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Why productivity is outdated

Why productivity is outdated

Productivity became popular in the early 20th century as a way of optimising work in agriculture and manufacturing. A knowledge worker in the 21st century has very little in common with agricultural or manufacturing work.

Productivity made sense as a measurement metric when inputs and outputs were known, and the task was to optimise the relationship between them. However, knowledge work is about solving problems and being creative. To-do lists can't really improve the impact of our work.

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Exhausted from the information overload

There are many techniques aimed at providing a system to help determine what deserves your attention, such as Action-based Priorities or The Eisenhower Matrix.

We're facing the problem that we are primed to take on more information, projects, and communications that make i...

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Your headspace and your digital workspace

The digital work environment can become toxic. The new normal involves hundreds of daily emails and notifications, our browsers have dozens of open tabs, and we can't find the files we need. To date, there is no realistic and effective solution.

We should consider how much we need ...

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Learn your limits, then work with them

Cal Newport states that we really only have four hours of focused work per day. It is up to you to take control of that time and your energy expenditure. Focusing deeply on something requires confidence and self-assuredness to put that piece of work first and shut everything else...

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Intentional attention will lead to successful knowledge work

Intentional attention = focus x time

This means that if you maximise your time spent focusing, you will maximise your intentional attention. Doing that will maximise the success of your knowledge work.

Instead of optimising an unhealthy and outdated method,...

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Use your cognitive calories wisely

Unlike productivity, focus isn't something you can squeeze into a timeframe. It is something you nurture and protect.

Cognitive research on how our brains work shows that time is not our only limitation. Our brains have limited men...

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True prioritisation starts with elimination

We are not only complex human beings but have divergent goals and desires. We are also increasingly impacted by external pressures. We are often pursuing what we believe is our top goal when it has been shaped by someone else. For example, you work on a project that you think will get you a promo...

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CURATED FROM

IDEAS CURATED BY

cristian_jj

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. " ~ Abraham Lincoln

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Evolution of the term "boredom"

Charles Dickens popularised the term boredom in 1853. Boredom became particularly popular in English Victorian writing in describing the life of the upper class, where boredom was indicating a privileged social standing.

In the second part of the 19th century and the early...

We Don’t Know What Productivity Really Is

We Don’t Know What Productivity Really Is

Most of us want to be productive but do not completely understand what we do, why we do it, and who judges it as productive or non-productive.

Productivity can be defined as the effectiveness of an effort, measured in terms of input and output. This definition is limited, ...

Productivity: Modern Knowledge Work

Knowledge work in the modern age involves thinking, analysis, theories, trial and error, problem solving, brainstorming and other stuff which is done in a variety of counter-intuitive ways. It is defined by a diverse range of iterative exploration of yet-to-discover possibilities.

Compari...

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