Having a regular weekly check-in with someone who challenges you and helps you think beyond your limits is vital to creativity.
Category: Productivity
Housekeeping: The Value of Less
While my digital-self has been quiet over the last few months, I have not been entirely inactive. Having instigated a cleanup of my web footprint (I shared the initial stages in this post), I have continued this process alongside a number of subtle design/structural changes to jamesmichie.com and jamesmichie.com/blog. Also, I have made some changes to my online workflow – more out of necessity than choice.
Following on from decreasing the number of peripheral accounts that I had. I set about redesigning my second blog. I added a more pleasing theme and retitled it ‘Et cetera’. I felt, that what was my other blog, lacked a clear sense of purpose. As such I’ve added the tag line: ‘…riffs, ramblings, snippets and pics’. These were not extensive changes but add clarity to the role this blog plays in my online presence. I also wanted to draw a bit more attention to ‘Et cetera’, so I added buttons to both jamesmichie.com and jamesmichie.com/blog.
[Update: 27.07.12 Et cetera has been closed and the posts imported to this blog.]
This coincided with the removal of the Facebook page I set up to promote jamesmichie.com/blog. The page added limited value and very few additional readers. This also resulted in the deletion of my Facebook account. The continued uncertainty surrounding Facebook’s inability to take its customers’ privacy seriously, have left me under no illusion that it is better to be out than in.
I have made some minor changes to jamesmichie.com including adding a ‘bookmarks’ feed. Likewise, I have added the same feed in the sidebar of this blog. This change was prompted by Google’s decision to remove the sharing functions within Google Reader. The result? Google Reader continues to be my RSS reader of choice, however I laboriously reviewed the items I had shared (automated to Twitter via ifttt) and added any that I wished to keep to my Delicious bookmarks. I am now using this to both bookmark and share items – again, automated with ifttt. Initially, I was annoyed about Google’s decision but this has actually helped in the slimming down of my web presence – streamlining my sharing/bookmarking workflow.
What’s more, with the reduction of sources from which I am sharing information, I have removed the shared stream that was present on both jamesmichie,com and jamesmichie.com/blog.
Also, I have made some subtle changes to this blog, including the addition of text snippets in the side bar to further encourage people to subscribe to the blog and to also promote conference and events, at which I will be attending/speaking.
As I have taken each step, deleting accounts; cleaning up features; adapting my workflow, I have felt calmer, more in control, more focused. I can see that much of this has come as a result of the reading I have been doing this year – particularly the work of Leo Babauta. His books ‘The Power of Less‘ and ‘Focus‘ have had a profound effect in helping me to channel my energy into projects that matter.
I am not, now, opposed to trying out new tools or apps. However, I think it is important to limit your output – the more outlets that you are having to keep up is a form of distraction in itself.
Here are some of the selections I have made:
- Twitter NOT Facebook (sometimes Google+).
- Cloud App NOT Posterous, Twitpic, yFrog and Mobypicture.
- jamesmichie.com/blog NOT Amplify.
Each of these choices have helped me to streamline my web footprint, reduce friction, and find focus – allowing me to fully appreciate the value of ‘less’.
I leave with this thought:
Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?
~ Marcus Aurelius
An edited life…
Less equals more.
Taking a month off from blogging…
This is the first post I have published here since the 26th August. A week prior to the start of the new school year I decided to take a short break from blogging. This is not to say I wasn’t writing. On the contrary I have a number of posts ready to be published in the near future, including a post detailing how I’ve continued my efforts to reign in my web footprint, culminating in the deletion of my Facebook account for the second time. More on that, anon.
During this time I also continued to dip my toes in the Twitter stream and posted occasionally over at Et cetera, my other blog. However, I found that having taken a couple of weeks to finish my third MA paper and ease my way into the start of term, I had some breathing room. It felt good. It was then that I decided I would extend this mini-sabbatical for a few more weeks.
The extended break allowed me to finish off a few personal projects; to focus my energies on what has been a good but challenging start to the new school year; and to get a number of new projects off the ground.
This time last year was a different story altogether. I started the new school year in full flow – writing, blogging, planning, marking, starting the MA… the list goes on. The result? I found that come October I was drowning. I did not want to repeat this, hence the self imposed break.
Sometimes, you need to stop and ask yourself: “What is most important to me, right now? What really matters?” It is when you stop and take the time to consider this that you might find some things can wait. That the best way to prioritise your time, is to put some things down for a while. I love writing this blog but my day job is far more important. This blog would not exist in the first place without it. What’s more, taking a month off has not hurt one bit. In fact it has only served as a reminder of how much I enjoy writing and sharing my experiences online.
Are you giving your most important tasks the time and energy they deserve? Or are you spreading yourself too thin? Perhaps, it is time to take stock and ask yourself: “Where should I be focussing my time and energy?”
Note to Mark Zuckerberg
Not all friction is bad. Friction provides an opportunity to pause and ask yourself: “Do I really want my friends to know that about me?”
You see, it’s not about sharing every unmediated detail. It’s about curating content – adding value by providing notes, riffs and quips.
It’s about context!