you're seeing any of these, it's not the framework — it's the practice.
Team Handoffs Without Context Loss
Every Slack DM is a context tax on whoever inherits the work later. Here's how to make handoffs that survive a week.
The Five-Minute Weekly Review
The Friday review is the load-bearing habit in GTD. If yours takes an hour, you'll skip it. Here's the five-minute version that survives.
Checklists With Teeth — How to Stop Skipping the Important Steps
A checklist nobody enforces is a wish list. Here's how to make process steps blocking — so the wrong outcome is harder than the right one.
The Project Kickoff Meeting Template That Actually Works
Most kickoffs waste the first hour on intros and the second on vague ambitions. Here's a 45-minute structure that ends with everyone knowing what's next.
Scope Creep, the Quiet Killer — and How to Spot It
Scope creep doesn't announce itself. It arrives one tiny 'small ask' at a time. Here's the early-warning system.
Why Every Project Needs a Decision Log
Three months after a project closes, the most expensive question becomes 'why did we choose X?'. A decision log answers it in 30 seconds.
The Sunday-Night Weekly Plan
Fifteen minutes Sunday night save you from reactive Mondays. Here's the exact ritual.
Saying No Without Burning Bridges
The single highest-leverage productivity skill: ending a meeting request with respect intact. Here's the script.
Leading Indicators Beat Lagging Ones — Every Time
Revenue is a lagging indicator. Churn is a lagging indicator. By the time they move, the cause was three months ago. Track leading ones instead.
The 45-Minute Weekly Business Review
Most WBRs run 90 minutes and accomplish 30 minutes of work. Here's how to cut the fat without cutting the rigor.
The Goal-Setting Pyramid
Vision → annual → quarterly → weekly. If any layer skips, the system breaks. Here's how to keep all four in sync.
Ambitious vs. Realistic Goals — How to Set the Stretch
The right amount of stretch lands at 0.6-0.7 quarter-end. Less, you're sandbagging. More, you're losing trust.
Team Rituals That Actually Stick
Six rituals you can introduce tomorrow that survive past month two — and three you should stop doing today.
Giving Real Feedback to a Remote Team
Slack is a terrible feedback medium. Written, asynchronous, contextual is the answer.
The Two-Minute Rule, Done Right
If a task takes less than two minutes, do it now. Sounds simple. People still get it wrong. Here's why.
GTD Contexts in 2026 — Beyond '@Phone'
Allen's '@phone, @errands, @home' contexts came from 2001. The 2026 versions are different — and more useful.
The Discipline of Someday/Maybe
Someday/Maybe is where ideas go to die. That's a feature, not a bug. Here's how to use it ruthlessly.
Writing an SOP That Actually Gets Read
Most SOPs are too long, too generic, and read like they were written by a lawyer. Here's how to write one your team uses.
Process Versioning — How to Update an SOP Without Breaking Active Work
Updating a live process is dangerous if you're not careful. Versioning rules + the right rollout pattern keep both old and new instances safe.