Comments on: Challenging the productivity police http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/2009/05/challenging-the-productivity-police/ Relief from overwhelm for entrepreneurs and creative professionals Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:39:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Janet Bailey http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/2009/05/challenging-the-productivity-police/comment-page-1/#comment-12795 Janet Bailey Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:46:11 +0000 http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/?p=125#comment-12795 @Emma - It sounds like you’re talking about the difference between procrastination and incubation. You can be working on a project even if you’re not sitting in front of a screen “writing” or “designing”---you might be noodling on an idea, or giving your unconscious a chance to make unexpected connections, while you’re doing dishes or talking to a colleague or taking a walk or a nap or visiting a museum. So you’re alternating focused time on a project (the planning, drafting, revising phases) with more unstructured time to let things bake, or incubate, which I don’t consider procrastination. This works better when you start early enough on the initial phases (like setting objectives and brainstorming) to allow time off for noodling without undue anxiety. In this case, procrastination would be putting off those initial phases, thereby <em>not</em> leaving time for incubation! The planning and objective-setting aren't procrastination either, they're legitimate parts of the project that can set the stage for more "creative" thinking. In the context of the Tools for Thought post I linked to, which also mentions <a href="http://www.juliemorgenstern.com/" rel="nofollow">Julie Morgenstern’s</a> useful concept of <a href="http://www.juliemorgenstern.com/blog/?pID=64" rel="nofollow">concentration threshold</a>, I think of procrastination as time you intended to spend focusing on the creative project, but instead spent avoiding it. It’s highly individual, though---some people (including me) need a lot of <a href="http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/2009/08/procrastination-anxiety-and-the-ugly-truth-about-just-starting/" rel="nofollow">ramp-up time</a>---you could also call that procrastination, but the label isn’t helpful if it increases anxiety and frustration. You do need to know enough about your habits to factor that time into your planning, which takes some self-observation. Which brings me to your second question about measuring: here again, sounds like you may be asking how to measure incubation time (as well as classic procrastination), compared to more active and obvious focus time. You could measure this indirectly with a time-tracking application like <a href="http://www.rescuetime.com/" rel="nofollow">RescueTime</a>, which records time spent on different apps and websites. A pad of paper and a pen are handy tools for this as well. ;) @Emma – It sounds like you’re talking about the difference between procrastination and incubation. You can be working on a project even if you’re not sitting in front of a screen “writing” or “designing”—you might be noodling on an idea, or giving your unconscious a chance to make unexpected connections, while you’re doing dishes or talking to a colleague or taking a walk or a nap or visiting a museum. So you’re alternating focused time on a project (the planning, drafting, revising phases) with more unstructured time to let things bake, or incubate, which I don’t consider procrastination. This works better when you start early enough on the initial phases (like setting objectives and brainstorming) to allow time off for noodling without undue anxiety. In this case, procrastination would be putting off those initial phases, thereby not leaving time for incubation! The planning and objective-setting aren’t procrastination either, they’re legitimate parts of the project that can set the stage for more “creative” thinking.

In the context of the Tools for Thought post I linked to, which also mentions Julie Morgenstern’s useful concept of concentration threshold, I think of procrastination as time you intended to spend focusing on the creative project, but instead spent avoiding it. It’s highly individual, though—some people (including me) need a lot of ramp-up time—you could also call that procrastination, but the label isn’t helpful if it increases anxiety and frustration. You do need to know enough about your habits to factor that time into your planning, which takes some self-observation.

Which brings me to your second question about measuring: here again, sounds like you may be asking how to measure incubation time (as well as classic procrastination), compared to more active and obvious focus time. You could measure this indirectly with a time-tracking application like RescueTime, which records time spent on different apps and websites. A pad of paper and a pen are handy tools for this as well. ;)

]]> By: emma http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/2009/05/challenging-the-productivity-police/comment-page-1/#comment-12698 emma Sat, 27 Aug 2011 23:05:22 +0000 http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/?p=125#comment-12698 Questions r.e. the link you posted to Tools for Thought post, relating to Concentration Threshold, incase anyone else finds answers insightful: http://tools-for-thought.com/2009/05/04/time-management-smackdown-parkinsons-law-vs-concentration-threshold-theory/ 1. I'd be interested to know how people separate procrastination from thinking creatively when it comes to tasks like design, or ui, or copywriting? Would you classify this as a different task, planning, where procrastination would be "what are the objectives..?" 2. I'd also be interested to hear any suggestions for how to actually measure time taken to procrastinate compared to time actively working, without causing more distraction.. this came from my thought that my own procrastination doesn't always happen in one 'block' before actual working, i may work for a while, procrastinate, work again.. any tools? Questions r.e. the link you posted to Tools for Thought post, relating to Concentration Threshold, incase anyone else finds answers insightful:

http://tools-for-thought.com/2009/05/04/time-management-smackdown-parkinsons-law-vs-concentration-threshold-theory/

1. I’d be interested to know how people separate procrastination from thinking creatively when it comes to tasks like design, or ui, or copywriting? Would you classify this as a different task, planning, where procrastination would be “what are the objectives..?”

2. I’d also be interested to hear any suggestions for how to actually measure time taken to procrastinate compared to time actively working, without causing more distraction.. this came from my thought that my own procrastination doesn’t always happen in one ‘block’ before actual working, i may work for a while, procrastinate, work again.. any tools?

]]> By: Janet Bailey http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/2009/05/challenging-the-productivity-police/comment-page-1/#comment-134 Janet Bailey Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:06:30 +0000 http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/?p=125#comment-134 @Hendra - I have a feeling that identifying the activities which require more thinking and creativity will help your planning system work better for you. Good luck! @Hendra – I have a feeling that identifying the activities which require more thinking and creativity will help your planning system work better for you. Good luck!

]]> By: hendra http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/2009/05/challenging-the-productivity-police/comment-page-1/#comment-130 hendra Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:32:10 +0000 http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/?p=125#comment-130 yes, this is my problem righ now i don't now why is very hard to strick to my planner espicialy on time allocation. maybe today time management system lack of identification for activity that required knowledge or creativity. sory for my english !! yes, this is my problem righ now
i don’t now why is very hard to strick to my planner espicialy on time allocation. maybe today time management system lack of identification for activity that required knowledge or creativity.

sory for my english !!

]]> By: Janet Bailey http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/2009/05/challenging-the-productivity-police/comment-page-1/#comment-108 Janet Bailey Mon, 18 May 2009 04:41:30 +0000 http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/?p=125#comment-108 @Barbara - Yes, that ebb and flow. So important to recharge. @Barbara – Yes, that ebb and flow. So important to recharge.

]]> By: Barbara Martin http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/2009/05/challenging-the-productivity-police/comment-page-1/#comment-94 Barbara Martin Wed, 13 May 2009 02:31:25 +0000 http://www.mindfultimemanagement.com/?p=125#comment-94 A little late to the party but this is important stuff. I think creative people need to be aware of their own creative rythms and be alert to procrastinating ... flipside, I also believe creative people need a lot of time to do nothing in particular so their brains can rest and be diverted and recharge, and time to draw in lots of stimulation from all kinds of outside sources to feed their creativity. A little late to the party but this is important stuff. I think creative people need to be aware of their own creative rythms and be alert to procrastinating … flipside, I also believe creative people need a lot of time to do nothing in particular so their brains can rest and be diverted and recharge, and time to draw in lots of stimulation from all kinds of outside sources to feed their creativity.

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