I found myself in a period of un-productivity immediately after buying a brand new desk and monitor. Prior to this setup, I had a laptop and a crappy desk that I never wanted to spend time at, so I only sat there when I needed to. But since I upgraded my work station, I noticed less productivity and I recently figured out why.
When I had my crappy desk, sitting down to work meant I was sitting down with a specific objective in mind. But since the upgrade, I now sit down at my desk just to sit down at my desk. Most of the time, I sit down first, and then figure out what to work on second. In the meantime, I’ve already checked Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
I find it much harder to get started on something because my desk is no longer just for work. It’s now a comfortable luxury.
The desk is a powerful tool, but like all tools, they can build houses or they can kill people. It all depends on how you use them. I was justifying my use of my desk the same way people justify their iPhones as a tool in case they get lost, as a camera so they can capture life’s best moments, and so they can track people’s locations for safety, even though they spend 90% of the time on their phone browsing social media.
Sitting at my desk felt like I was working, being productive, and doing the right thing. But if I was purely measured on output, you’d think I was barely doing anything.
I realized for me to be productive when I sit down, I need to sit down with specific intentions and a clear objective. And when I’m finished, I need to get up and move elsewhere.
It’s similar to a concept in coding I frequently talk about. If you want to solve hard coding problems, you must first solve the problem, then implement it. In other words, you will not be able to code a solution before you’ve solved the problem. It’s important to distinguish the two. If you can’t, you’ll think you’re a bad coder when in reality you’re just not solving the underlying problem.
If you want to be productive at your desk, do your warm up and preparation elsewhere. Sit down to grind, and leave immediately after you finish. Your time at your desk should be as efficient as your time on the toilet when you’re pooping. And if it isn’t, your results will be shit.