Comments on: Utilizing “Binge” Productivity

By: Productivity Toolbox: 55 Essential Tips & Tricks | Hi, I'm Grace Smith

Productivity Toolbox: 55 Essential Tips & Tricks | Hi, I'm Grace Smith — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:53:39 +0000

[...] Utilizing “Binge” Productivity [...]

By: HEADSPACE » Blog Archive » Get things done through Chaos

HEADSPACE » Blog Archive » Get things done through Chaos — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:31:45 +0000

[...] few weeks ago Glen at Lifedev wrote a post about ‘Binge Productivity’. The basic idea was: “Instead of making a to-do list for the day and hammering out as many [...]

By: Rafal

Rafal — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:58:47 +0000

I like the metaphore. To me this looks like getting into state of flow. You are highly focused and concentrated on the task and quickly move to the next one.
But as the guys said before me if binge too much it looses it’s value and benefits so keep balance while binging

By: Martin Muehl

Martin Muehl — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:59:17 +0000

I agree with Matt that it’s great on a periodic basis but I would tend to get lost in details and focus too much on small things instead of the “bigger picture”. I think it’s a great thing to try it if you feel that you start to procrastinate on something – just do something you love and get in the flow again!

By: Francis

Francis — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:03:40 +0000

I agree with Brennan above about the need to have a schedule, but one that is so flexible that it feels OK to throw it out at any moment.

The problem of going with the flow without a schedule is that you cannot be 100% engaged while worrying about what you might be forgetting. What good scheduling technique creates is a freedom to focus on what is in front of us, knowing that all the other stuff is safely assigned to time slots in which they can get done before their respective due dates.

By: glen

glen — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:44:15 +0000

@Ann- I agree with the analogy of too much chocolate in the house. It’s easy to get TOO lost in the stuff we want to do,and not spend enough time on the stuff we have to do. There’s a delicate balance in there somewhere.

By: Brennan Kingsland

Brennan Kingsland — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:12:39 +0000

My natural method of operation is binge productivity, work on what feels right at the time. Unfortunately, I’m not productive in the long run. I tend to spend too much time on projects I like and not enough on the tasks I’m not as comfortable with.
The only thing that works for me is a list. And on that list I put the disagreeable tasks into small time slots, so they don’t seem overwhelming. I’ve learned that the only way (for me) to break down those “big rocks” is to FORCE MYSELF to spend a manageable amount of time breaking them up, on a daily basis. Otherwise, I’d spend all my time playing with hex codes and graphic images.
I admit it, I need structure and a plan.

By: Matt @ Corporate Hack

Matt @ Corporate Hack — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:25:47 +0000

I like the idea of ‘binge’ productivity on a periodic basis… maybe it’s the way to end the week (Friday’s are ‘binge’ days). However, using this method on a daily basis would leave me feeling a little misguided.

By: Ann

Ann — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:58:21 +0000

This feels as dangerous to me as having that table full of chocolate in the house! One of the suggested ways to recover from a problem with binge eating is to declare that “no food is illegal/off limits”. Maybe the same would work for projects: making it legitimate to lose yourself in something you love to do.

By: Avani

Avani — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:12:39 +0000

This system seems great. I have been trying something like this for past month or so. While most of times it works great, I have caught myself doing one task more than other since it’s more enjoyable or the other task is something I wanted to avoid. Having a weekly deadline has really helped me. It ensures that I finish set amount of work. And still I am free to choose what task do I want to pick up right now.