Comments on: Introducing the “Productivity Hobbyist” Genre

By: Uwe

Uwe — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:32:09 +0000

Awesome articles, I am reading them all and it is giving me extra encouragement and rationalization for what I am planning to do anyway.

A minor point about power lifters is that, similar to sprinters on a track, they don’t actually train much in terms of quantity (no 3 sets of 10 reps or something) and might very well have a break of 45 minutes between a set one one repetition (or be indeed not training at all as you have suggested, who knows)

This is quite a different sort of productivity for these guys. I’d like to see someone who has transfered this mentality to other areas of productivity, who works “little” but accomplishes it anyway.

By: Paul Montwill | Sharingmatters.com

Paul Montwill | Sharingmatters.com — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:09:44 +0000

I thought about it many times. That is why I put some simple rules for INPUT/OUTPUT. INPUT - I read maximum 5-6 blog posts a day and has just reduced my Google Reader list (Clay, your blog is still on the list because your writing is unique - no “7 ways to do something” articles). OUTPUT - I keep my TO DO list busy and concentrate on HITTING GOALS not DOING THINGS. As reading cool blogs is very pleasant, seeing results of your hard work sounds better for me.

By: Ali Hale

Ali Hale — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:13:31 +0000

Great points, you’ve managed to put your finger on something that’s been subtly bothering me about the whole “genre” of productivity-blogging out there. I think people need to distinguish between productivity as a means to an end, and productivity as an interest/hobby in itself — a bit like the difference between pursuing finanicial gain purely to enjoy a richer overall lifestyle, or pursuing financial gain due to a fascination with money, markets, and so on.

Ali

By: Clay Collins

Clay Collins — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:12:20 +0000

@Caron: thanks! I had a lot of fun writing it.

By: Clay Collins

Clay Collins — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:07:16 +0000

@Andy: I like your fractal analogy; you are a great writer and I’m grateful that you added this beautiful comment.

By: Andy C

Andy C — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:47:39 +0000

Thanks for the pic usage. Makes me laugh still. Your concern and observations are a common one in most any field. You can talk about working or you can work. As social creatures we like to relate. Thus at a gym to other gym rats (and I’ve been one), a mechanic to mechanic, a chef to chef, a productivity person to other productivity people. We have a good time sharing and relating our worlds so we can better know, and be known, by others.

Of course like you say you can get mired in the details and maybe little of it will actually convert into a usable form but don’t doubt the subconscious ability to absorb and integrate without us always paying attention. A good and bad thing for sure.

The neat thing is life’s subtleties. The longer you do something the more granular you find it the more intricate the steps become the more nuances are shown, on and on like a fractal. Sometimes you get lost in there, it’s when we feel most lost yet have the most information then remember core competencies and simplify to basics. Basics which somehow seem stronger for the journey, and then when you take the journey again (and you will, if you are a person of growth), you learn even more of the behaviors. The one ongoing thing I love about learning and life is you are definitely never through with new permutations.

-a

By: caron

caron — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:14:52 +0000

wow, another great deconstruction meta post, clay.

By: Clay Collins

Clay Collins — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 05:08:35 +0000

@Lisa: I’ve linked to your post at the bottom of this article.

@Everyone: Lisa’s post got me thinking about this topic and jump-started the writing of this article.

By: Lisa Gates

Lisa Gates — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 03:20:14 +0000

Great mind, great distinctions. I’d reference the post you thanked me for as fodder, but I need a hack to remember me how to do it without taking up 10 acres of your real estate.

(Thanks for mentioning John Hiatt, BTW, another mark in your favor. Just promise you’ll never make it to the three-martini lunch.)

By: Clay Collins

Clay Collins — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:38:24 +0000

@Stephen: You wrote somewhere that for you, productivity isn’t about getting things done, it’s about being done. I like that a lot. It’s an honor to have someone as knowledge about productivity as you stopping by and commenting on this article.