I approach this topic as a pure newb. With no formal training in either discipline (is workflow really a discipline? Either way…), I’ve sort of come to terms with things on my own in an organic way. While the process of natural learning through experience isn’t necessarily the most efficient method, you do effectively create a tailor-made “self-created” program which should in theory work best for you, that is if you possess self-analytical skills of a decent/higher order. The reason as I say that is, it does take some smarts to figure out what works best for you. Most people have some clue of what’s going, but it is at what pace and what desire they have to maximize their control over their everyday. Of course if you’re hopeless, I guess they have life coaches to sort your shit out.
Anyways, going forward, and perhaps link it to some borderline obsessive compulsive tendencies of my own, design and the concept of creating the most methodical and efficient way of going about things were extremely fascinating. Being super organized in some facets seem to have earned a decent amount of attention for me. Sorting out any catalogs always had to be super methodical. My iPod always had to have all the shit look the same, everything had to be filed correctly for photos etc. Cutting the fat, getting quick and becoming the best you can be is something I wish more people would strive to do. Why wouldn’t everybody want to be designer, a designer of their life (that necessitated a …pause)? I can’t answer this question, nor do I want to. I do know that these two things that interest me aren’t really all that different (came to this conclusion 5 minutes ago haha). Workflow is life management design (made up term), or something to that effect. How do I do my daily shit in a procedure that leaves me with maximal amount of time within my limitations? The more you experience shit, the more the pieces fall together and just make sense in terms of helping yourself out in the daily routine. Wasting X number of hours over a two month period isn’t really wasting if after creating a better workflow you save X^2 hours over your lifetime. Well ideally you’d want to catch your time-wasting earlier at X/2 but we aren’t all geniuses. If I can save 5 minutes off my daily emailing and 10 minutes off my RSS, that leaves 15 more minutes for Redtube.com… WHAT UP?!
But the thing that resonates both with workflow and design is the absolute fact that, either one can always be better. So many variables can and will change over a lifetime thanks to things such as gained knowledge, experience and technology. These superficial elements are already integral parts to that never-ending game of improvement. Some people may not be down with a game with no finite ending, yet, I find it ultimately fulfilling on the basis that the by-product is constant improvement.