A hierarchy of systems

I want the minimal maintainable systems in my life that allow me to make beautiful and/or useful things. My primary systems focus on time and project management.

Here is my timeline of system development (also rank-ordered for quality of system):

No system

A system I made up

A system collected from random parts of other systems

A complete archaic system

A complete modern system

A complete modern system modified to my personal situation

Take calendars. In the past, I did not have a calendar. I apologize to anyone who had to deal with me back then. I don’t know how I got where I wanted to be at the right time and place. I went through the hierarchy of systems, step-by-step. Right now I use Google calendar with a subcalendar for each of my different roles and responsibilities. Because it works, I spend more time using the system than working on the system.