Quote of the day: Merlin Mann
An oldie but a goodie: Joining a Facebook group about creative productivity is like buying a chair about jogging.
Ommwriter and the effort to create distraction-free software
I'm starting to look at software that bills itself as distraction-free, Zen or otherwise protecting your ability to concentrate. I've used a Mac word processor called Write Room
Hierarchy of digital distraction
From the great David McCandless, the Heirarchy of Digital Distractions: Go check out the full-size image [via Where is Sarah?]
Reading and contemplation
I've seen this in two recent essays. First, David Ulin, in a widely-circulated essay on "The Lost Art of Reading," which draws a link between reading and contemplation. He
Wading into The Shallows
Yesterday I read Nicholas Carr's The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the Way We Think, Read, and Remember. Frankly, I was prepared to severely dislike it– his
Calendars, concentration, and creativity
Via Lifehacker, a nice little essay on "the chokehold of calendars," and how we've accidentally (or thoughtlessly) designed them to kill our productivity and concentration: The idea of
PowerPoint doesn’t make you stupid, and LOLcats doesn’t rewire your brain
Via Duke professor Cathy Davidson, I just came across this L. A. Times piece by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons. (They're authors of The Invisible Gorilla. The essay