Tips to increase productivity and decrease distraction in an always connected world
I thought it would be fun to create a thread where people could share their favorite tips on keeping their productivity high in this always on world.
Here are a few things I do/rely on.
1) Caller ID - When I'm in intense work mode, I rely on caller id to ignore non-essential phone calls. (Non-essential for me means anyone other than my family or a call I'm specifically waiting for.) Time to check is just a quick glance... When I'm in down time, I can check voice mail and make call backs.
2) Turn off email notifications - All those little beeps and popups from the email programs can be especially distracting. I have them shut off but I leave my email client running because if I need to take a minute or two away from what I'm working on, its easy to just check what came in and take care of a few items. Anything that looks like it would take too long gets marked as unread so I can remember to get back to it later.
3) I invest a lot of time doing research on the web and I inevitably come across many fascinating sites that are not relevant to what I'm researching but could be at a later time. I use the bookmark feature of Firefox to save them. I have a folder created with multiple subfolders - one for each category - and put the bookmark in the appropriate folder. I use the customization features of the bookmark tool to write a memorable name for the link and use the description field to write a sentence or two about the site for future reference. Doing this means I still have the info for a later date and it only takes a few moments to complete.
So what other tips do you have to suggest?
Here are a few things I do/rely on.
1) Caller ID - When I'm in intense work mode, I rely on caller id to ignore non-essential phone calls. (Non-essential for me means anyone other than my family or a call I'm specifically waiting for.) Time to check is just a quick glance... When I'm in down time, I can check voice mail and make call backs.
2) Turn off email notifications - All those little beeps and popups from the email programs can be especially distracting. I have them shut off but I leave my email client running because if I need to take a minute or two away from what I'm working on, its easy to just check what came in and take care of a few items. Anything that looks like it would take too long gets marked as unread so I can remember to get back to it later.
3) I invest a lot of time doing research on the web and I inevitably come across many fascinating sites that are not relevant to what I'm researching but could be at a later time. I use the bookmark feature of Firefox to save them. I have a folder created with multiple subfolders - one for each category - and put the bookmark in the appropriate folder. I use the customization features of the bookmark tool to write a memorable name for the link and use the description field to write a sentence or two about the site for future reference. Doing this means I still have the info for a later date and it only takes a few moments to complete.
So what other tips do you have to suggest?