Computers - Time-thief or Productivity Tool?
Sometimes I wonder if my computer is a time-wasting device or if it is a valid productivity tool. After thinking about this today, after I had made a decision to do something productive with my computer instead of playing online backgammon on it, I had an epiphany.
You see, I was driving home from a friend’s house, and my intention was to go home and write a post for this blog. I felt that familiar battle starting up in my head, the procrastinator versus the creative genius (and the procrastinator wins 90% of the time!).
So I started thinking about what I could do to avoid sitting at my computer and wasting time, and instead use my time productively. There is certainly no point in my sitting in my little home office, because no matter what I do I will find a way to do two things badly at the same time, or I might simply collapse in front of the TV and do nothing at all. It’s a long-standing habit I have of listening to something while doing something else, for example reading email or browsing the web. The net effect is that I don’t get very much from either source, it’s like trying to converse with two people, on unrelated topics, at the same time. Ever notice how good listeners are very focused on the topic and don’t dilute it with other distractions, they look you in the eye with all their attention and they listen? At least that’s how it used be, before this latest age of multimedia multi-tasking, but that’s another topic.
Anyhow, I made a decision to get out of the house when I got home, but not until after downloading some podcasts that I find really well-done and interesting. (If you don’t know what podcasts are, then I suggest you get familiar with them.) Then the plan was to transfer the podcasts to my iPod so I could go for a walk and listen to the incredible free information from Yaro Starak’s podcast archive.
Just as an aside, I am learning to become a professional blogger, and there is no better source of free information than Yaro Starak’s site, and being a student of his I want to get as much from his website as I possibly can. But if I sit at home and start listening to his podcasts, I just know I will soon be playing online backgammon as I listen, or answer some emails, or browse some camera review sites, or or or… in other words, only listen with half my attention.
I am really trying my best to be a regular exerciser, but every time I think about my run, another inner-battle inside my head ensues about my unwillingness to go, versus the obvious benefits to both my health and my feelings of well-being.
Lately my knees have been hurting after my runs (I think it’s time to change my old runners), so I decided today just to go for a walk, put a few podcasts onto my iPod, throw my digital camera around my neck, and take off for a walk around Lost Lake (which is right in my neighborhood). I also had the foresight to bring along a pen and pad in case I learned something worth noting (something that I would definitely not do if I was paying Backgammon!)
So what am I getting at? Well, ironically, I used my computer to prevent myself from wasting time on my computer. Isn’t irony wonderful? I also managed to get some focused listening and learning done, and I got some very enjoyable exercise in one of Whistler’s beautiful forests at the same time.
Anyone who faces the same demon as me, that is the desire to waste time on a computer instead of getting something done on it, I strongly advise that you take a new look at your iPod, it’s also a really fantastic learning tool.
OK, so I got my exercise in, I learned some good stuff, and the walk gave me the idea to write today’s blog topic, which you are reading right now!
Peace.
