Is technology a crutch?
It’s something that I’ve been thinking about recently. For how much all these nifty tools have helped us become more productive, I think there is a percentage of creativity or inspiration that we give up. All productivity tools are things that can do harm to our work habits as much as they simplify a task.
Maybe it’s that most of these tools are single-task automation or simplification utilities and from that perspective are inefficient solutions. Take a close look at all your “social media” or “Web 2.0” tools and services – I bet most really only solve one real task with a few frivolous extras sprinkled on top.
I’m not sure what to do about this, but I look at my productivity today and compare it to a year ago. Back then I was chewing through thousands more feeds, had more ideas and, it seems, more time to write posts for my blog.
Today, I have client software installed that automatically checks my Twitter and FriendFeed accounts for updates. It notifies me with a pleasant tone that triggers me to quickly switch windows and check out the latest possible news like a rabbit hitting the feeder bar for a food pellet.
How is this productive? How is this helping me? I have Twhirl updating the main Twitter feed every 2 minutes – how many times am I interrupted in an hour? Right. 30! Think about that. Now add FriendFeed into the mix on its own (similar) updates schedule. How many times can you be interrupted in a day without losing focus?
Now I don’t mean to beat up on Twitter and FriendFeed – heck, I can come up with dozens of reasons why they help more than hinder my daily life. Email used to be the same. I used to use Microsoft Outlook. If the computer was on, so was Outlook – and what was that nice feature introduced in Outlook 2003? Pop-up notification… great. So that is where that bad habit was developed for me. Since changing to web-based email about three months ago, I find myself checking email much less often. I’m no less effective or timely in my communication either.
So it’s really how we use the tools – their convenience allows us to lean on them for help. Sometimes a little too much. As we’re creatures of habit it’s up to us to develop, groom, and manage those habits. If we start developing bad habits, it’s ourselves that needs to correct them.
So that’s what I personally need to do. Simply change how I use Twitter and FriendFeed. There are others, but those are the two that I really need to manage my time with the most.
How about you? What are your tricks & tips in managing these productivity tools?
Photo credit: Kate Tomlinson
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Comment by Rick Mahn @Rachel - I hope you enjoy that new BlackBerry! It’s the push-mail thing that can get you, just like notification messages in Outlook (or any other email client). I’ve found that using an old-fashioned “pull” of email every 15 minutes on my mobile is often enough - heck I don’t even have a notification on the phone that a new mail message has arrived. Also, thanks for the tip on Kathy Sierra - I hadn’t been reading her lately.
@Corvida - I’ll be simply shutting down Twhirl for now and viewing Twitter and FriendFeed via the web only. This practice has worked extremely well with email (via Gmail) and should work similarly for me on the others. In addition, I’m going to allow myself a half hour in the morning, a half hour over lunch, and a half hour before the end of the business day. I’ll see how it goes in the evening.
Pingback by WinExtra » From the Pipeline - 4.27.08 [...] Is technology a crutch? :: RickMahn.com - just a few relevant questions about how technology that is suppose to make our lives as bloggers a little easier maybe isn’t working out so well. [...]
Comment by Brad Shorr Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Joanna Young, a good blogger friend. She encouraged me to join Twitter, so I just did. Your post has got me worried though … following 30+ blogs, LinkedIn, and Twitter could be overload. I’m not sure to what end all this activity is taking me. I’m glad other people have the same concerns and questions. May be good a good conversation topic at SOBCon.
Comment by Rick Mahn Brad,
Thanks for stopping by! I’m looking forward to meeting Joanna, Liz, the Chris’s and so many, many more at SOBCon08 that I just can’t wait. They’ve all inspired me and are great sources of ideas and realism.
Twitter is a great tool to be sure, but if you are worried about it being a time-sink, don’t hesitate to be discriminating in who you follow. Find the one’s that add value without taking up your time. Treat it like email too, set aside time during the day when you will check up on it or interact on Twitter.
Again, i look forward to meeting you this weekend!
Regards,
Rick
Kathy Sierra blogged about this a while back — how Twitter broke “flow” and that was a Bad Thing ™. And you’re (both) right, it’s a very valid point. If we let ourselves be controlled by technology, instead of the other way around, it’s a huge timesink and productivity drain.
This is part of why I’m not on FriendFeed, and why I use the Twitter web interface more than I do Twhirl — becasue doing so helps me manage the interruption level. I’ve got a Blackberry arriving this week and I’m going to be very careful about how I set it up so that I don’t become a slave to the arrival of each new email.