* Illustration: Sarah Cline * A couple of months ago, I happened to see a friend's Google homepage. There was everything he'd ever need instant access to — his stock portfolio, his RSS feeds, a countdown to his anniversary, a picture of his infant daughter — organized into three distinct columns. I was transfixed. I had always assumed I would remain stuck in an intractable struggle against my tendency to procrastinate. But here was a simple, straightforward path to productivity, a miracle tool that would turn my life around.
I've been self-employed for four years now, and in that time I've carved out an enviable work life: I set my own hours, I choose the projects I want to invest time in, and I get to work at home. The only problem with this setup is that I fall somewhere between disorganized and downright lazy. Staying on track takes a huge amount of energy and willpower. But I've always felt this was a trade-off worth making. After all, didn't I read somewhere that "work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun"? Indeed, I did, and Google told me in a fraction of a second where that was: It's in Google's own mission statement.
So I set up a Google homepage. After that it seemed silly — stubborn, even — not to put a Google Toolbar on my browser. And since I had a Google Toolbar, I figured I might as well use Google Bookmarks and add on Google Reader. Oh, and Google Scholar. And Google Books. I set up a Google Calendar, ignoring the fact that it doesn't sync with my Treo (at least, not without some kludgy third-party app). I quit using del.icio.us and started using Google Notebook. When my fiance came home from work each evening, we'd ask each other how our respective days had gone. She'd describe the small frustrations and victories that punctuate office life. I'd say something along the lines of "Today I spent three and a half hours organizing my Google Bookmarks" or "You'd be amazed at what you can turn up if you play around with Google US Government Search." Then we'd both laugh. It took a couple of weeks before I finally noticed the concern in her eyes. Then she asked: "What else did you do?"
That's when I realized I wasn't actually accomplishing anything. My campaign to increase productivity had become yet another distraction — and a significant one. Suddenly I needed to time-manage my time management. So last week I installed a timer on my desktop (and, no, it's not a Google Timer) to help me limit how long I spend on Google-related sites. I allot myself a half hour a day; after that, I force myself to quit optimizing how I get things done and start actually getting things done. Of course, I still check the Links to Google Services tab on my Google homepage every day. How else will I know when one of the whizzy new tools will be just the thing to make my life easier?
Thanks, Google. You've turned me into the most efficient time-waster ever.
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