In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
nicky.bearblog.dev
In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
1–10 of 56 posts
Re: In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
#2The original post was really just a troll's rant.
Re: In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
#3Reading both posts it sounds like they're in violent agreement rather than disagreeing. There is a lot of FOMO in the aesthetics of productivity but at the end of the day everyone needs a system. It's wise to balance trying to improve the system with getting work done.
Personally I run with a very minimalist setup, am unlikely to change software defaults unless I need too, keep a todo list for myself and use whatever we're using this week to work with others.
I do wonder how much the more productivity systems optimizing people are measuring the actual result versus chasing aesthetics but at the same time I've not noticed it being a net drain so don't particularly care. In part I think it's a case of doing what works for you unless it becomes detrimental. There's a lot to be said for ritual making you comfortable.
Re: In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
#4> our grandparents [...] woke up, put on their boots, and got to work, no excuses, no distractions, no bullshit.
And mostly, I suspect, they saw tangible results for their labour. The house got built, the dress got made, the bread got baked. Its easier to get yourself to do things when the things are there, in front of you. Nowadays many of us sit at a desk building or wrangling systems that are intangible and almost un-visualisable. I think its not surprising that our motivation can be lacking.
I'm a developer, but for me my most productive (and rewarding) day of the last year was the day I spent with friends chainsawing and chopping and carrying twelve tonnes of logs for fuel for our climbing hut. Didn't need to get in the zone for that, and at the end we knew what we'd done and it stayed done.
Re: In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
#5The original post was really just a troll's rant.
these day's what isn't lol
Re: In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
#6Write about productivity crap all you want, if your results are just plain bad compared to others then everyone with a clue will know it's bullshit, you are only fooling newbies, yourself and other kool-aid drinkers.
Obsidian is one thing, but forcing a bad programming methodology onto a problem can waste years of time. Focus on results rather than arguments. I've read beautiful arguments from people I consider insane after seeing their code. Metz is the Aristotle of our time.
Or at the very least define your problem rigorously if you want to apply human reasoning to it. And obviously if the problem changes your "system" for solving the problem should change too, otherwise you are just a dead man walking.
Re: In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
#7> our grandparents [...] woke up, put on their boots, and got to work, no excuses, no distractions, no bullshit. And mostly, I suspect, they saw tangible results for their labour. The house got built, the dress got made, the bread got baked. Its easier to get yourself to do things when the things are there, in front of you. Nowadays many of us sit at a desk building or wrangling systems that are intangible and almost…
We are also very isolated from the people who benefit from our labour. We do not see anyone benefiting from what we do.
It is also now usual to pay less attention to doing good work; to produce cheap crap or to design systems to trap customers into subscriptions or otherwise do bad work for greater profit.
Re: In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
#8In my mind all these productivity systems cook down to creating a list of tasks. The list can be between 4 and 10 items. You do one task at a time and when you are finished you can cross out the task. This is the extent of focus my brain is capable of. Creating giant backlogs and plans is just | /dev/null in my case.
Re: In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
#9> our grandparents [...] woke up, put on their boots, and got to work, no excuses, no distractions, no bullshit. And mostly, I suspect, they saw tangible results for their labour. The house got built, the dress got made, the bread got baked. Its easier to get yourself to do things when the things are there, in front of you. Nowadays many of us sit at a desk building or wrangling systems that are intangible and almost…
Yeah its much easier to do things that actually have clear useful outcomes in the tangible world.
Re: In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
#10The most consistently productive I've been was using the most stripped down physical bullet journal I could. I needed to write things to organise my thoughts a bit but other than that, anything else was literally a distraction and not a system. Basic, basic, bullet journalling and google calendar reminding me of events. That's all I actually need. The only thing holding me back is my brain refusing to use these things consistently these days and avoiding work.