I realized today that I have lapsed back into the habit of keeping gmail open so that I will know when I receive a new email. Why is this a problem? It leaves my productivity at the mercy of whoever feels the need to email me at any given moment. They are not in control of my inbox… I am!
In fact, I have made an attempt to remove as many automatic notifications as I can from my life, in order to take back my productivity. Here are some examples:
- I used to keep Thunderbird open all the time, so I knew when I got a new email. Hoewever, that meant my eyes were constantly glued to the task bar, waiting for that lovely new mail icon to show up.
- I used to set my phone to check for mail every 15 minutes.
- I used to have about 10 or 15 sites I would visit regularly, just hoping somebody would post an update. The first thought in my mind, when logging on to my computer, was “what haven’t I checked today? What might have changed in the last hour? Where can I go to read something mindless and counterproductive?” Needless to say, this all was a big time sink.
- I used to have Hulu keep track of every new episode that was released for every show I watched. That one was horrible– I felt obligated to watch an hour of SNL skits because if I didn’t, they would pile up and I’d never get through them.
What do I do now?
- I (usually) only open gmail when I need to check in for work, or when I am expecting an important email from a client or team member from a school project.
- I turned off all email notifications on my phone. I have to manually check for email if I want to view new messages.
- I unsubscribed to a majority of email newsletters, and added RSS feeds for any site I wanted updates from regularly to Google Reader. Ideally, I only check my feeds once a day, but it usually ends up being two or three times a day. I have also come to love the “mark as read if older than a day” feature in Google Reader. That gets rid of the feeds I didn’t read, so I don’t feel obligated to read them to catch up.
What’s the result? I’m more on task. I am in control of what information comes to my attention, and when it does. I own my productivity.
Tags: Productivity
“Productivity” is the trap here… When you are doing anything but being productive you feel bad… I had to gradually accept the fact that it was ok to be unproductive sometimes
I agree… it is not only ok to be unproductive sometimes, but necessary. However, I want to choose when I am unproductive. I don’t want to be unproductive when I’m writing a paper, or developing a new feature for a client’s site. I’d rather be productive and focused for two straight hours and then relax for the rest of the day, than spend 8 hours doing the same amount of work amid constant interruptions.
I think your point about feeling bad/guilty about being unproductive is also a good one: as a self-professed procrastinator, I’m more prone to surf the internet/check email/watch TV than do what I’m actually supposed to be doing, and I feel guilty about it. Over the last two years or so, I’ve found that I’d much rather get stuff done and then devote all of my time to being unproductive. Life is so much better when you don’t feel guilty about enjoying it
Good points Cory, well said!