I work in IT and spend a lot of my time on the Internet. I love gadgets. I love new technology. The question is, does all this technology help us or is it really holding us back? Spending a lot of time messing about with technology and not really achieving anything – sound familiar? I do often have to take a step back and wonder if what I am doing is a productive use of my time. By productive use of my time I mean that I am questioning whether I am using my precious time in the best way to reach my ultimate goals (the end game)?
Whilst obviously it is essential to spend time on your interests (what’s the point of living if you aren’t doing what you want to do), it is important to review and make sure that we aren’t doing things just for the sake of doing them, and more to the point not kidding ourselves that messing around with our ‘systems’ ‘workflows’ and ‘lists’ is actually productive use of time. I have found that the more technology and systems available to me, the more information overload I have. I can’t get enough information sometimes and I often find that I don’t want to discard a piece of information until I have got the most out of it. This could be reading it, committing it to memory, filing it for possible later use or sharing it with other people who might find the information useful.
For example, at the moment I am spending quite a lot of time redeveloping my system for holding, organising, using and storing the mountain of information I come across on any given day. I’d say that over 90% of this information comes from being connected. It could be a new blog, a search that I have done on a particular topic and found 10 links I want to follow up on or something that a fellow twitterer has suggested. Whilst systems (such as GTD) are great for organising and storing information, without a execution plan (the actual doing rather than just collecting) your pile (albeit digital) of information to digest just continues to grow. 18 months ago I don’t think that I had this mountain of information to deal with. I wasn’t aware of as much about social media, blogs and productivity. I probably did have a similar amount of information to deal with but just didn’t realise that I did or wasn’t so worried about it as I wasn’t clued up on ‘being productive’.
Tim Ferriss suggests going on a low information diet. This is a brilliant Idea and I have applied that principle (at least in part) by cutting down my RSS feeds, and only going on the internet to look for information when I need it. The problem I have is that I am interested in a lot of things, as always Google and the answer to my endless questions is only a click away.
I do enjoy learning something new every day and being knowledgeable on a given topic, but sometimes I need to take a step back, not gather any new information and process the information I have.
At the moment I am trying to simplify my system to serve two main purposes therefore:
- Efficient capture, storage and relevance of information.
- Efficient execution of action with the information relevant to my goals and progression.
So my system is a work in progress. I don’t think I’ll ever stop tweaking it, but for now it’s back to organising the wealth of information I have whilst being ruthless with the deletes and taking action against those things that are going to make a difference.
Is productivity making you unproductive? Have you any tips to share? Let me know in the comments below!
Image by Will Lion on Flickr via Creative Commons
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
As an organizer, I often help people handle the flow of information, both digital and on paper, that constantly streams into their lives. I struggle with “digital clutter” myself. What I tell my clients (and myself) is to evaluate whether the things they’re holding onto – magazines to read later, thousands of bookmarked sites, etc. – are really bring joy and satisfaction, or are they just causing guilt and stress. There’s no way any of us could possibly keep up with ALL the interesting things that cross our paths, and yet we still try, and feel guilty for not being able to do it! The only way I’ve found to achieve balance is to set up sensible limits and boundaries, and then respect those limits. “Releasing” is also a useful mindset. I release the information I can’t consume and the things I can’t do or keep track of, knowing that if I need that information again, I’ll be able to find it. The “low information diet” is a great idea too! Thanks for this great post.
Naomi’s last blog post..My best organizing tip for 2009
Hey Chris,
I’m also in the same boat as you and struggling with the same issues you mentioned. I think the only way out is to really reduce the intake, and possibly live in the mountains ;)
FrugalNYC’s last blog post..Save Time – Alternate Side Parking 2009
I agree with Naomi. You just have to list your whole life on a piece of paper (or two) and set limits for everything you do. I will only read 5 articles today, watch 1 hour of TV, respond to 5 emails twice a day, etc. I wish you all the best Chris. I like Frugal’s suggestion- get into those woods “Walden Pond” style. :-)
Jay’s last blog post..The Power of Silence- Part 2
Absolutely agree with Frugal: All things in moderation :-)
Why not try setting a schedule for your interests? Monday could be “Technology Blog Day” while Tuesday might be “Productivity Blog Day” for instance. And don’t make it the first thing you do each morning. Cycling through your list of blogs once a week gives you the opportunity to keep current on your interests without spending an unreasonable amount of time each day on any one of them.
I have similar issues with my RSS feed. I try to keep up, and love everyone’s blog I have there, but on some days, it gets in the way of other work I need to do.
Fortunately, today isn’t one of those days……………….:)
LisaNewton’s last blog post..Californian’s Want Wetlands
@Naomi – I totally agree with your excellent comment and this is something I have only recently started practising myself.
@FrugalNYC – I would love to live in the mountains for a bit…maybe something like that coming up!
@Jay – Sounds like you have everything under control (probably how you manage to crank out lots of good blog posts).
@Mark – I’ve never thought of it in that way before, what an interesting idea, I think I’ll give it a try. For the moment, a massive cut back is making a huge difference.
@Lisa – Glad today isn’t one of those days ;)
Thanks for you time and tips guys, I’m learning a lot!
I’d agree with everyone who says that you might not be as productive as you should be when you’re constantly looking for other ways to improve your productivity.
BUT with productivity it’s like with all the other things we want to achieve. It’s not the end which is the most important part it’s the journey to it.
If you enjoy the journey, if you like reading about productivity and if you have fun testing all this productivity ideas, than it’s worth doing it.
Mike
@Mike – Some excellent points, thanks.