Yesterday Merlin Mann of 43 Folders fame posted a video, it was the first post he has done on his site in quite a while. The video is long (~37min) and very interesting as Mann explores productivity and work as it is being shaped by productivity websites (like this one).

The video spurred a lot of ideas, the most important oh which was that the job of websites is to keep you engaged, not to point you back to working. Ad supported sites can’t make money if you are busy working and not looking at their site.

That statement got me to thinking a lot about how I run this site, and I realized, I shouldn’t push as many links. I need to do a better job at finding things of value to post about, and leaving readers to their work when I have nothing of value to add.

Get Back to Work

I think it is crucial we take time to think about why we are surfing the web, and reading productivity blogs. We need to be more aware of the time being spent, reading about how to save time.

What does it matter if you spend all day reading about how to get your work done faster, if you never complete your work?

I don’t spend a lot of time with the work that I get paid for and that used to make me feel very guilty. Until I realized that, even though I may not be spending a lot of hours working, I am getting all my work done.

The point of a job is getting the job done, not spending forty hours a week trying to get it done.

For me that provides a good rule of thumb for when I need to stop goofing off. When my work is not getting done, I need to stop goofing off and work.

Related posts:

• ∞ Work Smart: Stop Multitasking and Start Doing One Thing Really Well
• No After Hours Work Email — Stop the Stress
• How to Stop Worrying
• 17 Things You Should Stop Doing
• ∞ How to Increase Productivity: Stop Fiddling