Comments on: On Productivity And Procrastination

By: Hannah

Hannah — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:26:27 +0000

There would be days when I feel like that due to my mass multi-tasking efforts, I have managed to get nothing done. Some tasks can be done well as part of a multi-tasking crusade but I have started noticing that certain tasks need to be done while focused.

Matt from Ployme did an interesting diagram on his presentation in April when he highlighted the hours designated for ‘everyday activities’ and which hours can be for ‘strategy-related activities’. I think the same approach can be done for multi-tasking online (difference here is that you’re not running around in a restaurant, you’re sitting still on the chair while the mouse does the running).

By: Denis Semchenko

Denis Semchenko — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:06:56 +0000

PS Even as I was typing this, I got distracted by my TweetDeck – hence ‘Steven’ instead of ‘Stephen’… sorry dude!

By: Denis Semchenko

Denis Semchenko — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:00:03 +0000

I spend so much time online I wonder how I even manage to get stuff done on time… Multi-tasking/slacking can, according to Steven, be a massive productivity killer – the online communication tools (FaceCrack, TweetCrack etc) distract you from accomplishing the top-priority tasks and you simply lose concentration twittering/endless status updating/clicking the links. I think I’ve got a bad case of net addiction. /end rant

By: Stuart

Stuart — Sun, 03 May 2009 03:21:32 +0000

I’m also a victim of the problems associated with the divided attention of the modern age. It’s all too easy to sit at the computer and click around the net, instead of _doing_something_. I’m aware of this problem, and hope to get better as time goes on. We’ll see…

I think many people are in the same boat, but I don’t know how this has changed over time. It’s such a badge of honour to be a PRODUCER of something, rather than just a consumer of what other people in society have created. People who do things stand out.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:37:42 +0000

Multi-tasking is a productivity killer. Fact is, when you switch from one task to another, your brain takes time to get up to speed. The more complex the task, the harder this is, the more time it takes and the slower you work. I’ve felt this myself. I’m sure you must have as well.

And multitasking inevitably leads to task avoidance. You do what you prefer over the task you don’t prefer. This is untenable in a work situation.

Both of these illustrate why the consultancy I work for advises clients strongly against letting salespeople (to pick an example) multitask. Frankly, a lot of salespeople seem to want to do anything but sell and this shows in the amount of business development appointments they do if left to their own devices. Focus them solely on that BDM work, though, and suddenly they have no excuse to avoid it. Much better for the business.

How do /I/ cope with distractions? Badly, probably. I’m not the best at practising what I preach. I have been known to rip out the ethernet cable on deadline though. Or to switch to longhand. It’s funny how changing medium can actually make a difference.

After I finsihed high school, I started writing a novel. I never finished it, but that’s not the point. The point is that I poured an /enormous/ amount of effort into it and as a result got a hang of the art of writing halfway decent prose. I’m not sure I could do the same in a world with distractions like IRC and facebook. I’m just lucky I don’t WOW — i would never get anything done.

For people like the Bronte sisters, writing /was/ their distraction. They produced amazing prose as a result. It may be that the interwebs (to consciously use the term ironically) may produce similar art that lasts the ages. But I’m not sure we’ve seen it yet.

And I’m not convinced we’re (meaning people heavily involved in internet commmunication) interacting smarter as opposed to merely dipping into many more pools much more shallowly.

Gosh that was a mouthful….