Systems for productivity or not… this is a neat little insight from @ben. I very much agree on the issues noted around systems for productivity - Brooks Review. Tools like Roam, Obsidian and dare I say it nodenogg.in take note as focus should be tools for thought / co-creation
@adamprocter The problem with his take is that he's focused on time spent vs time saved. And sure, he's right that we don't usually get back all that time investment, if all you're counting is hours. The important question to me is not about time spent, it's about the effectiveness of outcomes? Harder to measure but shouldn't be ignored. Of course he also ignores people like me who simply enjoy playing with the process and tools just for the hell of it so maybe I'm not the right person to argue the point :)
@jack this is a very valid point, you are right it’s not just about time, I think for me it more illustrates some of the issue around feeling you are getting the most out of a system though. I have Things I like it but I wish I would use it better but I don’t feel there is an easy way to get the most out of it without spending time which does however as you suggest have big rewards. I also like to just try these tools out 🤣 but I do think there is a missing piece to the puzzle which for me is to stop thinking about productivity at all and start really tackling the act of tools for thinking and co-creation, notion does states some of this on their About page.
@adamprocter I often lament that some of the most productive people I know never even think about "productivity" or "workflows". They just use whatever is at hand and go about doing great work. So weird! :)
@jack @adamprocter I would argue many of those people thought about it, figured out what works for them, and then never needed to think about it again.
@adamprocter I agree with @jack. Brooks’s logical flaw is that he’s attributing decades old philosophies to today’s understanding of productivity. If you’ve studied the subject for any length of time or in any detail, you know that the discussions have since turned to effectiveness, not just “cranking out widgets” or saving minutes or hours. Time spent in OmniFocus, for example, is often spent reviewing and refocusing one’s efforts to make sure a project still means something, that it will have a positive outcome, or, indeed, whether it even needs to continue. OmniFocus (and other tools) is far less about saving time than it is about making sure one’s time is well spent.