I just noticed that I haven’t updated my Now page since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.

Of course, the idea of a ‘Now’ page is that it actually isn’t about right now, but more about describing my preoccupation and activities in the current ‘period’.

Anyway, you can see what I’m up to on the updates Now page.

Tweet: A message written by someone with nothing to say to be read by someone with nothing to do.

I thank Michael Wade for pointing me to Sippican Cottage. What a great writer!

Google Knows What You Are Doing… What Are You Going To Do About It?

Now that is a deception, especially since there is no recent iMac available for purchase right now.

Having a clear purpose is the key for a happy life.

Even when researchers compared lonely people with purpose to social butterflies without it, purpose came out on top. In other words, it’s possible when we’re doing things to better our society, the body assumes there’s a society there to better. We’re technically alone, but it doesn’t feel that way.

Via Jason Kottke

What a great idea! I would love to work as a CWO.

To see themselves through the I.T. revolution, companies hired chief information officers. Perhaps the coronavirus pandemic will make chief workflow officer an equally important role.

I closed my Facebook and Instagram accounts over a year ago and have not missed it for a single day. I am still dreaming of leaving WhatsApp as well, but that proves to be more difficult.

Since then, not a single month have gone by without news coming out about Facebook’s blatant disrespect of its users, privacy and ethics.

I have made my choice, and I encourage you to make yours. If you disagree with Facebook and its policies, leave. You might be one account, but if you are one among millions, you will make a difference.

This is important: Patrick Rhone has seen it.

Ready for a productive day.

That dark, wet spot over there is bad news

My stomach tells me that eating the whole bag of M&Ms was not a good idea.

Nicholas Bate is the master of helpful advise in bite sized lists. I’m already waiting for the second part of the list Covid–19, 101, 1–10m

8. Your business will continue to be a blend of high-tech and high-touch. The former must be fast, easy and responsive. The latter must be fast, easy and attentive.

[…]

10. A phone call without visual distraction can be surprisingly productive. Try it.

For his 68th birthday, the amazing Kevin Kelly shares 68 bits of unsolicited advice.

There is no limit on better. Talent is distributed unfairly, but there is no limit on how much we can improve what we start with.

So true: Autonomy demands accountability

The Onion: Man Not Sure Why He Thought Most Psychologically Taxing Situation Of His Life Would Be The Thing To Make Him Productive

So, I propose a different definition of productivity: It’s about selecting a specific focus for every interaction—and taking actions that arise out of that focus.

In other words, productivity boils down to intentionality

This coincides closely with my own definition of effectiveness: intention management.

Usually when organizations talk about a VUCA environment, they are simply covering up bad planning, collaboration and organizational practices.

If you apply the growth mindset to organizations, you should stop talking about VUCA.

You can’t control the future:

When the future doesn’t cooperate, we spend even more time trying to change the next bit of future so that it ends up more closely matching the future we were hoping for.

What if, instead, just for a little while, we simply did our best?

I am too busy now, but when I have the opportunity (probably this summer) I would like to migrate this blog from Wordpress to micro.blog.

What I believe in:

While there are many benefits to using software tools, there are many hidden costs as well. Consider all the time you’ve spent researching, learning, evaluating, upgrading, and maintaining various software tools. Are you getting a good payoff for your investment when you consider the total time you’ve had to invest?

Now add the additional time you may have lost from digital distractions when you use software tools, especially on an Internet connected device. How often did you break away from using a genuine productivity tool to check email or social media or to look something up online?

40 years of experience working from home compressed into 10 pieces of solid advice:

While there are many benefits to using software tools, there are many hidden costs as well. Consider all the time you’ve spent researching, learning, evaluating, upgrading, and maintaining various software tools. Are you getting a good payoff for your investment when you consider the total time you’ve had to invest?

Now add the additional time you may have lost from digital distractions when you use software tools, especially on an Internet connected device. How often did you break away from using a genuine productivity tool to check email or social media or to look something up online?

These days, give yourself permission to be human.

Stop Trying to Be Productive × Taylor Lorenz

I was born in 1971, so you can imagine my interest in the site WTF happened in 1971.