Downgrade your laptop, increase your productivity
You don't need the best machine to be productive
Okay this post is a little different. Have you ever feel that you’re not productive enough despite you have the best machine, the best resources, the best anything. I feel that too, and it has been my mission to overcome this.
Turns out one of the biggest hack that I have discovered is to downgrade your gear. It seems unintuitive but it does make sense.
Here's my transformation.
Macbook Pro 16” Apple Silicon 64GB RAM → Old $100 Fujitsu laptop with old Intel i7 with 8 GB of RAM.
MacOS → Windows
I also have another small device where I can also produce things which mostly code and articles.
Device: Huawei Old 10” Tablet with it's Keyboard
OS: Andoid without Google Play Services
And I can confirm with 100 percent certainty that I feel more productive in this very machine compare to my Macbook Pro.
Let's breakdown some phenomena that can make this happen.
DHH and his clean desk
DHH, the creator of infamous Ruby on Rails shared that someone said that his office in Malibu shouldn't be a real office because it is too clean. And on one of his podcast he mentioned that its true because David needs to procrastinate until there are no one and there are no things that blocks his mind to focus on what he want to accomplish in his office. Look the clip below that I have prepared to that exact time he explained it.
Now taking this analogy to my computer workspace where most of my work happen. I think once I get rid of the “bloated” computer that I love and use a simpler one that has some limitations I start to feel the missing feeling of productivity and flow.
My new computer is smaller, just about 12” while the other one is 16”. The nice one has 64GB RAM of Apple silicon while the other only 8GB very old Intel CPU from Fujitsu. But once I able to tweak and customize the computer and start to work from there, I feel like I really enjoyed creating things from there compare to my nice computer.
It might just be me, but it does work really well.
Nice gear is too comforting
My old laptop has this really nice setup, fast, nice aesthethic and just really good. However, I started to love the gear itself more than my actual work. And it's too comforting, and I realized that a creative mind can't be boxed in a new setup. It needs limitation to be creative. The limitation is the part where we become so creative. Well it is true that advanced technology helps, but there's this nice interesting for people who already see what nice is and go back to scarcity to try to recreate environment where things are scarces.
And this is not so unique to my experience, people do fasting to feel how it likes to be hungry, people exercise to be healthy and train our body to keep understand what its like to be dynamic and move, the list can go and on and on.
Break the rituals
Other thing that I noticed is that I started to make some rituals with my old computer where I will let say open Social Media, then open Email then open this and that which makes me forget what I actually want to do. And having this other machine, which in my case I have several devices which are less powerful than my main machine makes me able to workwith that limitation and focuses on my actual work. Bye bye rituals and welcome productivity!
The greenfields paradox
Or maybe this is just a human being, when they see something that is new and clean it start making some good idea on what this clean sheet can be. Imagine having engineer(s) working on new greenfield software project, they will try to put his creativity because there's no limitation nor pre-existing rules. And they free to express their idea and even make a new process and technology on their own. Same with this computer, with the small and resource-limited one I feel more energized and excited to do something new.
All things become bloated
I do belive at somepoint my new limited machine at somepoint becomes bloated and not nice to work with anymore. And it is fine, maybe I need another swing on the other direction, maybe I start to miss how fast my other computer and want to work from there. But having this options to go back and forth between powerful and not so powerful computer keeps our mind entertained while being creative and focus.
Inspired to do this on your own? You don't need to buy new machine just use your old machine or buy the old refurbished one. Tell me what your experience are!
That’s all for now. Tot ziens!