3 ms·

This seems to be a common theme lately, as there are several articles about this, lots of software and the minimalism/uncluttering self-help niche has reached a

by mhd 16y ago

This seems to be a common theme lately, as there are several articles about this, lots of software and the minimalism/uncluttering self-help niche has reached astronomic heights (which is probably somewhat ironic). Similarly, people complain about the huge number of workday hours lost to Facebook browsing or people playing flash games or simply solitaire. I'm a bit cautious about drawing too many conclusions there. I think we've always been very easy to distract, any excuse was okay. We just have more and easier excuses right now, especially at places where just a few years ago, you couldn't be as easily distracted. At home, with friends calling, books in your library, a TV, your spouse, kids, etc, distraction was common place, and as you didn't feel like you were losing productivity, nobody really complained. That's one of the reasons why people were forced into cubicles -- minimize potentials for distracting interaction. Now graphical computer interfaces, the internet and mobile phones made it possible for you to waste enough time, while sitting perfectly still. No wonder that a lot of journalists complain about that. Just a few years ago, they were sitting in front of typewriters (or DOS machines with XyWrite), where focus was no problem. Now it's not that easy anymore. But is forcibly blocking this really the ultimate solution? /etc/hosts, Freedom, cubicles, log cabins, monasteries… Don't we just fight a symptom that we should tackle otherwise? There's probably some evolutionary reason why we're prone to this ("There, a sabretooth tiger!"), but only to a certain point. I think above that, you want to be distracted and thus easily give in to temptation. It's like when we were kids. Cleaning up your room, then your neighbor throws pebbles against your window? Off you go! But when you're all centered on playing with your Legos, your Mom has trouble getting you to dinner. Maybe we shouldn't try as much to be monks, but set out to change our lives to contain more Legos.

DLWormwood 16y ago
> But is forcibly blocking this really the ultimate solution? /etc/hosts, Freedom, cubicles, log cabins, monasteries… Don't we just fight a symptom that we should tackle otherwise? There's probably some evolutionary reason why we're prone to this ("There, a sabretooth tiger!"), but only to a certain point. I think above that, you want to be distracted and thus easily give in to temptation. Precisely what I was thinking reading this article. Despite being a relative early adopter of the ’Net due to my college exposure last millenium, I’ve never really lost my ability to read or focus on a task… if I’m willing to do it. I didn’t feel tempted to follow any of those links in the article, for example. That said, with my recent bout of self-employment, I’ve found David Letterman’s pronouncement that the iPad is the “ultimate in procrastination technology” to be mostly true. However, everytime I let this happen, I conclude that it is a sign of my being afraid or reluctant to do something related to my current task. Once I solve that underlying problem, I get productive again. I think the takeaway from the above is that in recent times, people only seem to be more easily distracted, because, IMHO, that people, for some reason or another, have become more likely to do work or take on tasks that deep down they really don’t want to do. It isn’t just the current recession, but something deep in our hireing practices or job opportunities that is letting humanity down…
benatkin 16y ago
I've noticed it's a common theme, too. I keep hearing the phrase "digital detox". Maybe it's a Boulder thing. I'm not sure I like the phrase, but I like the idea of taking breaks more than I like the idea of fighting the change. I read books like Rainbows End and articles by Ray Kurzweil and it just doesn't bother me. http://gapingvoid.com/2006/09/17/the-future-belongs-to-the-geeks/ http://gapingvoid.com/2006/09/17/the-future-belongs-to-the-g...
henrikschroder 16y ago
There, a sabretooth tiger! Where? Where? Come on, let's go! We're losing it! I think I can see it over there! Let's go hunt! Wheeeeeeeeeee! I'm sorry, where you saying something important?

by mhd 16y ago

DLWormwood 16y ago

> But is forcibly blocking this really the ultimate solution? /etc/hosts, Freedom, cubicles, log cabins, monasteries… Don't we just fight a symptom that we should tackle otherwise? There's probably some evolutionary reason why we're prone to this ("There, a sabretooth tiger!"), but only to a certain point. I think above that, you want to be distracted and thus easily give in to temptation. Precisely what I was thinking reading this article. Despite being a relative early adopter of the ’Net due to my college exposure last millenium, I’ve never really lost my ability to read or focus on a task… if I’m willing to do it. I didn’t feel tempted to follow any of those links in the article, for example. That said, with my recent bout of self-employment, I’ve found David Letterman’s pronouncement that the iPad is the “ultimate in procrastination technology” to be mostly true. However, everytime I let this happen, I conclude that it is a sign of my being afraid or reluctant to do something related to my current task. Once I solve that underlying problem, I get productive again. I think the takeaway from the above is that in recent times, people only seem to be more easily distracted, because, IMHO, that people, for some reason or another, have become more likely to do work or take on tasks that deep down they really don’t want to do. It isn’t just the current recession, but something deep in our hireing practices or job opportunities that is letting humanity down…

benatkin 16y ago

I've noticed it's a common theme, too. I keep hearing the phrase "digital detox". Maybe it's a Boulder thing. I'm not sure I like the phrase, but I like the idea of taking breaks more than I like the idea of fighting the change. I read books like Rainbows End and articles by Ray Kurzweil and it just doesn't bother me. http://gapingvoid.com/2006/09/17/the-future-belongs-to-the-geeks/ http://gapingvoid.com/2006/09/17/the-future-belongs-to-the-g...

henrikschroder 16y ago

There, a sabretooth tiger! Where? Where? Come on, let's go! We're losing it! I think I can see it over there! Let's go hunt! Wheeeeeeeeeee! I'm sorry, where you saying something important?