Project Mojave Blog - Latest Comments in The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Globalshiksha — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:36:26 -0000

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Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Hareton — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:12:34 -0000

It seems to me that we've got productivity (as we know it) nailed - which is excellent in itself. I myself have learned a lot from a freat number of articles and interviews I listened to found by http://www.mp3hunting.com SE, and completely agree about how influential Mann and 43 Folders are. I would agree however that there is a snag or a glitch of some sort as there are only so many hacks out there. I've noticed the same advice being represented with only minor adjustments, and GTD seems to have passed into common knowledge - there are GTD principles at the heart of a lot of productivity advice. At the same time as you say we’re working more than medieval peasants did. Scary.

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

davidbaer — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:30:25 -0000

If you really did find a working formula that made you, say $1,000 a week online on average and it kept producing income no matter what, would you want to sell that idea to a bunch of noobs for $47 a pop and expect to retire on the proceeds? No way, man! It does not compute. It does not add up. And it does not make any sense to do that. I certainly don’t go shouting from the rooftops how I make my money online. Hell, I don’t want the competition taking a slice of my pie and neither would anyone who really does make good cash online.

www.onlineuniversalwork.com

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

davidbaer — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:27:41 -0000

The best place for freelance projects is freelancing sites. Freelancing sites are the best option for part time home based business and freelance jobs. There are many types of work available at freelancing sites

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Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

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Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Liquid Roof Coatings — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:09:28 -0000

Well said for the productivity is an economic era.Nice M agree with you at the point

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Jerry — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:37:47 -0000

I haven't got a blog yet (soon) but when I do I'm coming after you Collins...

for a guest post.

You're on target with the productivity list.

Obviously, there are multiple perspectives that can be raised with this topic, including that of the employer -- most often made out to be an evil entity that has nothing better to do than to suck the life out of its worker bees.

Clearly, the model in place in most organizations isn't the best we should be able to come up with. Some observers would claim it's like democracy -- a horrible system...just better than any of the others out there. I don't agree with that opinion but I can understand management's reluctance to toss out the known for the unknown.

Perhaps if business wasn't accountable to "the street" every 90 days, with the impending doom and gloom is you fall short of projections or are trending badly, there would be less emphasis on David Allen and others who sell management that they are the answer to hitting the numbers. There would be time to take a breath and consider alternatives.

The unfortunate truth is that small business generally copies big business, so any practice like GTD spreads virally and before you know it it's everywhere. Great for David Allen, as well as the person who follows him with the "next big thing."

If it is to change it will be because a charismatic leader will emerge with a different system that incorporates beneficial concepts for both the company and individual, and where their output blows the doors off the competition. The business media will fawn all over the leader who gets a book deal, does the interview circuit, and reveals his/her secrets for the "new" corporation. Then, the copycats will remake the workplace in his/her image and all will be right with the world.

Until David Allen stages his comeback.

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

RT Wolf — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:36:33 -0000

Interesting post, and I agree with the spirit of your arguments, I disagree with a few things, though. My main disagreement first:

- Unfortunately, wages+benefits are controlled by the laws of supply and demand as much by cultural/corporate norms. If everyone's productivity rises the same amount, relatively speaking, no one's productivity rises. Unless I'm much more productive than those around me today rather than how people were 40 years ago, I will not command amazingly higher wages. It's like Scott Adams (Dilbert) talking about how if there was a pill that suddenly made sleep unnecessary, the workforce would effectively double (or so) and wages would cut in half.
Again, I agree with you that we should work less, just because we don't need to work nearly as much we do (40 hours is totally arbitrary nowadays) but disagree with your argument. I also don't think corporations are supposed to give us this, we have to get it for ourselves. For myself, I work part-time and take the monetary hit for the extra time (which makes me happier than the extra money would anyway). You can also sometimes find pro-rated full-time jobs. I also recently quit my part-time job because it was soul crushing, but I have some money saved up so this isn't an option for many people.
- Medieval peasants didn't enjoy the standard of living we enjoy. The poorest among us have access to better resources than kings of old.
- One of the supporters of the 40 hour work week was Henry Ford, who believed that people working less would be better for the economy, turned out he was write. Going back to the medieval age is fine, but let's not forget what happened before 1940s.
- As someone has mentioned in the comments already, Many places in Europe already work less than Americans/Canucks do. Blogs such as this, 4 hour work week and flex-work agreements suggest that we are moving towards a social change that may signal less work for us over here in North America, too. For myself, I'd love to be able to take a siesta every day and party into the night.
- You think that's messed up? A prostitute (devine brown) made 1.6 million dollars for fellating one man (Hugh Grant), which was interrupted, so I'd imagine she prolly made 1.6 million dollars as a consequence of less than 20 minutes of work.

Like I said, I agree with the spirit of what you say, but I disagree with your arguments. Keep it up!

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Mark - Productivity501 — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:32:42 -0000

I find that the people who are truly productive tend to start their own companies in order to take advantage of their productivity. If a computer programmer is 10 times more productive than his co-workers he probably will not earn 10x the salary of others. However, if he starts his own company his pay is tied to his performance.

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

think — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:41:40 -0000

Clay,

I think # 11 "The best way to increase productivity is often to quit a lot of things" is a very good tip. Often time people have too much stuff on their minds and life which are unnecessary. I think minimalism (http://thinkneat.blogspot.c... in life automatically boosts productivity

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Alexandra — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:44:54 -0000

This is a really great post! Thank you!

It's really important to question why we are striving to be so productive.

Cheers!

www.simplyqueer.com

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Scott — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:53:50 -0000

We are twice as productive than in 1940 but most of us can no longer live on a single income and have the "American Dream". Hmmm. I wonder who is benefiting from that?

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Torley Lives — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:57:33 -0000

I found out this was proposed @ ChangeThis.com!

Clay, you should also highlight voting for that on here

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Summy — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:36:44 -0000

I think you're missing one basic point, productivity is there to get you more of what you want. More productivity = more time, more pay... you just have to channel your productivity to what you want...

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Albert @ Headspace (http://tho — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:41:22 -0000

Some good stuff in here Clay. In the end productivity is leads to 'hassling' other people and yourself. My manifesto? "Leave yourself alone! Stop looking over your shoulder!"

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Dave Navarro — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:08:34 -0000

I've been echoing this for years. It's about getting important stuff done, and technology doesn't solve problems that are rooted in habit.

GTD has some fantastic concepts, but like anything else, it has to be taken with a grain of salt. Life is to be lived, not hacked. Doing more does not equal getting more done if what you are doing is meaningless.

I recommend reading GTD, taking what's useful, ditching the rest ... and living your life. There's good stuff in there. But don't be a slave to a system.

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Andrew M. Whaley — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:17:28 -0000

I've seen a trend in recent months of GTD backlash posts and what I am always surprised by is how much they sound like David when you're sitting in his backyard, drinking wine, petting the dog, and asking him what GTD is all about. One of the greatest philosophical errors of our modern age has been to confuse means and ends. Some people have made being busy doing GTD an end in itself and forgot the end which GTD is for the sake of.

@Clay: It seems like your blog is a cry for people to stop this endless tinkering for tinkering sake and actually live life in the moment. I suck at that and when my conscience kicks in, and I feel guilty for letting either the tyranny of the urgent or the endless reworking of my "system" get in the way of living, the voice I hear in my head is usually David. As far as I can tell DA or the folks promoting GTD officially don't have a stake in how much you take on, in fact they'd tell you to take on less, but merely want you to actually take responsibility for what you pile on your plate and to keep it from distracting you when you trying to nothing or be present in the moment.

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Clay Collins — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:58:33 -0000

@Andrew: Awesome, awesome, awesome comment. Thank you for sharing this great and true story. Thanks for making the time. David Allen sounds like a great guy and very likable person. I'm going to try and get this comment a little more visibility. Thanks for dropping by; I'll try to make your subscription worth it.

Warm regards,
Clay

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Andrew M. Whaley — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:36:56 -0000

So, David Allen walks into a coffeehouse, orders a Italian-style cappuccino, and proceeds to plop into a big easy chair sideways and does nothing. The barista/owner walks over and gives him his coffee and... What's the punchline? There is none, it really happened- in my shop- last week. See, David happens to be a friend of mine and I've seen him do nothing better than anyone I know. I owned an uber-small micro business and was a student when I started using GTD. It saved my life. I now own a very small, currently very slow, little coffeehouse, in a very small town in CA. It is true that a lot of big companies use GTD to squeeze the most results out of their employees, but if you do that, in this modern economy, and don't give them more money, time, freedom, or other things of value, you have an empty desk and new guy to get productive quick. I have had one of those strange circuitous life plans and GTD has helped clear my head enough to actually be present to lessons learned in it. I'm new to your blog, and only read this one entry, so I will read more and subsribe for a bit, but it seems you make the mistake of confusing the fans for the person the're following and his message. I like Elivs, but can't stand Elvis fans. Is that the King's fault? I suggest you go read GTD again and hear what DA is actally saying, not what is said by a bunch techy nerds, hell-bent on productivity as the nerd chic dujour. The whole GTD thing is for changing the world and your self, in the way you want to, with as little effort and as much downtime as possible. In short, the guy your describing wouldn't give a damn about a little guy like me, but David cares for and helps a lot of little guys like me. Don't mean to rant, but I think you might have missed the big picture, hidden behind the labelers, list, and hipster pdas- it's about people not productivity.

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Erek Ostrowski — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:05:38 -0000

Nice one, Clay! Some really great points here.

In my work with clients, I talk about productivity all the time, so I had to keep checking myself as I read this to see whether or not I could agree with you without contradicting my own work!

Turns out, there was no conflict of interest, and I am quite relieved to say so!

Your manifesto has me noticing how my own relationship to productivity is very different from the traditional way of thinking. More than that, it has me thinking I should be more vocal about creating an alternative context for productivity in the business world.

I think our society stands to benefit greatly from a productivity model that promotes balance, clarity, self-expression and fulfillment.

I'm inspired to work on that. Thank you for stirring the pot!

Erek

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

James — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:19:52 -0000

Wow, I'm going to mention this in my weekly blog recap. Regarding point two about increased productivity/pay cuts, I'm very careful about what responsibilities I get given to me nowadays. If it matches my pay, fine, but otherwise things get tricky. I remember when I was working as a team leader with a team leader wage (no salary, paid by the hour) yet I was expected to come in at crazy hours for little pay and essentially do managerial tasks. I wasn't so much getting a pay cut as being a charity case.

James, Organize IT

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Darren Daz Cox — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:24:38 -0000

I think we'd be happier with more free time and less possessions personally...

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Ali from The Office Diet — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:26:07 -0000

I think this is the killer one, that drains my motivation for the Day Job:

"Increased productivity should equal less time on the job. If you

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Duff McDuffee — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:56:20 -0000

This is my favorite:

Hyperfocusing on productivity often gets in the way of the messy, circuitous, and discursive routes of personal development.

The virtue hidden in talk of productivity seems to me to be frugality or thrift. In other words, using your time, money, and energy well. Waste not, want not.

In the modern age, the virtue of frugality has been perverted by the economy's demand for increased production.

And there are always competing virtues or values at play.

Re: The Alternative Productivity Manifesto

Michael Martine | Remarkablogg — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:32:27 -0000

Wow this so rocks. I loved the point that what's good for humans is often bad for productivity. If you can kick ass and make the money you need to without being "productive" in the usual sense, then more power to ya.

Also, just thought I'd mention that the word itself has had its meaning distorted a bit. People use the word productive when the really mean efficient. Really its meaning is closer to prolific. Think artist, not cubicle slave.