I’m glad Merlin Mann is back producing content for 43folders.com. This improvised talk he did a Rutgers covers work culture, managing expectations, and the 3 deadly qualities of email: all of which I deal with heavily in my job.
It’s long (an hour-twenty), but fun and I got a lot out of it.
I’m also looking forward to Merlin’s new book when it comes out: Inbox Zero.
Fascinating talk by Linda Stone, a former VP at MS and Apple. She discusses the evolution of our technology consumption that results in email apnea and an artificial sense of constant crisis.
I’ve been trying to be better about where I divert my attention and what I allow to distract me. Email is a huge nuisance, but obviously essential to my job. I’ve been surprised how productive I’ve been by not checking it for even an hour at a time.
This video also validates my theory that yoga is a very effective training tool for focusing your attention. I believe that working in the web industry, it’s necessary to frequently disconnect to save your sanity.
I love this quote:
“We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” —Walt Disney
That’s the basis of the John Gruber and Merlin Mann panel from SXSW. They speak about creating things online you’re truly passionate about, rather than generating mindless traffic for monitory value.
I’m no where near the caliber of readership of Gruber and Mann, but I if I am one day, I hope I would of gotten there the way they did.
The audio is definitely worth a listen, if just to hear them make fun of each other’s blogs.
Note to self: Go to SXSW next year.
