What is APS?
A Jesus‑centred way to handle everything on your plate.
The Abraham Productivity System (APS) helps you capture every input, review it at the right level, and place it into time blocks that match how your brain actually works. At each layer you ask a simple question about calling, season, and limits, so that obedience – not anxiety – drives what gets done.
How inputs flow
APS starts with inputs: any request, idea, or obligation that lands on your radar (“Can you…?”, “We should…”, “I’d like to…”).
Every input is captured and sent to a single trusted inbox (for example, the Inbox in Remember The Milk), usually before you have decided exactly what it is.
- No on‑the‑spot commitments.
- Zero‑inbox brain: nothing has to be remembered.
- You trust the review rhythm instead of your memory.
In your weekly review, you clarify what each input is and decide where it belongs in time, using Cognitive‑Mode Time Blocks instead of classic GTD contexts.
- Ask: “What is this really?” and “When and how will I approach it?”.
- Assign it to a time block that matches the mental mode it needs.
Cognitive‑Mode Time Blocks
Instead of treating every hour as the same, APS uses Cognitive‑Mode Time Blocks: calendar slots built around different kinds of thinking.
At the weekly review, you drop clarified tasks into these blocks, so your most demanding work lands in your strongest mental mode, and lightweight work lands where you have less energy.
The question is no longer “Do I feel like it?” but “What does this hour’s brain‑mode make possible?” Your calendar becomes a map of how you actually think, not just where you have empty space.
The layers of APS
APS runs on a small set of review layers. Each layer has a guiding question and a practical expression.
| Layer | Guiding question | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Annual plan | What has God actually called me to this year? | Set big goals, curate a project portfolio, and trim the Hibernate list so your year reflects genuine calling rather than pressure. |
| Monthly review | What fits my season and limits this month? | Choose which goals become active projects now; some stay waiting in the portfolio or Hibernate if the timing is wrong. |
| Weekly review | What deserves my best energy this week? | Fill your top Cognitive‑Mode blocks first with the highest‑leverage work tied to your active projects. |
| Daily rhythm | What matches my energy at this hour? | From your task manager (e.g. Remember The Milk), pull tasks that match both time‑of‑day and brain‑mode, not guilt or urgency alone. |
| Boundaries | Where do I stop and rest in trust? | Set hard stop times, practice Sabbath, and use Hibernate/Delete for tasks that are not yours to carry, expressing obedience by not doing everything. |
Lists: Goals, Lone Wolfs & Hibernate
APS distinguishes between goals (outcomes you are committed to) and the projects that sit underneath them.
- Each goal usually has multiple next actions.
- Goals can remain “waiting” in your portfolio even if they have no actions this month.
Lone Wolfs are standalone next actions that do not belong to a larger project, while the Hibernate list has inputs that are resting.
- Lone Wolfs: quick, independent tasks.
- Hibernate: ideas and tasks that are real, but not for this season.
- Reviewed monthly so nothing important is lost.
Why this matters
APS is designed for people who want a serious productivity system that still honours Sabbath, limits, and calling. It combines the rigour of GTD‑style capture and review with a simple theological lens: you are a steward, not a machine.
By separating capture from commitment, and planning from execution, you gain the freedom to say “yes” and “no” from a place of obedience rather than hurry. Your calendar and task list become a lived confession that God is God, and you are not.