Activity or Productivity?
Chris on his blog The Qwertyrash Blogs asks the question: Are you Productive or Active? (Sorry – this link no longer works.)
…years ago, I learned that there is a difference between productivity and activity. Productivity either makes you money, or directly has the potential to. Anything else is activity.
In BlogLand, productivity is writing posts and promoting your site. I’ll let you say putting ads on it, but that’s all. All else is activity.
Reading other blogs, while important, will not bring in any money. Making comments and links, also important, may bring in some traffic, but in themselves will not bring income. Productivity is mainly gained through posting and promotion, claims Chris.
While I agree with Chris I would counter his argument to say that, for me, reading other blogs is still quite an important part of my day. I am still very much in a learning curve. Each day I learn more about this thing called blogging. It’s my apprenticeship stage in the craft.
Similarly, just over a decade ago when I started writing seriously I went to seminars, workshops, subscribed to writing magazines and read every book on writing I could get my hands on. That was my apprenticeship in writing. Now I have a fair handle on the craft I am very selective in what I read or the seminars I attend. With my writing I am now in the stage of applying all that learning.
Still, Chris has a good point. Sometimes we are so active doing related tasks we forget the important basic aspect of blogging. Activity is not productivity.
Updated November 2013.
[…] Speaking in the context of the difference between productivity and activity Trevor Hampel reminded me of the need for, and the role of teachers in life when he said While I agree with Chris I would counter his argument to say that, for me, reading other blogs is still quite an important part of my day. I am still very much in a learning curve. Each day I learn more about this thing called blogging. It’s my apprenticeship stage in the craft. […]
Thank you, Trevor. Your comments about learning gave me the idea for an article on the role of teachers and mentors in our lives.
Hi there Rick. I find it interesting how articles on some blogs generate ideas for writing on one’s own blog. I have written an article called The Power Journal Writing which will appear on this blog next Tuesday (11th July). It relates to how I used journal writing to assist a student I taught a few years ago. This girl had many serious learning needs and I used journal writing to great effect.
Thanks Trevor. I totally agree with you too. As an example, I read Darren Rowse’s http://www.problogger.net and Joe Konrath’s “Newbie’s Guide to Publishing” http://jakonrath.blogspot.com
I guess I wasn’t clear enough (which I better work on!). I was more concerned about reading irrelevant stuff (like I love Scott Adam’s blog, but I do have to temper my reading of it and commenting on it as it’s not relevant to what I do), and even if it is relevant, spending too much time reading and not enough time writing. That latter one is of course, a great excuse of procrastinators – “I couldn’t get my essay written sir because I spent all my time researching it.”
Thanks for noting the hole in my piece though. It does prove something else I’ve been planning to write about.