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I highly recommend the early episodes of the Cortex podcast where CGP Grey talks about his system. I discovered that his brain works in roughly the same way as mine, and so I was able to apply a lot of his insights to make my own system better.
Second, tweaking your local setup is more like 'ergonomics' then 'productivity'. Working with more ergonomic setup may yield the same output, but it's more enjoyable.
The idea of having a system or process is to be able to; - be intentional, consciously engage, and be present. - participate by being active rather than passive. - be consistent and reliable in timing, expectation, and quality. - be finite by constraint around time, effort, or action. If one wants just to keep winging it, it is still a choice and OK to be that.
That’s me. I wing it. I do this because I believe productivity as such is not a virtue. I’m interested in creative breakthroughs, not maximizing any predictable or conceivable variable.
Most jobs and tasks in life don't need any "creative breakthroughs". The article is discussing scheduling, task prioritization and management. Fix this bug, implement this feature, schedule this doctor's appointment, do the dishes, buy toilet paper. No breakthroughs needed for those, creative or otherwise :)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s me. I wing it. I do this because I believe productivity as such is not a virtue. I’m interested in creative breakthroughs, not maximizing any predictable or conceivable variable.
> I’m interested in creative breakthroughs, not maximizing any predictable or conceivable variable. Most jobs and tasks in life don't need any "creative breakthroughs". The article is discussing scheduling, task prioritization and management. Fix this bug, implement this feature, schedule this doctor's appointment, do the dishes, buy toilet paper. No breakthroughs needed for those, creative or otherwise :)
When you know what needs to be done, you don't need "productivity", you just need to work. When you don't know what needs to be done, no amount of "productivity" will compensate for the fact that any work you do is meaningless and any result thereof accidental.
In 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.
First, 'doing the damn work' all day feels horrible. You need to do some self-assigned and self-guided work during the day to not feel like an assembly line worker. Second, tweaking your local setup is more like 'ergonomics' then 'productivity'. Working with more ergonomic setup may yield the same output, but it's more enjoyable.
"Productivity isn’t about shiny tools. It is about getting things done." Earlier in my career I went on all sorts of productivity boosting courses and read loads of books...in the end only one thing has stuck and that's the 2 minute rule from David Allen. In short, if a tasks hits you and you can get it done in 2mins or less just do it there and then. Explained in his voice here for those interested - https://www.you…
I've found that a problem I've had is that a "2 minute task" is sometimes, for me, estimated to be a 20+ minute task. When I actually got out a watch and timed it, I was like "oh shit, that was not even a fraction of my estimate". So it's the estimation , not the actual task length/difficulty that is sometimes a problem for me.
However, after spending 2 hours doing that, I went and did a bunch of stuff I’d been procrastinating doing that were high priority with seemingly way more energy and focus.
I threw away all my personal productivity crap a couple years ago and still get the same amount of stuff done. I just converted the fiddling time into free time.
When you know what needs to be done, you don't need "productivity", you just need to work. When you don't know what needs to be done, no amount of "productivity" will compensate for the fact that any work you do is meaningless and any result thereof accidental.