Business Insight Zone

The lure of high technology

Recently, someone suggested that I might try the Evernote service to help me get on top of my myriad tasks, notes, and to-do lists. I appreciated the recommendation, and indeed Evernote looks pretty slick.

But I’ve resisted sighing on, to Evernote or anything else, because painful experience tells me that my self-organizational struggles aren’t rooted in any lack of technology — I practically live online — but in my own habits. Even the most brilliant software won’t keep me from saying yes to too many interesting projects, trying to keep up with too many conversations at once, pursuing the fantasy of multitasking, et cetera.

What have I been using instead? Good ol’ pen and paper.

The need to think

If a neurosurgeon needs an accurate image of a tumor to be removed, by all means give ‘em the big-iron technology to create that image. If you’re trying to crack open the astrophysical mysteries of the universe, likewise. There are countless wonderful uses for modern technology, and if I weren’t reminded of this every day in my work as a blogger, I’d remember it anyway every time I sit down to watch a movie with my family on our HDTV.

But more important than the technology is the thoughtful mind using it. (Cue Einstein: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”) And the most important thing you can do with your mind is to think.

Sure, it’s obvious — but how many of our modern habits and working arrangements fight against our ability to think all the way through a problem? Too many, I’d say.

So I’ve been spending time with the legal pad, using it as the grand tool to carve down my obligations and map my path into a less-overloaded future. It’s amazing the insights you can come up with when you sit down someplace quiet, stort jotting down ideas, and then plot out their consequences without interruption.

I heartily recommend sitting and thinking.

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(Photo by p373.)