If employees could choose there own work system in which they work optimally, I think they could do a lot more in a lot less time.

The trouble is, they give their work too many hours. Cutting back forces you to be more efficient and a whole lot more savvy about doing things the right side of 80/20.

If work is pre-defined by a certain level of productivity, then doing it efficiently is a good thing if it means it gets done quicker (providing the quality is maintained and the saved time can be used well).

If it’s defined by a certain number of hours, Parkinson’s Law comes into effect, and work expands to match the time given to it.
.-= Tim Wilson on: Oct 3- Learning Time Management Skills =-.

I think productivity is the resourcefulness that emerges when a person seeks to avoid doing something they’re not interested in. This is discussed in the article above, but I just want to crystallize an idea:

If you live in Buffalo and notice that your porch is getting covered with snow, “old productivity” (GTD, for example), would suggest that you put “shoveling” on a to-do list. It also suggests that when you finish shoveling, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment.

If this were an isolated task, then I might agree. Like I said, though, this is Buffalo. Suppose it snows two days later and the exact same “productivity system” takes over. Suppose you hate shoveling? Suppose you hate the snow, period?

Well then, I think “productivity” is calling up a neighborhood kid to do the work for you, shoveling your porch on a weekly basis, or getting the hell out of Buffalo and moving to Florida. These are all “productive” responses because they minimize the amount of time that you have to spend doing things that you don’t want to do and increase the amount of time can spend on things you care about.

If you decide that you only want to spend three hours on work each day, you WILL find a way to fit the work into that period of time, through some combination of delegation and ingenuity.

Let me just offer this example up as proof of how crazy your applications of this can get: Tim Ferriss, the author of “The 4-Hour Workweek” decided that he wanted to go on dates, but didn’t want to spend any time with the online dating Web sites – they were too much of a hassle. So, he hired a company from India to build his dating profiles, screen his potential dates, and schedule dates for him. He outsourced his online dating. Before I heard that story, I had thought that outsourcing only worked for writing or programming work. If there’s something you don’t want to do, you can almost always find someone to do it for you.

Having said all of this and wasted all of your collective time with my rambling, I would love to continue this conversation further with any of you through e-mail (nate [at] cumalu.com). Also, if any of you need help getting your time (and your life) organized, I’ve started a time management consulting company. It’s relatively new and don’t feel comfortable charging a fixed rate. At the completion of the 30-day program, my clients pay me whatever they felt the service was worth. Considering that I’m posting here and thus haven’t yet starved to death, I should be able to convince you that it’s worth your time.

Apparently this blog is where all of the intelligent people on the Internet are hiding. There are some thought-provoking comments here, and a very well-written article as the anchor. I enjoyed reading all of this.

-Nate

At the risk of sounding like a broken echo, I actually thought about this last weekend. While I have little problem doing full time work now, the idea is to make enough money to buy income-producing assets. Once it’s set up, my husband and I plan to each work part time. Short term pain for long term gain.
.-= Bytta@151DaysOff on: Day 25: Being 37 is Sexy =-.