What empty calories and productivity have in common

The Scott H. Young weblog has a very interesting post that draws several parallels between unhealthy eating and your productivity.

Sweet, greasy and delicious, empty calories are filler food that keep you feeling full while offering little nutritional value. In the short term, these empty calories are great. They let you feel good and are easy to swallow. But their glory is short lived when they leave you with disease and obesity.

Empty calories aren't just in our food, they are in our lives. Empty calories are all those tasks that make you feel productive even though you aren't contributing any value. Empty calories are those hours in front of the television to let you feel entertained, even though you are watching reruns. Empty calories are in the running shoes you buy instead of jogging and the investment books you read instead of saving. Empty calories give you the feeling, but not the nutrition.

The article is really interesting and well worth the read. Please share with us… what are your “empty productivity calories” (what tasks make you feel productive without actually improving your productivity)?

Empty Calories - [Scott H. Young]