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Productivity Is About Attention Management

nytimes.com

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Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#81

Post by collyw »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #26
cven714 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the exact same problem. When I know what needs to get done, even if it's tedious, it's not so bad to put my nose to the grindstone and work through it. But when I'm not sure how to approach a task, suddenly every distraction in the world is more appealing. You often see the suggestion to break up big tasks into smaller, baby step chunks to avoid this analysis paralysis. Doesn't help when I'm not even sure what…

From my experience, try having enough projects in your belt that at least one of them has something actionable to do, and work on that while you ruminate on the other problem for a few days/weeks/months. Don't worry about getting anything done soon, prefer getting them done correctly and pick something else up when you get stuck. Also, don't forget that "staring into space for an hour while you think about a problem"…

I like to work like this as well. Which is why a lot of technical tests seem quite nonsense. For complex problems I have stuff running in the background of my head for a day or two, weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of the various options. The best solution usually becomes apparent at some random time, like when I am cooking dinner, not concentrating on it for 5 minutes after first seeing the problem. And as you say there is usually plenty of other work that needs done in the meantime.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#82

Post by kumarvvr »

cgriswald wrote: post #66
kumarvvr wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To each his own I guess. Maybe that person is most comfortable in a semi- auto pilot mode. I have noticed that some people are very much averse to prolonged thinking / problem solving / creative work. These are the kinds of people, who, if stuck in a problem, go to their friends and family for advise and solve their problems. They usually have a lot of people / socializing / networking skills. I myself am an introver…

I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive. I love to sit and think in a problem. I also love to turn off my brain completely and solve sudoku for hours on end while my mind is elsewhere.

That's really interesting, about the sudoku thing. I love to do those puzzles but I go full into the stuff and can't think anything else while solving for them.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#83

Post by tighter_wires »

iLemming wrote: post #73

I've tried many different things and I finally have a solution that (I think) works for me: It's Emacs' Org-mode in combination with Org-pomodoro - First, using org-capture I would create an org heading with a description of the problem. If there's a Jira ticket I would attach the ticket number (I have a trivial elisp function that converts a regular number into a complete jira-ticket link) - Then I would start a Pom…

Do you ever find that Pomodoro doesn't leave enough uninterrupted time on your task? When you're knee deep do you ever just skip your breaks?

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#84

Post by arendtio »

krosaen wrote: post #11

This article was a fun read as it playfully poked holes in some conventional wisdom but I'm not sure I'm left with coherent advice. Deep work doesn't matter? Working in 15 minute bursts is ok? Save rewarding work for after routine? Or maybe match it to my circadian rhythms? Work on what I love? Have a maker schedule? Maybe the best takeaway is that there isn't really a single coherent ruleset for productivity...

I think it is something along the lines of...

- don't care about time management so much

- care about motivation (think about what can be done with the result)

- choose the right time to have the mental state you require to focus on the task at hand

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#85

Post by normalhuman »

My favorite anti-productivity introspections:

- Remember that you are going to die. Time flies, have you noticed? Is that status symbol that you are pursuing really that important? Is it ever going to make you happy?

- There is more wisdom in one of your cells than in all self-help and management books combined. Maybe you can't focus for a good reason? What could that reason be?

- Remember the last time you felt glad to be alive? Was it related to being productive?

No need to thank me.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#86

Post by jakoblorz »

normalhuman wrote: post #85

My favorite anti-productivity introspections: - Remember that you are going to die. Time flies, have you noticed? Is that status symbol that you are pursuing really that important? Is it ever going to make you happy? - There is more wisdom in one of your cells than in all self-help and management books combined. Maybe you can't focus for a good reason? What could that reason be? - Remember the last time you felt glad…

You killed it

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#87

Post by Narushia »

tighter_wires wrote: post #83
iLemming wrote: post #73

I've tried many different things and I finally have a solution that (I think) works for me: It's Emacs' Org-mode in combination with Org-pomodoro - First, using org-capture I would create an org heading with a description of the problem. If there's a Jira ticket I would attach the ticket number (I have a trivial elisp function that converts a regular number into a complete jira-ticket link) - Then I would start a Pom…

Do you ever find that Pomodoro doesn't leave enough uninterrupted time on your task? When you're knee deep do you ever just skip your breaks?

I generally find pomodoro’s 25-minute work intervals too short for software development, I prefer the 52/17 method.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#88

Post by Pimpus »

normalhuman wrote: post #85

My favorite anti-productivity introspections: - Remember that you are going to die. Time flies, have you noticed? Is that status symbol that you are pursuing really that important? Is it ever going to make you happy? - There is more wisdom in one of your cells than in all self-help and management books combined. Maybe you can't focus for a good reason? What could that reason be? - Remember the last time you felt glad…

I've always focused on being efficient, not productive. I want to get my work done as fast as possible so I can return to enjoying life.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#89

Post by netwanderer3 »

wtvanhest wrote: post #50
netwanderer3 wrote: post #28

There's a general misconception between being productive and being effective. One can fill their days by completing many mindless tasks and consider themselves as productive, but in the end hardly any of those tasks really matters. On the other hand, another person may only complete one or two tasks in a very short time during their day but these were critical tasks that could generate much higher values. This subseq…

What makes it even more complicated is that in a big org, knowing which tasks are important changes over time and with managers and manager's managers. Surviving and thriving over time requires constant reevaluation.

Companies that strive to improve their effectiveness can develop a methodology to apply this principle from top to bottom.

A good manager will identify the optimal point for each of his team members. This optimal point will serve as a target performance ceiling for managers to motivate and encourage their staffs to work toward to. If we try and push them over this point then we will begin trading output quality for needless productivity.

For someone at the top, it’s important to determine the optimal point for your organization’s current equilibrium state as well. The goal is to always operate within this state, but slowly and incrementally move the equilibrium point up over time as your organization develops and increases its capacity.

Depending on each industry, the degree to which this principle will affect organizations will vary. For example, it would be more decisive to those who produce creative content as their main output since the negative impacts can be very noticeable and highly detrimental, whereas a manufacturing business relying on human labor can be quite flexible in re-adjusting their capacity.

Re: Productivity Is About Attention Management

#90

Post by jatins »

normalhuman wrote: post #85

My favorite anti-productivity introspections: - Remember that you are going to die. Time flies, have you noticed? Is that status symbol that you are pursuing really that important? Is it ever going to make you happy? - There is more wisdom in one of your cells than in all self-help and management books combined. Maybe you can't focus for a good reason? What could that reason be? - Remember the last time you felt glad…

Good in theory, but less than ideal in real world. A lot of getting good deliberate practice even when you don't "feel like" it.

like how the 7 year old Djokovic said "Tennis for me is a duty" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdOS0zCsJsg

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