Author: ericdodds

Practicing the art of bringing guns to a knife fight.

Is Google Making File Organization Irrelevant?

Recently, while working through a list of agenda items with several people on my team, I noticed a new feature in Google Docs: recognition of what is likely an action time and a suggestion to create a task for the person mentioned.

google-drive-google-docs-semantic-text-assignments-artificial-intelligence-google-tasks-google-project-management

This has been a common theme for Google products over the last few years. From consolidating travel information into easily-actionable bundles via Inbox to offering suggested analyses of data in Google Sheets, their ability to turn raw data sources into semantic, proactive features for users is impressive to say the least. (If you’re unfamiliar with these features, click on the “Explore” icon in the bottom right of your screen next time you open a document in Google Drive.)

Continue reading Is Google Making File Organization Irrelevant?

Productivity Hacking: The Source of Distractedness

This is the seventeenth post in a series on productivity1. The articles are based on content from a workshop I led at The Makers Summit.

It seems there are an increasing number of people raising concerns about the mental consequences that digital devices have on us, specifically our attention spans and ability to maintain focus. I’ve written about this before2:

Whether it’s an email notification or a habit of checking Twitter in the middle of a hard task that taxes your mind, each time we entertain a distraction it guts our productivity in a way that’s hard to perceive experientially. Quite literally, hours of focused work can slip away from us and we don’t notice (except for not feeling productive or wishing we’d accomplished more).

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1. You can read the story behind this blog series and find links to all of the resources here.2. You can read my article about focus, titled, Productivity Requires Harnessing Focus, here.

History Repeats Itself

2016 has certainly been a surprising political year for many people. Many words have been written from every perspective about the how and why of campaigns and elections happening the way they did (and what it means for the future). In my admittedly limited study of coverage, though, I’ve been surprised that many people view what has transpired as novel, unprecedented, even.

The political events of the past year certainly have new characteristics, but a review of history reveals that, while perhaps not common, shocking governmental upsets, defamation and fake news are anything but neoteric.

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Is an Online Presence Mandatory? Part 3: Societal Consequences

Since writing about varying opinions on social media and ownership of online content, I’ve been musing about ‘online presence’ as a concept in general. Last night I mentioned to a friend that in 10 years (or less), it’s very likely that some of the basic web development skills we teach at The Iron Yard to help people launch careers in software development will be either an expectation for most knowledge workers’ jobs, automated in some way, or, more likely, a combination of both.

This topic is a complex one without singular answers, but I thought I’d share a few thoughts that have been rolling around in my mind as of late. You can see a list of the posts in the series on this page. Here’s Part 3:

Societal consequences

In the first two posts of this series, I discussed the social and professional consequences of not having an online presence. Beyond our personal and work lives, though, many signs point to an online presence being a part of the way people function in modern society.

This topic is way above my pay grade, so I’ll lean heavily on people who have carefully studied the impact of technology on society.

Continue reading Is an Online Presence Mandatory? Part 3: Societal Consequences

Is an Online Presence Mandatory? Part 2: Professional Consequences

Since writing about varying opinions on social media and ownership of online content, I’ve been musing about ‘online presence’ as a concept in general. Last night I mentioned to a friend that in 10 years (or less), it’s very likely that some of the basic web development skills we teach at The Iron Yard to help people launch careers in software development will be either an expectation for most knowledge workers’ jobs, automated in some way, or, more likely, a combination of both.

This topic is a complex one without singular answers, but I thought I’d share a few thoughts that have been rolling around in my mind as of late.You can find links to all of the posts in the series on this page. Here’s Part 2:

Professional consequences

Take a moment and think about this question: is it possible to be a successful professional in today’s world without an online presence?

Continue reading Is an Online Presence Mandatory? Part 2: Professional Consequences

Is an Online Presence Mandatory? Part 1: Social Consequences

Since writing about varying opinions on social media and ownership of online content, I’ve been musing about ‘online presence’ as a concept in general. Last night I mentioned to a friend that in 10 years (or less), it’s very likely that some of the basic web development skills we teach at The Iron Yard to help people launch careers in software development will be either an expectation for most knowledge workers’ jobs, automated in some way, or, more likely, a combination of both.

This topic is a complex one without singular answers, but I thought I’d share a few thoughts that have been rolling around in my mind as of late. You can find links to all of the posts in the series on this page. Here’s Part 1:

Social consequences

I’ve written before that “the interesting characteristic of many of our [online] tools…is that there are very real social (and sometimes business) consequences for people who don’t engage in them3.”

Continue reading Is an Online Presence Mandatory? Part 1: Social Consequences


1. I first mentioned the social consequences of not engaging in social media in a post called “Productivity Requires Removing Distractions.” You can read the full article here.

A Good Reminder that Startups Fail (and Thoughts on Infrastructure)

During a stage of significant growth at The Iron Yard, several executives had a conversation about how to quell what had become the insanity of our heavy travel and meeting schedules. The CEO asked me to test out a virtual assistant that could spend a few hours a week booking transportation and wrangling calendars. After a bit of research, I decided to try a service called Zirtual.

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The Difficulty of Technology as a Cure-all

Did you know 72 percent of people globally believe that connected home devices offer hackers new ways to steal data? The internet and technology really does make you think about things you didn’t think you needed to know! The world I live in is steeped in technology. I don’t consider myself a true early adopter, but even still, in the last few months I’ve used modern technology to diagnose an issue with my car, find a mountain biking trail, have clothing sent to my home, exchange money, navigate to new destinations and more—much of which happened on a computer the size of a wallet. The latest version of Apples mobile operating system comes standard with a tool to control smart homes. But what exactly does a smart home look like I hear you ask? Well, take a look at this installation in primrose hill – from a home cinema system to a front door intercom, when it comes to home automation, it seems as if the possibilities really are endless. Will these smart homes become the standard? Only time will tell. When it comes to embracing technology, we already have countless books and movies stored on devices using Bulk Memory Cards so that we can enjoy them whenever we want, so who knows.

Because these modern tools have become standard operating procedure in my life, it can be easy to fall into the mindset that technology is the ultimate problem-solver. If there’s friction, surely some smart software or combination of software and hardware can smooth things out, right?

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Maciej Cegłowski on the Danger of Data

I wrote recently about thoughts that have been swirling in my head about data and privacy in the world we live in today4. Being back in the swing of things full time at work, I’ve been reminded more than ever that, in many ways, data is power.

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1. You can read my article called “Facebook, Photos, Privacy and Parenthood,” here.

Quick Takes: More Productivity Snake Oil

Yesterday I Tweeted about my blog post on what productivity snake-oil looks like5. One of my good friends pointed me towards a great interview6 with a very successful blogger (Maria Popova of Brain Pickings), by a very successful personality (Tim Ferris).

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1. You can read my post about what productivity snake-oil looks like here.2. You can listen to Tim Ferris’ interview with Maria Popova (about her blog Brain Pickings), on the Four Hour Workweek website.