I was wrong about productivity

Wrong about Productivity

So, I was wrong about productivity. Have you ever read something and had your world turned upside down? I’ve been experiencing that feeling while reading the book Deep Work. I went into this book thinking that productivity was all about optimization. Using electronic tools to produce more and in a faster way. I am only about a hundred pages into reading this book so I have a lot more to process. However, what I am picking up so far is a call to lower the drive toward the optimization processes I have been pursuing and instead focus on deep work and mastering skills.

I think one of the points made in the book that I attached to the most was the concept of how most people take the path of least resistance. Rather than pursuing deep work and mastery of skills, we learn just enough to get us by. However, as business and technology progress, the people who are masters of certain skills will be in higher demand. This also made me think of how optimization leads to automation.

It made me worry that as I optimized my workflow further, it would get to a point where a computer or machine could replace my work. Instead of optimization, I am thinking more about the process of taking time to learn crucial skills that make me more valuable and allow my output to increase as well.

I look forward to reading further into this book and the potential to shake up other areas of my processes and mindset.