Hello World
The Internet has no shortage of productivity websites. As I type this, Google Blog Search returns 2.5M results to the query “productivity blog” and there are exceptional entrenched blogs like lifehacker, zen habits and 43folders that have deep readership and expert writers supported by brilliant editors. I hold these (and many, many other) blogs on the topic in extremely high regard and really feel like I learn a great deal from them. With all of this, it sounds like an overwhelming headwind, so why would I want to start something new?
I suppose I’m starting VisuallyProductive because I feel like there is something missing in this vast chaos called the Internet. I’m also a visual learner, which is I think is pretty common or really just an excuse for my quirks. For example, when I discuss an idea with people I find myself wandering toward the whiteboard like that guy in the UPS ads, I understand data better with well designed charts, am “particular” about powerpoint, keep an eye on social media and am searching for the right balance between keeping myself organized with paper and with digital tools. Lifehacker gets pretty close to covering this range of topics, but IMHO misses the mark on occasion in terms of design (or design thinking as IDEO likes to say.)
Also, in looking at Google Trends, its apparent that the search trend for productivity has decreased in popularity over the last year, which makes me wonder whether I’m not the only one thinking that something is missing. Being an engineer, I need more proof than the chart below and believe its worth running an experiment.
To evaluate my hypothesis I’m going take the next six months to seek out and share ideas and methods for visual learners to actually be more productive. If at the end of the first six months people find this blog helpful, I’ll keep it up. I’m not sure exactly how I’ll measure helpfulness yet, but my initial notion is to track subscribers. If you have a better idea, let me know in the comments and I’ll share the progress as we go.
So, with that it begins. I’m new to blogging — well, sort of. I guess it would be better to say that I’m new to blogging on a topic that has the potential of being read by more than my immediate family. This will be an adventure and if at the end I’m still the only one reading this, then hopefully I’ll have learned something. Either way, wish me luck!
DISCLAIMER
It is also important to share the fact that I work for Google. This is my personal blog and the views expressed on these pages are mine alone and not those of my employer. If I write something stupid, forget to give appropriate credit or screw up in some way don’t blame Google, blame me. Also, I tend to use many of Google’s products and will probably talk about them a lot. I’m definitely open to learning more about other options that exist, so where I miss something let me know!
