I think the problem with these productivity methods isn't that it's bad to track what you're doing but that:
a) They impose a mental tax on you; it's hard to get into a flow state when you're busy thinking about whether you're doing what you should.
b) Make chores/minor tasks, etc., appear to be a good thing (after all, you're doing something productive) and idly staring into space a bad thing, even though the latter enables you to recharge your batteries so you can focus more intently on what's important. I think this is exacerbated because if you can't think of what big important thing you're supposed to be doing right now it's tempting to do something small just so you aren't "wasting time".
c) Also I've found that when I've done these things I wind up gaming the hell out of them so that I end up looking good by whatever metric is measured without actually achieving much more.
a) They impose a mental tax on you; it's hard to get into a flow state when you're busy thinking about whether you're doing what you should.
b) Make chores/minor tasks, etc., appear to be a good thing (after all, you're doing something productive) and idly staring into space a bad thing, even though the latter enables you to recharge your batteries so you can focus more intently on what's important. I think this is exacerbated because if you can't think of what big important thing you're supposed to be doing right now it's tempting to do something small just so you aren't "wasting time".
c) Also I've found that when I've done these things I wind up gaming the hell out of them so that I end up looking good by whatever metric is measured without actually achieving much more.