In Defence of 'Productivity Crap'
nicky.bearblog.dev
nicky.bearblog.dev
Thanks very much for taking the time to write it.
1. Brain Dump: Record a voice memo on iPhone, speaking freely about anything I need to do - from household chores to work tasks. No need for structure, just stream of consciousness.
2. Transcription: Use iPhone's built-in transcription to convert the voice memo to text.
3. AI Processing: Feed the transcription into ongoing chat in Claude, which: - Structures my rambling into a clear task list - Incorporates context from previous days' tasks - Formats everything in markdown with checkboxes
4. Task Management: Import the markdown into Drafts app, which lets me easily check off tasks throughout the day.
It's a simple system that combines the ease of verbal brain dumping with the structure of a digital task list, without requiring manual organisation.
The funny thing is, I have a personal project where I'm following a TODO list for minimal completion. It has finally reached the point where a single item remains, yet I get lost all the time when I start working on it thinking on extensions or not knowing what to do. So I need to constantly consult that single-item TODO list to actually get something done.
It's weird how helpful it is.
When you don't know what needs to be done, no amount of "productivity" will compensate for the fact that any work you do is meaningless and any result thereof accidental.
The point of "productivity" is to "show the work" on figuring out what needs to be done and in what order. Yes, you need to plan a party, but what exactly does that mean? You need to write invitations, respond to questions, contact caterers, research venues, etc.
Maybe a genius like you can figure out all of that in your head instantly, but the rest of us benefit from "writing down the steps".
Personally I run with a very minimalist setup, am unlikely to change software defaults unless I need too, keep a todo list for myself and use whatever we're using this week to work with others.
I do wonder how much the more productivity systems optimizing people are measuring the actual result versus chasing aesthetics but at the same time I've not noticed it being a net drain so don't particularly care. In part I think it's a case of doing what works for you unless it becomes detrimental. There's a lot to be said for ritual making you comfortable.
- be intentional, consciously engage, and be present.
- participate by being active rather than passive.
- be consistent and reliable in timing, expectation, and quality.
- be finite by constraint around time, effort, or action.
If one wants just to keep winging it, it is still a choice and OK to be that.
I’m interested in creative breakthroughs, not maximizing any predictable or conceivable variable.
Most jobs and tasks in life don't need any "creative breakthroughs". The article is discussing scheduling, task prioritization and management. Fix this bug, implement this feature, schedule this doctor's appointment, do the dishes, buy toilet paper. No breakthroughs needed for those, creative or otherwise :)
Second, tweaking your local setup is more like 'ergonomics' then 'productivity'. Working with more ergonomic setup may yield the same output, but it's more enjoyable.
This is key; understand what works for you personally. There's plenty of workflows and frameworks out there that would rather tell you what they think you need, which is the trap most of us end up falling into.
Good on you for listening to yourself.
And mostly, I suspect, they saw tangible results for their labour. The house got built, the dress got made, the bread got baked. Its easier to get yourself to do things when the things are there, in front of you. Nowadays many of us sit at a desk building or wrangling systems that are intangible and almost un-visualisable. I think its not surprising that our motivation can be lacking.
I'm a developer, but for me my most productive (and rewarding) day of the last year was the day I spent with friends chainsawing and chopping and carrying twelve tonnes of logs for fuel for our climbing hut. Didn't need to get in the zone for that, and at the end we knew what we'd done and it stayed done.
It is also now usual to pay less attention to doing good work; to produce cheap crap or to design systems to trap customers into subscriptions or otherwise do bad work for greater profit.
Sadly, modern software development (and the workplace in general) is not optimized around generating immediate, tangible outcomes that might be that rewarding.
I am both completely unqualified and intensely interested in undertaking this task.
I recommend against Rust.
I highly recommend the early episodes of the Cortex podcast where CGP Grey talks about his system. I discovered that his brain works in roughly the same way as mine, and so I was able to apply a lot of his insights to make my own system better.
Earlier in my career I went on all sorts of productivity boosting courses and read loads of books...in the end only one thing has stuck and that's the 2 minute rule from David Allen.
In short, if a tasks hits you and you can get it done in 2mins or less just do it there and then.
Explained in his voice here for those interested - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_-YOdwUDsg&t=37s
When I actually got out a watch and timed it, I was like "oh shit, that was not even a fraction of my estimate".
So it's the estimation, not the actual task length/difficulty that is sometimes a problem for me.
However, after spending 2 hours doing that, I went and did a bunch of stuff I’d been procrastinating doing that were high priority with seemingly way more energy and focus.
Yes if I am working on a high importance, high bandwidth problem I will break it.
But of day-to-day with team a lot of things fall into this. I see other stick it in their To-dos or setup time in calendar where I just prefer to get it done.
An example to me is note taking, it seems like the productivity people seem to fixate on doing it perfectly and in the exact right way to maximise productivity, instead of just taking the notes in a good enough fashion and doing something else with the saved time.
It’s not just productivity crap. Reddit (and HN too) is built on people talking about things rather than doing things.
Ultimately I realized it was more important to have a skeleton of notes and err on the side of paying closer attention in the moment. Then backfill any additional notes afterward.
Others would record the lecture audio. But that seemed like torture to me since it doubled the lecture time.
As others have said, the most optimum point varies per person and perhaps even changes per subject or over time.
Any sustained system of externalizing or conceptualizing my tasks at all threatens my thought processes.
Once in a while I write something on a card.
Obsidian is one thing, but forcing a bad programming methodology onto a problem can waste years of time. Focus on results rather than arguments. I've read beautiful arguments from people I consider insane after seeing their code. Metz is the Aristotle of our time.
Or at the very least define your problem rigorously if you want to apply human reasoning to it. And obviously if the problem changes your "system" for solving the problem should change too, otherwise you are just a dead man walking.
Over the years, I’ve come to look at tools in this category this way:
1. If you’re struggling to get things done and especially if you don’t know where to start, productivity tools aren’t the solution.
2. But if you’re extremely busy and are having a hard time managing your workload, tools can be a godsend.
The “crap” part is the myriad of productivity influencers selling their particular system and the people who follow those systems like some kind of religion. This crowd often projects the idea that you just need to organize things to get unstuck.
But getting unstuck is a whole other ball of wax. Tools might help in some circumstances, but also might just be a huge distraction. Often the truly best approach is just to start.
Bottom line: use productivity tools to tame the chaos, assist your particular brain, etc. Don’t use these tools thinking they’re going to get you out of a rut or solve your procrastination problem.