How Do You Find the Balance Between Physical and Digital in Productivity?

00:00:04.640 | We have a question here from Pal, who asks,

00:00:08.800 | "How do you find the balance between physical and digital in productivity?

00:00:14.320 | What is the line that pushes a task or process to be physical or digital?"

00:00:17.680 | Well, Pal, for me, when I think about physical artifacts,

00:00:22.320 | so let's say a really good notebook and pen, for example,

00:00:26.800 | I tend to think about these being appropriate for contemplative activities,

00:00:31.600 | activities that are going to benefit from slowing down

00:00:35.040 | and giving something careful, reflective thought.

00:00:38.880 | On the other hand, when I think of digital tools involved with the organization of my life,

00:00:44.160 | I think of efficiency as what's at play here.

00:00:47.840 | Okay, I've got a tool where I can capture everything and move things around

00:00:50.720 | and get information in there so I can minimize the time I waste

00:00:55.120 | on that type of organization so I can spend more time actually executing.

00:00:58.160 | So typically, most of my tools, most of my tools in my workday are digital.

00:01:04.400 | That's where I keep track of my calendar and where I have my task boards.

00:01:08.160 | And I write out my quarterly plans are stored in digital documents,

00:01:12.480 | but then I shift to paper for my daily time block plan,

00:01:16.480 | because as I'm going through my day, there are going to be points where I want to slow down.

00:01:22.000 | I'm trying to think something through.

00:01:23.680 | I'm trying to understand a book chapter,

00:01:26.800 | and I want to be away from efficiency and towards contemplative.

00:01:29.440 | So I go towards a physical artifact.

00:01:31.200 | I'm also big on these physical analog artifacts for non-professional reflection and planning.

00:01:38.640 | So this is why I use a paper moleskin notebook to keep track of ideas about living a deeper life.

00:01:43.840 | It's the right modality for that.

00:01:45.840 | That's a contemplative question.

00:01:46.960 | That's a question that's going to be serviced by time.

00:01:49.280 | This can be serviced by slowing down.

00:01:52.480 | The same way that would be serviced by slowing down.

00:01:54.080 | I wouldn't want to use a physical notebook, let's say, to keep track of all my tasks,

00:01:58.400 | because often when I'm trying to get to my task and figure out what I should be

00:02:01.040 | working on in this 30-minute window I have free, I don't want to be slowing down.

00:02:07.040 | I don't want to be flipping through pages.

00:02:08.720 | I don't want to be recopying tasks from one page to another.

00:02:11.520 | I want that to be as fast as possible.

00:02:12.720 | I want efficiency.

00:02:13.360 | So that's how I balance it when it comes to efficiency digital.

00:02:15.760 | When it comes to highlighting contemplativeness, I'll go with the analog artifact.