I’ve had a basic paradigm shift in how I approach my time/attention management (that’s really what productivity is) and have adopted the less is more concept. I’ve simplified my time/attention management system to some simple maintainable habits that actually help me get things done.
My basis productivity world view at the moment is that it is amazing how much more you can do when you stop wasting so much time.
So check out this talk Mr. Merlin Mann gave at Google where he shares on the travails of trying to be a productive knowledge worker.
Below are my stream of consciousness notes from the talk…
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Allowing to many people/things to have access to your time and attention will lead to time abuse.
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Our technology gives us the option to waste time in new and creative ways.
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How to tell if your a knowledge worker? You have girlie smooth hands and can take lunch whenever you want to.
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Time and attention is our most precious resource and it is the one we waste the most…time isn’t money because you can always (theoretically) can get more money, but you can’t get anymore time.
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Counting the opportunity costs…if I do this then there are other things that I can’t do.
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Time box…make sure that whatever goes inside the box pays dividends in the long run.
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Stop doing so much stupid stuff…monitor what you allow yourself to care about.
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They’re not grooving to his jokes…
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Who gets access now? How long do they get access to your time? Are these relationships getting you where you claim you want to go.
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Limit access…put up time firewalls and decide who gets access.
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Our technology gives people access to us all the time.
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What are the defaults in your life? Can you renegotiate them?
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We need to change the way we work…
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They’re still not digging his jokes…
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I like his haircut…
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Practice good email etiquette.
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Now he’s talking about the great Satan, Twitter…
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No email Fridays? Limit the use of certain tools at certain times?
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They laughed!
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Your work culture will govern your level of productivity…
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They laughed again…
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Snack time…
