Actually getting things done

I was very pleased to see this recent post from Merlin Mann on 43 Folders about the shifting focus of the blog:

R.I.P., Productivity Pr0n

Friends, I’m done with “productivity” as a personal fetish or hobby. There are countless sites that are all too happy to vend stroke material for your joyless addiction to puns about procrastination and systems for generating more taxonomically satisfying meta-work. But, presently, you won’t find so much of that here.

Except inasmuch as it can help move aside barriers to finishing the projects that you claim matter to you, “productivity” is often a sprawling ghetto of well-marketed nonsense for people who really just need a ritalin and a hug. So, for myself, random tips and lists that aren’t anchored to solving a real-world problem for a smart but flawed adult with a mind are dead to me. Pour a forty on ‘em.

…

This is now a site for people who want to finish things that they care about — but who still occasionally need help, inspiration, and the courage to push all the bullshit off their work table. This is about clearing that space every day, and then using it to do cool stuff that makes you proud.

AMEN! I think the whole productiving pr0n thing can be taken way too far and I’ve seen a lot of people who’ve fallen into that trap. You may very well need some sort of system to organize your life, but when you’re devoting more time to creating and honing the organizational system than to the actual things you need to do each day, you’ve got a problem.

Believe me, I understand. I used to make all of these grand plans for getting into better shape. I’d read all about different exercise plans, write down exactly what I was going to do each day and what my reward system was going to be. Unfortunately, I spent a lot more time creating this system than I ever did exercising. I sometimes wonder if planning (to that extent) is the enemy of stick-to-itiveness. I find that that the less I plan, the more likely I am to stick to what I’m doing. I think the plan itself becomes so grand that the first time it doesn’t work out the way I want it to, I tend to be so disappointed that I give up on the whole endeavor. For me, at least, it’s better to have a small goal and just take it one day at a time. Sometimes it’s better to focus on the trees rather than the forest.

I love all of those cool productivity tools as much as anyone. I’ve bought my share of software and paper doodads that haven’t made me any more organized than I was before. But I think that productivity fetish can really get out of hand where it becomes more important (or satisfying) than actually accomplishing the things you’re creating the system for. This realization has saved me a lot of money over the past few years.

I skimmed through the Getting Things Done book and found a lot to like in there. But, for me, a detailed system really isn’t a good fit. Right now, for my own productivity, I use Remember the Milk. It’s incredibly simple and gets the job done for me. I use it as a dumping ground for things I need to remember to do or things I just want to remember. For example, if I am listening to Pandora and want to remember the name of a band I just heard, I’ll put it into Pandora under my music tab. I have different lists for all different things, like committees I’m on, writing, speaking, library instruction, the class I teach, household projects, projects at work, and more. With pregnancy brain fully in effect at this point, it’s nice just to have a place to write things down before they disappear. I don’t know that it makes me more “organized” but it keeps me from forgetting stuff and that was my only barrier to actually accomplishing things.

I’m not knocking anyone who has an organizational system that works for them. Good for you! But I think some people get so into planning and organizing and playing with different organizational systems and tools that it becomes a barrier to productivity. I really like what Merlin wrote on his “How to use 43 Folders” page.

Why am I here right now instead of making something cool on my own? What’s the barrier to me starting that right now?

And that’s what we should look at. What is it that’s keeping us from doing something? Is it because we lack a fully-functional organizational system, or is it something much more specific that is holding you back? Focus on fixing what is broken and on pushing yourself to get a little more done each day on the things you need to do. Because you could spend weeks in the 43 Folders or Lifehacker archives and in the end, be no closer to accomplishing anything.