Comments on: Perfect Tools http://www.productivity501.com/perfect-tools/49/ Pieces of the productivity puzzle. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:55:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Mark Sheadhttp://www.productivity501.com/perfect-tools/49/comment-page-1/#comment-90873 Mark Shead Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:01:53 +0000 http://x.xeric.net/productivity501/?p=49#comment-90873 @Lee - I have encountered it before (under several different names). @Arjun - Maybe I'm stating my position too strongly. I see a lot of people who look for tools when they are really just procrastinating. For example, if you have 10 people you are trying to schedule for work, spending hours looking for a scheduling program really doesn't get you anywhere you can get with a paper calendar and pencil or perhaps a spreadsheet. I've seen other people spend hours and hours trying out different notebooks to find the best one. It is a bunch of pieces of paper with a cover on it! It might make you happier to know that you have the "best" notebook, but it probably won't help you really accomplish anything more. Particularly in the US there is a shopping mind set. We want to go out and buy something as a form of entertainment. I think a lot of the search for perfect tools is just trying to fill this shopping "need" and isn't really helpful from a productivity standpoint. Of course if you are going out to go shopping for something you don't really need, it is probably better to focus on notebooks or ink pens instead of expensive items like cars or computers. :) @Lee – I have encountered it before (under several different names).

@Arjun – Maybe I’m stating my position too strongly. I see a lot of people who look for tools when they are really just procrastinating. For example, if you have 10 people you are trying to schedule for work, spending hours looking for a scheduling program really doesn’t get you anywhere you can get with a paper calendar and pencil or perhaps a spreadsheet.

I’ve seen other people spend hours and hours trying out different notebooks to find the best one. It is a bunch of pieces of paper with a cover on it! It might make you happier to know that you have the “best” notebook, but it probably won’t help you really accomplish anything more.

Particularly in the US there is a shopping mind set. We want to go out and buy something as a form of entertainment. I think a lot of the search for perfect tools is just trying to fill this shopping “need” and isn’t really helpful from a productivity standpoint.

Of course if you are going out to go shopping for something you don’t really need, it is probably better to focus on notebooks or ink pens instead of expensive items like cars or computers. :)

]]> By: Leehttp://www.productivity501.com/perfect-tools/49/comment-page-1/#comment-90870 Lee Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:42:30 +0000 http://x.xeric.net/productivity501/?p=49#comment-90870 Mark, Are you familiar with the prinicples of Lean Manufacturing? It's also called the Toyota Production System. At it's most basic level it's about figuring out what steps in a process are valuable or create value and what steps are wasteful. Mark,

Are you familiar with the prinicples of Lean Manufacturing? It’s also called the Toyota Production System. At it’s most basic level it’s about figuring out what steps in a process are valuable or create value and what steps are wasteful.

]]> By: Arjun Muralidharanhttp://www.productivity501.com/perfect-tools/49/comment-page-1/#comment-90707 Arjun Muralidharan Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:38:10 +0000 http://x.xeric.net/productivity501/?p=49#comment-90707 Mark, you are so right. But it does take time to explore and I'm happy to have personally come to a finalization of tools which work well for me and I probably won't change anytime soon. While I believe that simple tools are effective, I also believe that everyone should take a limited amount of time to test what works for them. I've come to see that for my productivity needs, an iPhone, a Laptop and a Desktop all synced through Things, MobileMe and Sugarsync just hits the sweet spot. It might be a very high-tech solution, but it does a marvellous job and anything below it didn't feel right. Mark, you are so right. But it does take time to explore and I’m happy to have personally come to a finalization of tools which work well for me and I probably won’t change anytime soon.

While I believe that simple tools are effective, I also believe that everyone should take a limited amount of time to test what works for them.

I’ve come to see that for my productivity needs, an iPhone, a Laptop and a Desktop all synced through Things, MobileMe and Sugarsync just hits the sweet spot.

It might be a very high-tech solution, but it does a marvellous job and anything below it didn’t feel right.

]]> By: Success Professorhttp://www.productivity501.com/perfect-tools/49/comment-page-1/#comment-90524 Success Professor Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:01:33 +0000 http://x.xeric.net/productivity501/?p=49#comment-90524 Very good post. I guess I have a further reason why I still use simple tools in my system. I use a weekly day planner and a notebook for recording ideas. I then set weekly goals on a legal pad. Very good post. I guess I have a further reason why I still use simple tools in my system. I use a weekly day planner and a notebook for recording ideas. I then set weekly goals on a legal pad.

]]> By: JPhttp://www.productivity501.com/perfect-tools/49/comment-page-1/#comment-90471 JP Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:59:41 +0000 http://x.xeric.net/productivity501/?p=49#comment-90471 Mark, you're totally right. For a lot of things, the marginal utility gets smaller and smaller as you move up in quality. I think to some degree though, there is a level of skill/appreciation that goes into things that are the best. And while choosing the best may be costly in time and money, there is an emotional and subjective gain to it. Audiophiles may spend the big bucks for the world class speaker systems because they are skilled at it. I, on the other hand, would do just fine with a $50 pair of speakers. Interesting topic....=) Mark, you’re totally right. For a lot of things, the marginal utility gets smaller and smaller as you move up in quality. I think to some degree though, there is a level of skill/appreciation that goes into things that are the best. And while choosing the best may be costly in time and money, there is an emotional and subjective gain to it.

Audiophiles may spend the big bucks for the world class speaker systems because they are skilled at it. I, on the other hand, would do just fine with a $50 pair of speakers.

Interesting topic….=)

]]> By: Mark Sheadhttp://www.productivity501.com/perfect-tools/49/comment-page-1/#comment-90362 Mark Shead Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:50:19 +0000 http://x.xeric.net/productivity501/?p=49#comment-90362 @JP - so how much time did your "best" eraser save you? My point is that the time you spent trying out different erasers was probably never recovered. People spend a lot of time looking for the "best" in areas where the "best" has pretty much no benefit over the "reasonably good". @JP – so how much time did your “best” eraser save you? My point is that the time you spent trying out different erasers was probably never recovered.

People spend a lot of time looking for the “best” in areas where the “best” has pretty much no benefit over the “reasonably good”.

]]> By: JPhttp://www.productivity501.com/perfect-tools/49/comment-page-1/#comment-90359 JP Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:12:48 +0000 http://x.xeric.net/productivity501/?p=49#comment-90359 I think the important thing to note is that tools are all part of a process. The benefits from tools are results and ideally you want them to be good results. You can count me in as one of those individuals that endlessly seeks for the perfect tools. Back in middle school, I went through 12+ kinds of erasers until I thought I found the best one. What would be interesting is a post on technology and how it changes so quickly. At some point, changes in technology present such increases in value that you'd want to keep moving on to the better version of a tool. This is something my company, Convos, is starting to grapple with on our online group productivity tool. Is it best to release a couple of enhancements every 2-3 weeks like we do now or is it best to release a huge set of changes every 2-3 months for a bigger bang/response? http://www.convos.com I love my tools and I do spend a lot of time researching the "good" ones. "Good" being a relative term. I think the important thing to note is that tools are all part of a process. The benefits from tools are results and ideally you want them to be good results. You can count me in as one of those individuals that endlessly seeks for the perfect tools. Back in middle school, I went through 12+ kinds of erasers until I thought I found the best one.

What would be interesting is a post on technology and how it changes so quickly. At some point, changes in technology present such increases in value that you’d want to keep moving on to the better version of a tool. This is something my company, Convos, is starting to grapple with on our online group productivity tool. Is it best to release a couple of enhancements every 2-3 weeks like we do now or is it best to release a huge set of changes every 2-3 months for a bigger bang/response?

http://www.convos.com

I love my tools and I do spend a lot of time researching the “good” ones. “Good” being a relative term.

]]> By: Peter Jameshttp://www.productivity501.com/perfect-tools/49/comment-page-1/#comment-90358 Peter James Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:11:43 +0000 http://x.xeric.net/productivity501/?p=49#comment-90358 "The grass is always greener on the other side." I think the concept of perfection is ruining the world. Forget being perfect...just be yourself....it's so much more riveting... http://yinvsyang.com/ “The grass is always greener on the other side.” I think the concept of perfection is ruining the world. Forget being perfect…just be yourself….it’s so much more riveting…

http://yinvsyang.com/

]]> By: evolhttp://www.productivity501.com/perfect-tools/49/comment-page-1/#comment-39495 evol Fri, 09 May 2008 09:22:17 +0000 http://x.xeric.net/productivity501/?p=49#comment-39495 A principle as old as the world. Even biological evolution works not through the survival of the "fittest" (this phrase was not coined by Darwin, btw), but the survival of the "just fit enough" -- that would explain its incredible speed... ;-) A principle as old as the world. Even biological evolution works not through the survival of the “fittest” (this phrase was not coined by Darwin, btw), but the survival of the “just fit enough” — that would explain its incredible speed… ;-)

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