Productivity Identity Mapping: A Fun and Honest Way to Reclaim Your Time

I'm a big fan of mind mapping. There’s something deeply satisfying about seeing your thoughts, responsibilities, and aspirations mapped out in clusters on a piece of paper — it brings clarity and the beginnings of strategy.

Recently, I created something I now call a Productivity Identity Map. With life piling on — work deadlines, family obligations, personal projects, side quests — I needed a system that would help me navigate better. Here's what I did, and how it can help you or your team too.

Step 1: Mind Map Your Roles

I started by mapping out the key areas of my life — work, family, hobbies, and personal development. From each, I branched out into the roles I play:

• At home: mum, wife, sister, daughter, friend

• At work: trainer, strategist, mentor, creator

• In hobbies and projects: writer, learner, explorer

Step 2: Uncover Responsibilities + Identity Traits

For each role, I listed key weekly responsibilities and then added words that describe what version of “me” shows up for those tasks — sometimes it’s the perfectionist, other times the solo deep thinker (preferably in a quiet corner), or maybe the high-energy collaborator.

Step 3: Energy & Satisfaction Audit

I used colours and symbols to indicate:

• Where my energy is going

• How important the task really is

• How satisfying it feels

This gave me a new 2D perspective:

• Roles + Responsibilities

• Energy + Satisfaction

This view, probably better than anything else showed me how busy I am (on my own ask) and that sometimes I don’t spend enough time where I should be.

Step 4: Honest Reflection and Strategy

Here came the hard part: asking myself,

• Am I overcommitting out of fear or perfectionism?

• Are there tasks I’m doing just because I “should”? Maybe there are some that I love so much, it is hard to resign from?

• Can I delegate, batch, automate or rethink these tasks?

This step wasn’t just about cutting down. It was also about finding where I am not as productive as I could, and which areas would benefit from my productivity attention. From there I could go and start builiding better systems to make the things that have to be done more enjoyable and sustainable to leave some space for the ones that I would like to transfer some of my energy to.

OUTCOME

What my Productivity Identity Map gave me:

• 🔍 Clarity on how my identity and roles have evolved

• ⚖️ Realisation that not everything deserves my full energy

• 📊 Visibility of where I’m thriving (and where I’m drained)

• 🛠️ Action Plan for systemising, optimising, and even dropping some things

This isn’t just a tool for personal growth — it’s a fantastic way for corporate teams to reflect on energy vs impact, to reduce burnout, and to increase intentional productivity.

Try it yourself. Mind map your roles. Add energy. Add honesty. Then build systems.

Let the real work — and the real you — come to light.