Comments on: Ask The Readers: So, What Is Productivity Anyways?

By: Poojan Wagh

Poojan Wagh — Sun, 18 May 2008 04:19:13 +0000

It is worth it James. Depending on what you want to do, you may want to skip some sections. The book is a good collection of great ideas (Parkinson’s law, Pareto principle) and though they are available elsewhere, it’s nice to have a centralized resource. However, there is a portion of the ideas that are only relevant to those looking to live a similar lifestyle as Tim Ferris. For those people, it is basically an instruction manual.

By: James

James — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:32:40 +0000

Poojan, I keep checking out The 4-Hour Work Week in the bookshop. Is it worth buying? I’m intrigued by some of its ideas.

Rachel, I agree that we tend to write about productivity in a more personal sense but do you think productivity is the best word to use to describe what we are aiming for? Efficiency seems to be more fitting. As Rolf says, you can reduce time needed to complete work and that involves increasing how efficiently you work rather than how much work you can handle.

By: Rolf Katzenberger

Rolf Katzenberger — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:44:48 +0000

To me, productivity = relevant work completed / time needed for completion. There are two ways to become more productive – cram more relevant work into the same amount of time (bad) or reduce time needed to complete your relevant work (much better).

By: Rachel Murphy

Rachel Murphy — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:36:44 +0000

I think most of us who read and write productivity blogs are thinking of productivity in a more personal sense. For me it means keeping on top of everything at home but also giving me as much free time as possible. In other words, being efficiency. If I’m efficient I’ve got time to do the things I really want to do and I’m less stressed. I’m seeing productivity in a holistic sense.

Productivity applied to workers often means working harder for the same pay, as you point out. Not enough employers look at the big picture. Pushing employees hard isn’t always the best way to ultimately improve productivity for a company. Happy employees will naturally work more efficiently than those that are pushed hard and stressed.

By: Poojan Wagh

Poojan Wagh — Wed, 14 May 2008 23:04:04 +0000

I’ve been reading The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. The book rejects this notion of productivity being good for the individual. My disagreement with the book is that in some cases, Ferriss relies on others to perform tasks that he would rather avoid. I have difficulty with philosophies that are not sustainable. If everyone followed this philosophy, it wouldn’t work. Nonetheless, the book is filled with tips for individual productivity.