Michael Covington on productivity.

The key principle is that unproductive people feel that they are just as “busy” as productive ones, if not more so. Life is full of things to take up your attention. A productive person knows what not to spend time on. I’ve seen plenty of Ph.D. candidates run aground by keeping themselves too busy with things that aren’t their thesis. Don’t follow TV shows or sports, or try to be too good at trivial things, or handle too much e-mail… Above all, don’t waste time on unimportant things just because they have short deadlines or a fast pace.

It is a short piece, and doesn’t take more than a minute or two to read, but is more valuable than all those seminars and books.

via Jeff Dunteman