Burned Out on Self Improvement Lists

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Bruce Keener

In my blog feeds this morning, I noticed a headline that read something like 50 Ways to Improve Your Life. Later in the day I noticed it was on the Digg front page.

Then, just minutes ago, I was going through another 100 or so headlines in my feeds and noticed a headline that read something like 20 Things That Worked For Me … leave one out at your own peril. That one was from the Digg front page, too.

I don’t read articles like those, and I do not understand why they are so popular. I don’t want to know 50 things to improve my life. Give me one. Maybe two. At the most, give me three. Then, tell me why they work, and whether you have any experience to back it up.

Guess I’ll go back to reading my feeds now. Hopefully I won’t see another one of those lists tonight.

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  • Thomas R. Hall

    How about a new list from you, Bruce? “How to increase your productivity in one step: stop reading top x lists” :) I agree with you completely… This is just filler material to try to increase reads on those blogs…

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce

    I realize it’s a gimmick for some bloggers, while there are some that probably genuinely belief their lists are worthwhile. And, maybe they would be if they would break them down into 10 lists spread out over 2 months. I might read something like that, if it was presented credibly.

  • http://allnarfedup.com Bryan Villarin

    I wonder if that’s the pitfall for some productivity websites. In the beginning, it was easy to write. Now, they’ve ran out of juice and are rehashing old material, trying to display it in interesting ways.

    The ones that’ll stick around in my news reader will be those that adapt to how things have changed for them.

    For me, not following Digg has helped. :)

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce

    Hi Bryan. Thanks for the comment. I must say there is a huge temptation to rehash old material, and it is probably almost unavoidable for an old fart like me: sometimes I could forget that I’ve already written about something.

    But, I think you are right that it is hard for self-improvement bloggers, and I think it is for tech bloggers, too. There is only so much that can be said, after all, in both of those areas. I know it is very difficult for me to think of what to write about.

    Anyway, thanks again for the comment. By the way, I see you are a fellow guitarist and also a fellow blogger. I hope you find both enjoyable.