Lately, I have become convinced that multitasking is the enemy of qualitative productivity. Sometimes quality results from working on a bazillion things at once but generally a lot of potential for greatness gets lost in the maelstrom. Most of the time, you produce a variety of material that is middling in quality with maybe one or two better constructs. And you can only hide in meeting rooms and work from home so much. The most compelling article in support of the nascent unitasking movement was published in the Atlantic Monthly a while back. If I don't remember writing about it here before, and I'm really not sure if I did, it's because of this simple little idea.Multitasking messes with the brain in several ways. At the most basic level, the mental balancing acts that it requires--the constant switching and pivoting--energize regions of the brain that specialize in visual processing and physical coordination and simultaneously appear to shortchange some of the higher areas related to memory and learning. We concentrate on the act of concentration at the expense of whatever it is that we're supposed to be concentrating on.Anyway, this brings me to a new application for the Mac OS X called "Freedom"; Lifehacker alerted me to its existence a couple of days back. Perhaps best of all, "Freedom" doesn't allow you to just turn it off when you start jonesing for the 'net. Here's the scoop, straight from the Freedom "read me."
Stopping or quitting Freedom will not re-enable your network adapters. This is purposeful. To re-enable your network before the time period elapses, you must restart your computer.Download it here and get big chunks of your life back.
Turman
First gray sighting: Yvette says, "I was 17. I couldn't really see it; it was underneath the top layer." Yvonne says, "I was 26 years old, and I saw a strand in the front near my face."
Their reaction: "We figured we were going to be like Mother, with a beautiful gray streak."
Why Yvonne stopped dyeing: "The mascara I used to touch up the haircolor around my face came off on my boyfriend's jacket. That was it for me."
Why Yvette didn't stop: "When Yvonne and I went out to dinner, people would ask if she was my mother. I thought, 'Well, that's what happens when you let yourself go!'"
But then she did stop, because: "My hair was breaking off from the coloring and the straightening. It was just very unhealthy. So I'm letting it grow out. It's about half grown out now, and I try to cover up the different colors with a headband, or at least by wearing it slicked back."
And now she knows what Yvonne already knew: "I get more attention from men. I think they like it."
Rita's solution: "I would have liked to lighten Yvette's ends a bit to decrease the contrast between them and her growing-in gray, but because she's afraid of exposing her hair to more processing, I simply used a violet shampoo and a clear gloss on her [and Yvonne]. The shampoo brightens the gray and reduces yellow, and the gloss gives their hair a healthy shine."
Read more on Oprah.com http://www.oprah.com/beauty/hair/hair_omag_200710_gray.jhtml
Last Friday I flew Virgin America from JFK to SFO. I was really curious to see if VA would really live up to the hype...I mean, how many posts did our EE alone have about it?
In the terminal, I ran into an ex-Organic, Josh Morris— also curious about the what was in store for us. He joked “Is this going to be EE worthy?”. Upon boarding, I felt like I entered a trendy lounge. The lighting was amazing— romantic setting with muted electric blue on the ceiling and hot pink along the sides. New age music was playing throughout. The seats were black leather, with white plastic, mod looking seat-backs. I was excited...
When I settled into my seat, I immediately started playing with the touch screen TV, which I came to find out was way more than just your average airplane TV. Not only could I watch Dish Network TV, I could set reminders from the Guide. I could choose from about 20 movies ($8 each) or pay $2.99 to watch select TV shows On-Demand. I could also order my snacks, meals, and drinks from the screen and swipe my credit card to pay for it all at any time during the flight. My head was spinning with all the cool choices in front of me and then a little message popped up that said Seat 20C would like to chat with me. Chat?! So I clicked on the icon and it brought me to the Instant Message screen. It prompted me to open the console and pop out this remote control looking thing. On the backside was a keyboard and control buttons (for future gaming and email functions). It turned out that Seat 20C was Josh Morris. And he wrote, “Yeah, this is definitely EE worthy”. I couldn’t agree more.
The trip definitely had some bumps. The TVs stopped working for 3 hours and the flight attendants had no idea how to handle it. In the end they gave us free food and a $25 voucher for our next trip. The TV station choices could also be better. No Comedy Central and way too many ESPNs. But I’m pretty sure they will work this all out. They seem to be soliciting a lot of customer feedback.
Either way, the experience was definitely something to write home about.
Stacey
I do not like that Face book, Sam-I-am
http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/analysts/gartenberg/archives/2007/07/i_do_not_like_t.html
via Michael Gartenberg at Jupiter Research | July 19, 2007, 10:45 AM
The other side of Facebook, from my old friend David Bogner.
[with apologies to the late, great Dr. Seuss]
I do not like that Facebook puts me in a box.
I do not like zombie/vampire invites from a fox.
I do not like food-fights or fake gifts of food.
I do not like knowing so much about your mood.
I do not like being informed when you are here or there.
I do not like friend invites that hound me everywhere.
I do not like time suckage one step above spam.
I do not like Facebook, Sam-I-am.
David Feldt
We ran a poll this week on Organism, our internal Social Wiki, to see if Organics planned to buy an iPhone or not. 102 of us voted - a large enough sample to make some valid observations.
Here are the results:
- 26.5% of us do not like it at all!
- There's a relatively large group who are undecided - 16.7% of us said "I am not sure." Given all the hype in the past few weeks, I would have expected a smaller number to be unsure - You either love it or hate it.
- The early adopters did not disappoint - 13.7% of Organics either already have one or plan to get one right away.
- The rest are playing the wait and see game - probably a good decision given the rumors that the iPhone Mini will be released after Thanksgiving Day.
David
As a longtime fan of moustaches I was deeply disappointed by my own genetics.
You see, I cannot grow a moustache.
What I do grow is wiry and closing in on pathetic. This means that I have to maintain a clean shave every day.
NOT ANYMORE!
http://www.petmoustache.com/
Pet Moustache allows me to have my moustache any way I want it!
Now I know what it feels like to have a moustache and I’m proud to say… It’s growing in nicely!
The site is clever, engaging and actually quite funny with its witty commentary and tools.
Thanks Pet Moustache!
Philip Garwood
Who said sleeping on the job can't produce an exceptional experience?
*DRUMROLL* Introducing Metronap...
"How does it work? You hop in the EnergyPod, the pod reclines, a privacy shield descends, and then you powernap for 20 minutes, whereupon the pod will wake you up with a combination of an acoustic alarm and a gentle vibration."
This can actually improve people's morale and energy in the afternoon or towards evening and lead to better ideas, clearer thinking, and a happier individual... To me, that's exceptional.
The downside, longer hours?
Lau Ardelan