Getting More Done (With a Lot Less)
"People are always asking me how I manage to get so much done. For a while I tried to impress them with my pearls of wisdom but soon I just sort of gave up. I don’t really feel like I do anything special — I worry about getting stuff done a lot, but mostly I just sort of do it. It wasn’t until I started working in an office that the question begun to make sense. Since I moved to San Francisco I literally haven’t gotten anything done. I haven’t finished a book (I finished three on the plane out here), I haven’t answered many emails (I used to answer hundreds a day), I’ve written only a couple blog posts (I used to do one a day), and I haven’t written a line of code (I used to write whole programs in the evenings). It’s a pretty incredible state of affairs." -Aaron Swartz, Office Space
TODAY or a couple of days ago the new Techrights turned 6 months (after we had dumped content management systems - a plan dating back to 2022 if not 2013 when we singled out WordPress as undesirable to us).
A lot has changed, but not necessarily for the better of society. Recent statistics, however questionable, said that only 2% of people in the UK are "Smart"(R) 'phone' 'hermits' (that still means over a million people). It's probably safe to say that "almost everybody" is using some social control media and/or "Smart"(R) 'phone' which has "apps" with notifications (distraction).
We've finally attained the capacity to consistently produce about 100 pages/articles per week (or over 400 per month), owing to a bunch of factors such as tools we developed, batching, good behaviour in IRC, and a general lack of time-wasting (opposite of focus). "Before The PC," which is the title of the photo on the left, an office desk with a telephone (not to be overused) was enough to get serious work done. Many occupations nowadays (even classrooms!) deem it normal for staff to carry around and frequently stare at "Smart"(R) 'phones'.
I don't get it. Honestly, I don't.
How is knowledge (education) going to be acquired while such a companion in one's pocket interrupts thinking?
To get a lot written and published I need not sit at the desk all day long. I actually spend more time (than any year since 2 decades ago) away from my desk. A lot of article ideas come up while in the kitchen. It's not a question of how much one types, what's important is what one types (or shows, e.g. with helpful diagrams and screenshots).
Referring to this as an issue of "Freedom of Thought", Eben Moglen spoke about it half a decade ago, bemoaning these "modern" devices that constantly crave attention and distract their carrier. Attention spans are negatively affected, as are the crucial abilities to digest long-form text and produce coherent long-form text that makes sense (unlike chatbot spew).
Keep things simple and strive for a tidy desk. Want a companion? Get a pet (our pet fish rarely interfere with anything), not a "Smart"(R) 'phone'. It can be a mutually-beneficial relationship and you need not plug the cat or the dog to the socket at least once a day. █
"I am a computer scientist who doesn't have a smartphone [...] you'd have to be clinically insane to have one"