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When productivity is too complex
Khoi Vinh, who heads up design at NYTimes.com, complains about most "productivity" systems today - and he's exactly right:
I no longer find the kind of satisfaction that I used to in laying the groundwork for better productivity, in acquiring complex tools and spending copious amounts of time learning them and setting them up in preparation for the productivity gains they promise to yield for me. I just want to get stuff done with simple, reliable tools and methods that are easily comprehended straight out of the box, and then go about my business. (So, no thank you to the tremendous waste of time that is GTD.)
Exactly why I wrote a chapter on todo lists in Bit Literacy - a good todo list is essential today, just as important as an email program - and yet most people don't know which tool to use. I'm biased, of course, but I still recommend my simple, easy-to-use, powerful todo list: Gootodo.com.
Tech companies should pay attention to Khoi's complaint about complex tools. As techie bloggers go, so (eventually) goes the rest of the market - with millions of users.
(thanks, scott)
A lesson in complexity:
The story goes that the Americans spent millions designing a pen that could write in the zero gravity of space. The Russians took along a 10c pencil.
Shame that's not a true story...
http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
Apparently pencils wouldn't be very good in a spacecraft due to the risk of conductive graphite (or shavings) floating around in zero-G, etc.
I disagree. Small things that need to get done day to day can be handled without much effort, but more complex programs like GTD can help tie down everything in an external system, which can reduce stress. True that one can get caught up in the system without reaping the benefits, but a disciplined application with constant review of how well the system works can lead to better results than can be had with simple tools. Rejecting a tool simply because it can't be understood right away, even if it is a productivity tool that ultimately is designed to save time, seems harsh.