The Industrial Athlete is Back ... Again. Or Clutter, The Productivity Killer!

The latest period of silence was a maddening one. After all, I promised to get back on track when I last checked in ... 6 months ago. And then I fell off the radar again.

I'm convinced I know why. It was a textbook case of mental clutter, exacterbated by physical clutter causing action paralysis. I had so much useless stuff draining my creative energies that this blog slipped into the background a mere two posts after being launched. It was almost enough to make me want to hit the delete button. But I didn't, and here I am ... again!

How I got back to here is an interesting story. I was re-introduced to the Pareto concept (that 80% of an effect is created via 20% of a certain cause) in a different context, by a book by Timothy Ferliss called the Four Hour Workweek. I highly recommend picking it up.

While the main theme of the book is freeing yourself from the traditional definition of work via automation and modern communications, it first recommends that you cut out time wasters in order to ampify your productivity. By using the 80/20 concept, I eliminated and economized actions during my free time at home that weren't pointing me in the direction I want to go in life.

With all the time it freed up, I was able to bang out this post today despite previously being "rushed" during the day.

It's a scenario all cognitive ergonomic specialists should take note of in their practices/lives. Useless/unimportant actions create stress. I have learned this lesson over the past year, and what a difference it has made for me...