1) Productive people are not robots and, actually, folks who think something like that about productive people are usually the ones who have less fun, as a result of the fact that they don’t manage their time accordingly, spend more time than necessary on tasks which are not worth it and, naturally, end up having less spare time.

2) Being passionate about what you do always makes you more productive. Does that mean that being productive when doing something you hate is impossible? Of course not but, no matter what angle you choose to view the situation from, a person who loves his or her work will always have an edge.

Let’s say that George and John are just as knowledgeable and that both of them spend exactly 3 hours per day working on a certain project. Let’s also assume that George is just in it for the money and that John is truly passionate about his work. Under such circumstances, who do you think will stand a better chance at maximizing results during these three hours?

Best wishes,

Alan Johnson

Procrastination or time lag tends to come from things you really don’t want to be doing… and if that’s the case, as Alan suggests, look at it from another point of view – the quicker you finish the sooner you get to do something you *want* to do!

I love doing web design. I also love writing. But does that mean that I want to spend more time doing web design or writing than I need to in order to accomplish my design/writing goals? Of course not.

I want to spend just enough time working on it to create something really good and still have plenty of time for other things. Sometimes that may mean that I work for several hours straight, but take the next day off. It’s all about how you want to break it up.

Many posts are written in response to something, be it another post, an attitude encountered, a remark made, what you *think* Bob *really* thinks about you… whatever. So I think that Alan doesn’t want to be considered a robot, and in his mind he’s defending his position against something that we, the readers, don’t necessarily see.

Typical geek reaction, which I support wholeheartedly.

And I agree with James: good writing.

In your intro, you discuss that some people think others applying productivity techniques like time management have no fun.

Then in the first section, your wording and use of language suggests that those who don’t are sloppy. S’cuse me?

The section also implies that those who don’t apply productivity techniques are people who don’t enjoy what they’re doing. S’cuse me?

In section two, you imply that productive people are always doing what they love. That’s absolute bullshit. Most people obsessed with productivity and time management are finding ways to cope with what they DON’T love.

Also, ANYONE who loves what they do is naturally more productive than someone who doesn’t. It isn’t a question of who uses time management or not. I don’t need time management techniques to play my guitar or write fiction.

Yes, it’s true that using time management techniques to get the OTHER work out of the way lets you play more… hm, but didn’t you already say that productive people are doing what they enjoy? So if that’s the case, why would they want to get it out of the way? I’m confused.

The last section implies that to become a productive person, do something you love. Well, I disagree. You may rock all day doing what you love most – what about your other responsibilities and obligations? One can’t ALWAYS do what he or she enjoys best.

Also, someone who is productive at what they enjoy best does not immediately become an overall productive person in general.

Maybe I’ve completely misunderstood this post (if so, feel free to tell me to go have more coffee and get my brains on right), but I think this is a pretty condescending, assumptive post. (Good writing, though!)