The key to staying productivity is simply saying no to productivity
The reason I say “No to Productivity†is because I am tired of seeing articles on productivity. They are everywhere. Every other blog, every other piece on a newspaper and magazine. Heck, google returns over 80 million results for the keyword “productivity†which clearly shows it is one of the most sought after thing among us on the web. But what exactly is productivity and what are we gaining from all these texts and time we are putting in trying to learn how to be productive? Tell you what, you are learning nothing and what we were doing before is what most of us will keep doing and the life keeps on going. What you are doing is a waste of time.

When you read how to boost your productivity on a day to day basis on the web, magazines and newspapers, you are not being productive. All you are doing is telling your brain that you are going to read and apply, which merely happens. The result – you just wasted your time reading about productivity while you could actually be doing something and be productive.
I will support my theory with a few pointers as most productivity articles seem to start with titles such as “50 ways to boost your productivity†or “10 tips to become productive today†and what not. Here we go, we will follow the norm and say it like it is :
- What works for the author of the article might not work for you. Different beings, different priorities and different way of handling things.
- Every productivity list has it somewhere that says clear your inbox or something along that line. If you don’t know how to manage your email then you have failed to manage the simplest aspect of managing things.
- Most productivity articles suggest you hit the sack early and start out early in the dawn. Isn’t that one of the most common suggestion? Guess what? That’s nothing but a bunch of bull.
- For some working early in the morning works and for some late nights can do wonders. Its the way your mind works, the way you have always been. Turning that around isn’t easy and most people will never turn that around because that is exaclty what works for them. We all have families to take care of, errands to run and what not, but life is full of things for everyone and everyone has to work around it in their own ways. If I write a productivity article it is not going to be based on your preference. It is going to be based on mine and it sure as heck won’t work perfectly for you.
- The key to being productive is being productive. There is no secret formula and if there is you are the only one who has the key to it not the author.
My intention is purely to break this monotonous ramblings that goes around the web and everywhere else regarding productivity. Productivity isn’t something that you take advice from a third person and the neighbor next door. If you want to be productive, you need to look at your own personal life and prepare a strategy or a plan based on that.
Is this yet another productivity article? You bet it is! But we can almost guarantee this might be the first and the last one that you will ever see that says “No to productivity†while everybody else is trying to prepare a list that will make you productive. Trust me 99% of it won’t apply to you, so why bother wasting time reading it. Instead, go ahead and be productive.
You will never see any articles related to productivity on applicant.com again. Since every blog in every single niche is talking about productivity, we thought we needed to jump in the bandwagon as well and share our views.
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Great thoughts. Totally agree with you on this one!
I somewhat agree with you. Talking about productivity or organization should be discussed only to get people there. Merlin Mann at 43 folders hits on this the best. It’s not about productivity for the sake of productivity.
However, watching people today try to do anything worthwhile is comical with all the multitasking, distractions and lack of focus. People spending hours on twitter, facebook, vimeo, youtube, friend feed, digg and everything else. People trying to drive, talk on the phone, send a tweet and eat.
Business people feeling the need to work around the clock. People convincing themselves that having X # of followers on X social media site is the best thing they could be doing with their time. I embrace these tools but set limits.
Your argument could be expanded to include most blogging since it is essentially telling us stuff that’s probably more than we need to know to get the job done. It would also apply to social media, wordpress, anything web 2.0, blogging about blogging, seo, reporting news, all commentaries, and many more things.
I like you’re conviction though. You’re not scared to be on the edges. I’d rather be there than in the luke warm middle. hat tip: Seth Godin