Comments on: Stop being so fucking productive

By: KOREA BLOG ARCHIVE » 이것저것 링크(2011년 12월 20일 )

KOREA BLOG ARCHIVE » 이것저것 링크(2011년 12월 20일 ) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:12:47 +0000

[...] Stop being so fucking productive — 이른바 ‘context switching’이 과연 생산성을 향상시키는 게 맞는 건지? 좀 지난 주제이긴 해도 읽어볼만한 글. (via swizec.com) # [...]

By: 이것저것 링크(2011.12.25) | 서울비 블로그

이것저것 링크(2011.12.25) | 서울비 블로그 — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 02:44:57 +0000

By: Swizec

Swizec — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:27:00 +0000

I think maybe it applies more to doing projects in the same or similar mind space.

So while it is perfectly fine to do two hours of guitar and four hours of coding, it would be difficult to code for two hours on one project and then four hours on a different project.

Sent from touch keyboard, excuse my spelling

By: Christopher M. Combes

Christopher M. Combes — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 01:06:00 +0000

Focusing on one project each day is great for productivity. However, I think there are exceptions to this. If you are trying to learn a skill that requires daily practice (the “project” in this case), such as learning a new language, or a musical instrument, then it must be practiced every day.

You can’t learn how to play the guitar by practicing only one or two days per week, for many reasons. Your brain needs to be trained for music, but also your hands and fingers need daily exercising to build them up well enough to make continued progress.

By: A geek with a hat » Stop being so fucking productive | Secularity (under construction)

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:59:55 +0000

[...] A geek with a hat » Stop being so fucking productive. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. By Colin Mackay 0 [...]

By: Maestrophil

Maestrophil — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:48:00 +0000

perhaps the creme de la creme are simply often naturally gifted and do not need to put in effort to excel… Life IS easy for them. I feel that is likely often the case – while those of us with simply adequate aptitudes have to work our A$$es off just to be “near the top” . Stupid survival of the fittest!!!!

By: Stop Being So Damn Productive [Productivity]

Stop Being So Damn Productive [Productivity] — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:46:13 +0000

[...] Stop being so fucking productive | Swizec [...]

By: Stop Being So Damn Productive | Lifehacker Australia

Stop Being So Damn Productive | Lifehacker Australia — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:24:19 +0000

[...] Stop being so fucking productive [Swizec] [...]

By: Stop Being So Damn Productive | Got2.Me

Stop Being So Damn Productive | Got2.Me — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:18:01 +0000

[...] Stop being so fucking productive | Swizec [...]

By: SamSam

SamSam — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:31:00 +0000

1) When you’re comparing Newton and Feyman, who was the crème de la crème and who was merely the the crème? Either answer will probably draw objections.
2) Both Newton and Feyman worked very hard and very long hours
3) You don’t address the obvious question: you seem to be implying that working less will make you more brilliant. It’s more intuitively obvious, though, that brilliant people may have to work less at it. You’re mixing up cause and effect.

By: SocialCyn

SocialCyn — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:54:00 +0000

Awesome! Didn’t know how to get this out of my head and on paper, but you did! Thank you! Am going to implement this NOW! count me in as a volunteer, but don’t shoot me if I don’t accomplish it overnight; those with whom I work are yet subscribed to this bit of wisdom.

By: mizlandry

mizlandry — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:43:00 +0000

I enjoyed reading about this theory and hope to visit your blog to see where you go with this topic. I think, as in everything, moderation is key. As a mom with my own business, focusing on one thing at a time is just not possible, so I try and make lists and schedule what I’m going to be working on when. You might want to search to find a study from a few years about how women are better at multi-tasking than men. I think there is something to that. My husband cannot multi task for anything. When he’s at home working, he is easily frazzled when he has to shift gears. He can’t even help two kids with homework at the same time. I have learned in my middle age, to take breaks, recharge my batteries and set limits. I try not to do any business on the computer after 7pm. I don’t have any electronics upstairs (no cell phone, tv, computer…nothing). And, every day, I look at my schedule and block off at least 10 minutes of time where I do nothing (tho 20 minutes is better).

By: q

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:18:00 +0000

It’s not about what it works best for everyone, it’s about what works best for you. And even there, you can work out and improve that “context switching”, you know? Pretty much like everything else. You can get better. And having an old age, the same improvement effort is valid for maintenance - those athletes actually do work for maintaining themselves until they retire.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:57:00 +0000

You seem to confuse productivity with the insane working conditions that so many (particularly young) knowledge workers acquiesce to.

By: Amr Ali

Amr Ali — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:53:00 +0000

I think you have some faulty assumptions, first not everybody finds context-switching as difficult, for me, as an example, this is actually trivial, in fact I’m way more productive when I’m context-switching considerably between many *small* tasks.

When it comes to tasks that require a lot of mental-crunching, I find it more productive to context-switch only on 1 hour basis to help with maintaining the focus span required for the task at hand without the side-effect of boredom.

I juggle 5 full time jobs (yes I’m not human, but who is?) and have a perfectly healthy and satisfying social life!

By: Read by comnik - Pearltrees

Read by comnik - Pearltrees — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:07:35 +0000

[...] A geek with a hat » Stop being so fucking productive But with mental tasks productivity doesn’t increase linearly with time worked. Every hour spent working hard is a tax on the next hour you want to spend working hard. And so on until you can spend hours, even days, working without achieving. Remember the quote “You speak a lot, but you don’t say much”? [...]

By: No

No — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:55:00 +0000

Newton and Feynman were both famous for working insane hours. When you base your premise on that they didn’t have to work long hours, you make clear that you have no idea what you’re talking about.

By: Dan Simerman

Dan Simerman — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:27:00 +0000

As a 20 something, I can relate to this. Just waiting for the day I can be plugged into the internet and save time via upload.

Anyhow, I like your blunt approach. For that, I’ve shared your article with my startup newsletter http://eepurl.com/hBZdA (Posthuman). Keep up the great insights.

Dan

By: Zach Inglis

Zach Inglis — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:51:00 +0000

Maybe it’s just me. But I’d rather work damned hard, over what I should for as long as I can until it becomes a problem… than take it easy. If/when it becomes a problem, I will asses it. Most importantly I can say “No regrets.”

By: phpguy

phpguy — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:46:00 +0000

Yeah switching back and forth between tasks/projects is less productive, but necessary sometimes especially in business. You cant tell a customer your sorry i’m working on XYZ today.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:41:00 +0000

I did read the Newport article subsequent to my comment and I agree, it drives the point home about focus vs. sheer effort.

By: Marc Lemay

Marc Lemay — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:37:00 +0000

The elite work as hard or harder than the non-elite; see the article by Cal Newport that Swizec refers to: http://bit.ly/rrQQZS. As Stephen King said somewhere, we’ve all got to sharpen our stick (through hard work), but some of us have bigger sticks than others. The final effect is a function of effort and talent, but since the latter is unknown and only can be roughly evaluated retrospectively, the only thing that counts now is effort; and not just any effort, but the right kind of effort. You can almost say that the non-elite keep switching sticks, losing a lot of heat through context-switching. This totally reminds me of Paul Graham’s post on “fake work.” http://bit.ly/s0MQhd

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:49:00 +0000

Great post, but I have a fear that cause and effect may be confused when it comes to the creme de la creme. Could it be that they are not so great because they don’t expend so much effort, but rather they don’t need to expend so much effort because they are so great?