Productivity UnPlugged

Over the past year, I have felt like my work life is a bit out of control. So much to do and so little time became my motto.

This past week I was incredibly productive. I am talking “knock it out of the ballpark” productive. 

Yesterday, I started to think about what changed. What did I do differently?  The only difference was that I didn’t have my blackberry all week. Certainly this could not be it! I bought my Blackberry to make my life easier.

This morning I found this article by Paul Chin.   It seems being “plugged in and connected” isn’t all that it is cracked up to be.   I now look forward to many more productive weeks!!

Debbie May
www.WholesaleSuppliesPlus.com
1-800-359-0944

Unplugged:  Information Overload Requires a Human Solution

Paul Chin

10/13/2005

"Why does the dog wag his tail?" asked Robert De Niro in the movie Wag the Dog. "Because the dog is smarter than the tail. If the tail were smarter than the dog, the tail would wag the dog." This raises a similar question in the context of technology: Are we running technology or is technology running us?

Personal Unproductivity

Powering up my home office is like powering up NASA's Mission Control. High-speed modem, check; printer and fax, check; cell phone, check; PC, check; primary and secondary external hard disk drives, check; coffee machine, check. We are go for launch. With all this, my friend still asks, "Why don't you get a BlackBerry?" (or what some refer to affectionately as a CrackBerry for its addictive qualities).

Think for a moment about how many times a day you break your train of thought or stop what you're working on to check your e-mail, answer voicemail, Google something insignificant, or check an online news site. I must admit that I've been guilty of all these productivity infractions in the past — and most of the times I wasn't even aware that I was doing it. It just naturally happened because it was there. I can even recall some instances where I interrupted my interruptions. I'll be in the middle of writing an article when my e-mail client chimes in with an interesting story from a BBC newsfeed. I would spend a few minutes reading it and then forward the story to several colleagues and friends who might also find the piece interesting. Within an hour an e-mail debate or conversation would break out, giving me another story idea. I'd start jotting down notes and possible research sources when it clicks: my original article is still sitting in my taskbar.

When I finally realized that I needed to return to what I was originally working on, it took me forever to get the rhythm going again. And all that time spent "getting back into the groove" is unproductive time. I was wasting time trying to get back to the point I was at originally — that's the true definition of moving backwards.

According to Dr. Donald Wetmore — the creator of the Productivity Institute and a 30-year veteran in the field of personal productivity and time management — the average person is interrupted once every eight minutes. Eighty percent of these interruptions are rated as having little-to-no value, creating approximately three hours of wasted time per day.

But that was then. Now I no longer feel the need to read every piece of information that comes my way when I get it, or to answer non-emergency e-mails immediately. If I'm in the middle of something important and the phone rings, I let it ring and allow voicemail to take care of it. I schedule three times during the work day — the morning, just before lunch, and at the end of the day — in which to address my e-mail and catch up on news. Now I find that I'm getting almost twice as much done. Why? Because I changed the way I worked. I came to recognize my biggest time guzzlers and learned how to manage all the information coming at me from every direction.

Time management and personal productivity is a behavioral process; no software can teach you this. Technology is there to help you improve your own efficiency; it's not there to become a substitute.

Causes of Personal Unproductivity and Information Overload

• Obsessive need to be "plugged in" such as constantly checking e-mail or calling office
  
• Poor attention span and lack of focus
• Rampant multitasking and the inability to prioritize tasks
• Constant interruptions by colleagues (either in person, by phone, or e-mail)
• Poorly structured and/or repetitive content

Technology is a great thing. It can help you accomplish tasks that used to take twice as long, if not more. But you can't use technology alone to manage information overload anymore than you can use fire to treat a burn. If you don't already possess the basic skills to manage information, technology might become a hindrance more than a help — it becomes a liability, a part of the problem. 

Information overload is a human problem that needs a human solution. Remember: Technology is a tool for personal productivity, not a replacement. It can't exhibit the good judgment of a human being. Technological solutions can only be as good as the people using and developing it.

Technology alone won't solve all your personal productivity and information overload problems — it can only ease them.

Corporate Revolution?

The fast-paced business world has bred a corporate culture that dictates if you're not in constant motion, you're not being productive. Passers-by will see co-workers who are “just sitting there” and think they're not doing anything. But everyone needs that uninterrupted downtime in which to calm their minds and gather their thoughts. This is especially true for those in the creative field where these quiet uninterrupted moments of thought bring about eureka-type ideas. Some solutions are surprisingly low-tech.

It's OK to slow down, or to "Zen out" as I like to call it; and there shouldn't be any guilt in doing so. I've solved some of my most difficult work problems when perfectly still. These quiet moments can really help reduce the constant chatter racing through your mind and give you the clarity needed to figure out problems. 

Multitasking isn't the asset many employers make it out to be. In fact, multitasking, outside the context of computers, isn't possible. Dr. Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist with over a decade's worth of experience in the field of attention deficit disorder, says, “No one really multitasks. You just spend less time on any one thing.” He goes on further to say, "Your brain literally can't multitask. You can't pay attention to two things simultaneously. You're switching back and forth between the two. So you're paying less concerted attention to either one."

Closing Thoughts

People seem to feel the need to be plugged into information and technology at all times whether they truly need it or not simply because it's there. Sometimes you need to step back and ask, "Am I really going to read all these newsfeeds I've subscribed to?"; "Am I using these technological solutions because they really do help me become more productive?"; "Is this PDA really necessary?"

It's alright not to be plugged in 24/7. I've personally improved my own productivity and ability to manage large amounts of information with this lesson. Some of my best articles were written in a quiet cafe with my cell phone off and laptop offline. Everyone needs to take a step back and look at what the real problem is. Maybe it's not the technology that's broken. Maybe it doesn't need rewriting. Maybe it's us that needs the “rewriting”. Maybe if we spend a little more time improving our own abilities to organize our tasks and digest incoming information we'll actually improve the manner in which we use the technology. Unplugged shouldn't have to mean unglued.

Paul Chin is an IT consultant and a freelance writer. Previously, Paul worked as an intranet and content management specialist in the aerospace and competitive intelligence industries.