I whole heartedly believe that reading productivity blogs is an utter time suck. I believe Merlin Mann thinks so too, and that’s what makes 43 Folders so awesome. It’s a paradox, I know. He has broken away from being a blog of “tips” on productivity and has started trying to change the world. Ok, enough backstory…
In particular I have really been into his stuff on attention management and being very stingy about who and what you give your attention to. It’s really all about opportunity costs. Every minute you are spending on Project B or in Meeting C is a minute you can’t spend on Project A. You need to make some hard decisions about what you care about and what you are trying to do with your life. I’ve embedded slides to his talk below. That will give you a better idea.
A video of his talk is also available, if you are really in to this stuff, but be warned it’s 70 minutes long.
I love his idea of “being your brain’s dad”. If you’re a procrastinator or get swept away in the vast intertubes, this little feller might help. It’s just a simple page that gently reminds to you stop f’ing off and get back to making cool stuff.
After seeing the page, I immediately ‘thumbs upped’ it on StumbleUpon. I have a dream that the future-me (or the future-you) will be procrastinating, stumbling websites only to come across Merlin’s little kick in the ass and that it will totally spring me to life to finish my awesome *thing. EPIC C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER! (Maybe you should ‘thumbs up’ it too. Our future-selves might thank you.) I’ve also been thinking about sending it to friends “Rick Roll” style! It’s guerilla productivity!
Because I have a long way to go and am a bit of a hypocrite, I have included a 15 second video of a double (!) C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!
Now get moving.