Mark Shead made a list of 17 things you should stop doing that I enjoyed reading. Here are my responses to each of his items.
- Manually Depositing a Paycheck – I’ve done this for years and years, but there are other checks I get in the mail that I can’t deposit directly. Then there’s the issue of how to get cash easily, so I still end up depositing checks and using the ATM more than I’d like.
- Writing Checks for Bills – Once I started paying bills online, I’ve loved it. I write one monthly check now and I’m in the process of automating that as well.
- Partially Filling Up with Gas – I’ve never seen the point.
- Looking for your Keys or Cellphone – I’m a creature of habit and can’t remember ever losing my keys.
- Unpacking your Laptop Power Adaptor – I have a docking station.
- Check Multiple Email Boxes – I use one e-mail account almost exclusively.
- Watching Commercials – I rarely watch TV.
- Losing Telephone Numbers – I don’t have a cell phone, but I maintain an online address book.
- Commuting to College – I took the bus and was able to do homework, nap or read during the commute. I prefer this approach because of the benefits of interacting with other students. You miss out on a lot of that with online courses.
- Commuting Through Heavy Traffic – I listen to audio books so the commute isn’t that bad, plus I’m able to work from home.
- Dialing into Voice Mail – It shows up right in my inbox.
- Backing Up to CDs or Disks – I ripped all my CDs and have automated nightly backups. It’s far more efficient than trying to remember to back up files periodically.
- Visiting Lots of Blogs – I’ve been using Bloglines for years.
- Removing Spyware – I’ve never had to deal with this (on my own systems at least).
- Wasting Time in the Car – I listen to audio books in the car.
- Getting Lost in the Car – Google Maps printouts serve as a poor man’s GPS.
- Clubbing Baby Seals – I don’t own a club :)
I do most of these things, yet I still waste a lot of time. Just removing little incidental tasks just makes more room for the big, obvious time wasting like reading and commenting on all those articles linked to in my RSS feeds… :)
I don’t know what you’re talking about. Oh, wait…
@Levi – Good point! Personally I’ve found that when I have larger blocks of time, I tend to be more productive because it encourages me to take on larger chucks of projects. The more little things I can get rid of the easier it is to get large chucks of time. However, sometimes I regress and fill my large blocks of time with mindless wandering on the internet. :)
[…] – April 20, 2007 10 Commandments for a simpler life On the heels of 17 ways to be more productive, I ran across another list of ways to simplify your life. It’s in the form of the ten […]