The Sentence That Ends Most Productivity Arguments
Recently, I read an article in the Dying Breed Substack in which Brett McKay interviewed Gretchen Rubin about what she terms the Dark Secrets of Adulthood. In that interview, Rubin states a distinction of huge importance:
“A lot of times, people want to argue that they’re right when, really, they’re just saying, ‘This is my preference.'”
I see this being done all the time in the productivity realm. People argue about which note-taking app is best, which task manager is best, or which AI platform is best. It never ends.
The analog-versus-digital debate seems to invite this kind of flawed thinking.
When One Author’s Calm Becomes Everyone’s Rule
Several years ago, well-known productivity author Chris Bailey wrote How to Calm Your Mind, a book about burnout and how to deal with it. The first part of the book did an excellent job describing what burnout was and how it happens.
The second part, however, became a platform for Bailey to push his own personal preferences about analog versus digital. In the book, he assumed that digital activity is the primary cause of stress and a lack of calm.
He stated, “Nearly all habits that lead us to calm exist in one place: the analog world. The more time we spend in the analog world as opposed to the digital one, the calmer we become.” He went on to urge readers to choose analog over digital whenever they can.
These statements may be true for him, but not for everyone. My experiences and preferences are the opposite.
This is an example of someone taking a personal preference and arguing it should be a general rule for everyone. (See my blog post, A Review of How To Calm Your Mind, by Chris Bailey.)
Why I Ignore the Studies
Sometimes people cite “studies” that support what is clearly just their personal preference. When that happens, studies often exist that support the opposite side of the same question.
Studies that support one side or the other of a personal-preference question provide no real evidence. They report averages and generalizations from study participants, but an individual isn’t an average.
What the average person prefers in some study doesn’t matter to me. I’m not an average. I’m a unique person. What matters is what I prefer. So it is useless to try to stack studies on one side or the other.
Studies help with questions about reality, not questions of preference.
When It Isn’t Just a Preference
Of course, some questions are about objective reality, not taste or preference. If something can be objectively and scientifically measured, especially in terms of output, it’s likely a question of reality. On the other hand, if you can only know the answer by asking each person individually, then it’s likely a personal preference.
An example of a question of reality in the productivity realm is: Does multitasking increase or decrease productivity? You can objectively measure whether multitasking increases or decreases productivity by measuring output.
It’s widely agreed that studies consistently show multitasking decreases productivity, even when multitaskers feel like they are doing more. Whether you like to multitask is a matter of personal preference.
Stop Defending, Start Describing
You don’t need to defend or argue for your analog or digital preference. Others will have different preferences, and the positives and negatives will land differently for different people. Accept that and move on.
On the other hand, you can describe your preference thoroughly, make it clear it’s personal, and let readers take what works for them. We can help others by suggesting approaches they haven’t thought of or tried before.
Your Preferences Aren’t Set in Stone
Each of us can keep growing and develop new preferences. Experiment: try different things for a while, and see how you feel about them, what you think about them, and how they work for you.
If you find something that works for you, great, go with it. If you find something doesn’t work for you, that’s fine; you can discard it, no matter how positive other people feel about it.
Name It, Then Let It Go
The next time you feel the urge to tell someone their notebook, app, or system is wrong, pause and ask yourself one question: Is this a matter of reality or fact, or is it just my preference?
Instead of arguing about what is correct, describe your preference fully, label it as such, and let others choose. Don’t turn your experience into rules for everyone.
This week, pick one tool or habit you’ve been tempted to defend and write down why it works for you: no studies, no universal claims. You may find that’s a more convincing case than any argument you could make.
Note: I wrote this blog post myself using my own words and thoughts for the initial draft. I used AI only to suggest headlines, section headings, images and text improvements.
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