Feel like you’re stuck in a constant loop of procrastination?
You’ve got a detailed plan. Your tasks are lined up. Reminders are set. You’re ready to crush the day…
Then the calendar notification pops up, and what do you do?
You sigh, you stare at it, and you ignore it.
Sound familiar?
That was Ruri Ohama’s reality for years. No matter how many productivity hacks she tried, the cycle continued:
Procrastinate → panic before the deadline → hyper-focus → barely finish on time → beat herself up afterward.
Over time, this repetitive grind eroded her confidence, left her stressed, and drained her energy.
She felt like she was wasting her potential.
But everything changed when she discovered the root of the problem—and how to solve it.
The Real Problem: Time Blindness
Most people think procrastination is about laziness or a lack of discipline. That’s wrong.
For Ruri, the real issue was time blindness—something common in people with ADHD.
Time blindness means you can’t sense time passing accurately. One moment, you’re starting a task.
The next?
Hours have flown by—or worse, you feel like you’ve been working for ages, but it’s only been ten minutes.
That’s a recipe for chaos.
When you can’t predict how long things will take, you overestimate or underestimate everything.
You plan a task thinking it’ll take an hour, but two hours later, you’re still not done.
Your schedule collapses, stress builds, and you feel like you’re falling behind—again.
Why Time Management Alone Doesn’t Work
Here’s what most productivity gurus miss:
Managing time isn’t enough.
Time is finite—we all get 24 hours a day. But energy? That’s dynamic.
It ebbs and flows depending on things like sleep, stress, food, and even the time of day.
Traditional time-blocking assumes consistent energy levels all day long.
But Ruri discovered that wasn’t how things worked for her.
Some days she woke up ready to tackle big projects. Other days, getting out of bed felt like a chore.
The lesson?
Productivity isn’t about squeezing tasks into rigid blocks of time. It’s about aligning tasks with your energy levels.
The Two-Calendar Method: A Simple Fix for Procrastination
Ruri didn’t solve her procrastination problem by forcing herself to follow a perfect schedule.
Instead, she built a system around her reality—time blindness and all.
It’s called the Two-Calendar Method, and it’s ridiculously simple:
1. Plan your day:
Estimate how long each task will take. Block off time for it in your calendar.
This step forces you to make a conscious effort to gauge time—something that helps combat time blindness.
2. Log what actually happens:
As you go through your day, keep a reverse log.
If you planned to start at 10 a.m. but didn’t get going until 11, note it. If a task took twice as long as expected, log that too.
This way, you get a clear comparison between what you planned and what actually happened.
3. Reflect and adjust:
At the end of the day, take five minutes to review your reverse log.
Ask yourself:
- When was I most productive?
- When did my energy drop?
- Were my time estimates accurate?
Over time, you’ll notice patterns. Maybe your energy peaks in the afternoon. Maybe you hit a slump after lunch. Use those insights to plan better—and stop setting yourself up for failure.
Align Tasks with Energy, Not Time
Here’s the key takeaway:
Plan your tasks around your energy, not just your time.
After tracking her patterns, Ruri realized that her productivity peaked in the late afternoon. So, she started scheduling demanding tasks during that window and reserved simpler tasks for the morning when her energy was lower.
It worked.
By aligning her schedule with her natural energy flow, she became more efficient and less stressed.
You can take it even further by tracking other factors that affect energy, like sleep, food, and exercise.
Small tweaks—like eating lighter meals or getting better sleep—can dramatically improve how you feel throughout the day.
How Ruri Beat Overwhelm with Prioritization
Feeling overwhelmed? Welcome to the club.
When you’ve got a never-ending list of tasks, it’s easy to freeze up.
You stare at everything that needs to be done and can’t figure out where to start.
That’s analysis paralysis—a common struggle for procrastinators and people with ADHD.
Here’s how Ruri got past it:
She focused on prioritization. Instead of trying to do everything, she learned to identify tasks that were both urgent and aligned with her long-term goals.
Everything else? She let it go.
This simple shift helped her reduce mental clutter and focus on what actually mattered.
Progress Beats Perfection
Here’s a brutal truth:
You’re never going to follow your schedule perfectly. And that’s okay.
Ruri’s biggest breakthrough wasn’t finding the perfect productivity system—it was realizing that progress beats perfection.
The two-calendar method taught her to view each day as a series of adjustments, not a rigid plan to execute flawlessly.
Some days, things go smoothly. Other days, they don’t.
What matters is showing up consistently and getting a little better over time.
Final Thoughts
Procrastination doesn’t mean you’re lazy. It doesn’t mean you lack discipline. It means you need a system that works for you—not against you.
By focusing on time awareness, energy management, and realistic planning, Ruri Ohama broke free from the cycle of procrastination and started making real progress toward her goals.
Her story is proof that with the right mindset and tools, anyone can take control of their time—even if traditional productivity methods haven’t worked for them.
If procrastination is keeping you stuck, try the two-calendar method. Stop aiming for perfection. Focus on what works for you.
And remember:
Productivity isn’t about crushing every day—it’s about getting a little better, one day at a time.
This post was inspired by Ruri Ohama's video: Watch This If You Keep Making Plans But Never Follow Through.
