Protocol 80 Productivity Blog

An interesting article over at lifehack.org points out “Productivity skills alone will not dramatically improve your life.”, and goes on to suggest that maybe it’s not productivity tricks such as “Getting Things Done” that some people need, but better life choices.

Now, I don’t disagree with the overall premise of the article. There is a whole lot of information and advice around in books and online all wanting to help you better sort out your life by getting organized and have more free time or being less stress. But obviously this information only makes up a fraction of the bigger picture, GTD offers for the most part very practical advice, for instance it’s common sense that writing things down in list form means you won’t forget to do them, so long as you look at the list. I don’t think anyone has ever read that and though to themselves “Why didn’t I think of that?!” - But sometimes you need to be reminded of things, or look at them in a new context to actually make the choice to actually do them.

The other issue mention in that article basically suggests that its sometimes the way you interact with others that might be at issue, an issue which isn’t addressed by GTD, but is one of the key concepts within the 7 Habits book. Personally, when I pick up a book like “7 Habits”, I’m not looking to have someone tell me how to live my life, I’m looking to find inspiration from the way other people lead their lives so that I can hopefully learn something new, and enrich my own life. In much the same was as while I work as a programmer professionally, it doesn’t stop me reading up on programming so that I can learn even more about the things I do day to day, and hopefully gain new insights, or confirmation that what I’m already doing is a good way to work.

There is obviously an attraction in the more practical way of looking at things, then there is stepping over into the realm of “Self-Help”, GTD offers you a way to do things differently, where as 7 Habits offers a way to be different yourself, something that is harder to take on board, and much more difficult to implement. In fact, the article goes on to bullet point some things that look very reminiscent of “7 Habits”

Both styles have their place in life, but neither offers an easy answer, for me one of the first issues I have to navigate with much of the information I read is that I’m not a manager, and so even the though of delegating work goes right out the window unless I’m specifically leading a project.

Note: I’ve mentioned both “Getting Things Done” and “7 Habits” as they are the two examples I have most exposure too, and most people mention more then anything else, but I’m always open to new material and would be grateful for recommendations for further reading.