Comments on: Debunking Productivity Myths

By: Gedankenstrich & links und rechts! - 12. Oktober 2008: 5 grosse Brocken | blatternet.ch - Büro-Organisation, Produktivität, Zeitmanagement und Simplify

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:05:06 +0000

[...] Roque räumt auf WebWorkerDaily mit einer Reihe von Produktivitäts-Mythen auf: “Debunking Productivity Myths“. Sie zeigt, dass organisiert nicht gleich aufgerämt sein muss, dass mehr Tools nicht immer [...]

By: Sites to See for October 12 — Laurel Plum Online

Sites to See for October 12 — Laurel Plum Online — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:34:42 +0000

[...] Debunking Productivity Myths from Web Worker Daily [...]

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:31:48 +0000

Great post.
Another myth is that you have to learn a complicated “system” to improve your productivity.

In fact, changing/adding a few basic practices to your daily routine can make a huge difference to your productivity.

By: John Mayson

John Mayson — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:13:22 +0000

@jaycruz

Thanks. Something that always turned me off from productivity classes I attended over the years was I got a sales pitch at the end for overpriced crap that simply didn’t fit my needs. In fact in took once class where we actually analyzed when it was best to fly commercial or take the corporate jet. As if anyone in that room would ever have the luxury of flying in the corporate jet. I need a system that fits me. I shouldn’t have to shoehorn myself into a rigid, proprietary system. That’s why I love GTD.

By: jaycruz

jaycruz — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:16:12 +0000

I agree that a lot of productivity tools and productivity systems are hyped “myths”, but I’m with everything that John Mayson said. GTD gets lumped in the “productivity sexy hype” because there’s a lot customization and applications based on it, but like John Mayson said, it’s app agnostic. It’s just modeling the way we naturally work and helps you become aware.

By: Francois Savard

Francois Savard — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:23:01 +0000

That “Organized = Neat” myth is one I find difficult to come to grips with, as it seems so counterintuitive. I relax by thinking the tidiness has to be at a meta-level somehow :P

And actually there seems to have been studies showing “messy people” are more productive:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/28/sunday/main2405083.shtml

By: Arjan`s World » LINKBLOG for October 8, 2008

Arjan`s World » LINKBLOG for October 8, 2008 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:37:32 +0000

[...] Debunking Productivity Myths – Celine Roque ‘ If your office looks messy, should you clean it up? Before we start criticizing ourselves for not being neat enough, we need to get our semantics straight ‘ [...]

By: Matthew Lang

Matthew Lang — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:14:19 +0000

I always thought I could find a system that would just fit but it never did.

The best any one person can do is work out the system that fits them and if they can’t find a perfect one then tailor it to your individual needs.

Too many people switch systems at the drop of a next action list and never give their own system a chance to evolve. Your system should change with your requirements, not the other way around.

People shouldn’t discount pen & paper either. As amazing as all these productivity applications are, sometimes the most basic of things is all you need.

This is probably the best productivity article I have read in ages!

By: Amrit Hallan - Content Writer

Amrit Hallan - Content Writer — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:13:22 +0000

I think the best efficiency tool is your motivation and drive. You can use scores of task management and organization tools unless you really want to improve your productivity all these tools are going to prove futile. So I think first of all one should start with a resolve to achieve. You can easily manage your tasks using a simple notepad file if you have really decided to stick to your task list.

By: John Mayson

John Mayson — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:58:30 +0000

I’d like to add my thoughts to this discussion.

I wholeheartedly agree no system is perfect. I think GTD comes very close and if I’m not mistaken Merlin Mann has praised GTD as being “application agnostic” meaning it’s more a philosophy than a system with defined tools and gadgets. However I have found some things in David Allen’s book just made no sense for me personally. I do not have a paper 43 folders system. I refused to buy a label maker. I do have 43 folders on my company’s Exchange server and in my GMail account and love it and I’m just fine using a marker for my paper folders. If you haven’t read his book, go BUY a copy. Don’t borrow it from the library, you need to own it because you will refer to it for years to come.

For me organized does equal neat, but I’m slightly OCD, so just ignore me.

When I adapted GTD I actually got rid of many of my “tools”. I put that in quotation marks because a tool is something that’s actually useful, what I had wasn’t. In fact just this morning I was trying to think up a new system to organize all of instructional-type material and notes. Then it hit me. Use my existing GMail account with the appropriate tags. DONE! No new tool needed. No learning curve. Nothing to buy.

I turn 40 next year and I figured out in high school the key to productivity was not having a tight schedule. Yes, deadlines exist. There are certain commitments that have firm start and stop times. But stay on the balls of your feet with the remaining time. Things will come at you that you didn’t expect. When I got to college I had a good laugh at someone who scheduled his day to the minute thinking it was instilling discipline.