Automation vs. Cleverness | Why Merlin Mann Should Not Read This Blog

All worthwhile endeavors--large or small--start with an idea.

This blog started with my realization that I was not the only person on the planet who was obsessed with figuring out ways to do more things with less time and effort. A lot of the reason for this realization is due to Merlin Mann and his excellent blog of personal productivity, 43 Folders.

While I genuinely appreciate a lot of Merlin's thinking and ideas around personal productivity and Getting Things Done in general, my personal take on the implementation of GTD is quite a bit more technology-centric. So, while Merlin might suggest something like the Hipster PDA, I am more likely to suggest the most precisely targeted techno-gadget, script or tool for the job.

It is my considered opinion that simple, direct automation of work will beat clever processing or mental discipline for personal productivity gains just about every time. Here's my maxim for personal productivity: If you do any work process repetitively, think about automating the entire process, some portion of that process or obtaining a tool to do that process for you.

The balance point for this maxim has to do with the time investment you spend actually automating that repetitive work process. Simply put, if you can't hope to recover the time you spend automating a process (or the dollars you spend on tool X), then just slog through it and get it done.

So--like I said--I appreciate Merlin's insights on how to use cleverness to be more productive, but I prefer to use technology to do as much of the dumb, repetitive work in my life as is humanly possible. Merlin, if you're out there reading; I love ya, babe. Keep doing what you're doing.

Just don't read this blog.