I’ll come right out to say this — I am not productive when my laptop is around. I realize my productivity has jumped about 242% after I stopped taking it with me to school. I listen in class. I participate. I _learn_. I learn!! Yet I realize I can’t do this forever, and I need to find a way to be ‘productive’ and ‘work on my computer’ at the same time.
I need to work on my computer, I need to write a staggering amount (even when it’s not writing for school, it’s writing for money, or writing for leisure). It’s a bit hard to do when you’ve got 120329 feeds vying for your attention on your RSS reader, a blog to update, pictures to upload to Flickr, podcasts to listen to. There’s too much noise and clutter out there. I get distracted by the Web, I want to read all about new gadgets, and everything from equipment discussion on photography forums, to tech analysis about iPods, Zunes and what processors are coming when, are infinitely more interesting than things like stagflation or _basket of goods_. Did I say there’s too much clutter in my digital life?
Today, at 3 am after wasting away many hours which I could have used to _do something goddammit_, I took the drastic step.
I created a new user account on my computer. Called that account “Getting Things Done”. Restricted its access to “WriteRoom”:http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/product/writeroom (all the better for distraction-free full-screen writing), Microsoft Word, Preview and Excel. No web browsers (well there’s Safari, but only restricted to my school’s intranet site). No chat clients. No email. No RSS. My desktop on this account looks like this.
Realize I’m not kidding when I say _this_ is what it usually looks like.
Since I’ll be working in this account a lot, and mostly for school/work-related activities, moving all my writing and school folders into the Shared directory was a good idea. The dock only has the apps I’ve authorized this account to use. No Exposé hot corners (I always get so comfortable knowing I can easily switch windows, I build up too much clutter; I realize that when I restrict myself to working without it, I don’t work on too many things at the same time, and _attention_ really is my biggest problem). With fast-user switching enabled, this thing works really well as a pseudo-Virtual Desktop. I feel reborn. I completed some pieces I’d been putting off for a long time. Let’s see how long I can last.
possibly related
Mandatory Monday Geeky Post /
The Complete Mac (Student) Life /
Tips On Buying A Mac /
New Heights of Being Lazy /
About Getting Things Done /
Getting Things Done: Taking it to the Extreme
I’ll come right out to say this — I am not productive when my laptop is around. I realize my productivity has jumped about 242% after I stopped taking it with me to school. I listen in class. I participate. I _learn_. I learn!! Yet I realize I can’t do this forever, and I need to find a way to be ‘productive’ and ‘work on my computer’ at the same time.
I need to work on my computer, I need to write a staggering amount (even when it’s not writing for school, it’s writing for money, or writing for leisure). It’s a bit hard to do when you’ve got 120329 feeds vying for your attention on your RSS reader, a blog to update, pictures to upload to Flickr, podcasts to listen to. There’s too much noise and clutter out there. I get distracted by the Web, I want to read all about new gadgets, and everything from equipment discussion on photography forums, to tech analysis about iPods, Zunes and what processors are coming when, are infinitely more interesting than things like stagflation or _basket of goods_. Did I say there’s too much clutter in my digital life?
Today, at 3 am after wasting away many hours which I could have used to _do something goddammit_, I took the drastic step.
I created a new user account on my computer. Called that account “Getting Things Done”. Restricted its access to “WriteRoom”:http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/product/writeroom (all the better for distraction-free full-screen writing), Microsoft Word, Preview and Excel. No web browsers (well there’s Safari, but only restricted to my school’s intranet site). No chat clients. No email. No RSS. My desktop on this account looks like this.
Realize I’m not kidding when I say _this_ is what it usually looks like.
Since I’ll be working in this account a lot, and mostly for school/work-related activities, moving all my writing and school folders into the Shared directory was a good idea. The dock only has the apps I’ve authorized this account to use. No Exposé hot corners (I always get so comfortable knowing I can easily switch windows, I build up too much clutter; I realize that when I restrict myself to working without it, I don’t work on too many things at the same time, and _attention_ really is my biggest problem). With fast-user switching enabled, this thing works really well as a pseudo-Virtual Desktop. I feel reborn. I completed some pieces I’d been putting off for a long time. Let’s see how long I can last.
possibly related
Mandatory Monday Geeky Post / The Complete Mac (Student) Life / Tips On Buying A Mac / New Heights of Being Lazy / About Getting Things Done /