Stop The Distractions!

Before I went on vacation last week, Ed and I had a couple conversations around the topic of distractions ... and how all the distractions we get have a major impact on our ability to focus on complex projects/tasks.

Anyone that says they are great at multitasking is lying ... all the research (like this) on "interruption science" shows the human brain is most efficient when dealing with a single task.  Several articles show as much as 15-25 minutes for the brain to get back to optimal focus on a complex task after even a simple interruption!  Wow!!

So the challenge is how to minimize distractions when IT is by default interrupt driven.  I'll leave that discussion for a future post ... or better yet the next Church IT Podcast.

I know after being out an entire week, I'm going to need to really focus this week to try and get caught up ... distractions are my enemy :-)

So I decided before going on break that when I got back I was going to do a little week long experiment at work. 

• I'm changing Outlook to only check for new messages every 2 hours.  New emails are a huge distraction for me ... I can't resist the urge to read new messages as they arrive no matter what task I'm working on.
• I'm turning off all instant messaging apps.  I will fire up messenger periodically as needed to initiate planed communication with staff or volunteers.
• I'm turning off the GMail notification app ... and will only check GMail messages at home as time permits.
• I'm turning off Google Reader ... and will only read blogs at home as time permits.

Those are my biggest distractions as they all have some mechanism that alerts you either visually or audibly or both that there's something new to look at ... something to distract from the task at hand.  And especially this coming week, the fewer distractions the better.

The good news is that I've been basically without all of those distractions for a solid week with no adverse side effects ... though I am going through a blog reading withdrawl right now :-)

If this helps as much as I anticipate it will, I'll modify and continue it's usage ... and probably recommend our department (now 3 strong!) adopt similar practices.

What about you?  How are you managing distractions? 

Comments

[Brian Marquis]

Driven by distractions

[Jeremy Hoff]

Three words: GTD.

Though GTD more that my simple post will convey... the practice revolves around a Weekly Review where a few hours are set aside to determine all the little 'tasks' necessary to complete any and all projects you have in your queue. Those task are then categorized by context: such as those tasks you need only a phone to complete, or those you must have internet access, those tasks you've assigned to someone else, etc. This makes 'focus' easier since I need only look at my task list to determine "what I *can* do _here and now._"

As Jason succinctly puts it, I.T. is interrupt driven. The few hours I put into the weekly review pays dividends because during the week while I'm entertaining users' questions and concerns I don't have time to process my todo list... it's already processed and I need only take the few precious 'free' minutes scattered about the day to whittle down my task list.

It's been a huge blessing - I recommend it to any I.T. worker since we tend to have little direct control over our day. The book Getting Things Done by David Allen is $15 from fine retailers near you. He also does seminars around the country and the offer non-profit rates. http://www.davidco.com

[Eric Busby]

Before something can become dynamic it must first be specific. Focus like a laser and you will cut through distractions like they were butter. GTD is a great idea if you need the structure. But in general, don't respond to everything all the time. People say I don't answer the phone... you know what? They are right. The phone is just as bad or worse than other forms of interruption. But I LOVE to config all the readers and tools to bring me the information I want. That speeds that part of the day up a whole lot so I can STOP, LISTEN TO GOD and then FOLLOW his lead. Check out Icerocket - search the blogs and myspace and set the results to an RSS feed that you scan. If you comment, use Commentful to track the conversation and then you don't have to read everything. And above all, don't start replying to emails where you were on the cc list. In fact, I made a rule that puts all messages where I am on the cc into a folder I rarely read. Put your twitter feed into twitbin on the side of firefox, that cut down the tweets interrupting me. now it is like an "interesting stream going by my browser all day"

[Andrew Mitry]

Check out:
http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/05/07/5-ways-to-multitask-productively-using-email/

[David Szpunar]

I'm still working on figuring out the best way to organize and define my time. I've tried GTD, like it but I haven't been able to make it work for me fully yet. I watch 43folders.com occasionally, lots of good stuff there. Too easy to get roped into spending time finding the tools to get organized rather than actually getting organized :-) Not that it isn't fun to try stuff occasionally. I haven't sworn it off entirely! But I'm getting better at time management, I'm just not sure how...kind of picking up little things over time. And that's about as much as I have time for.

[Jeremy Hoff]

GTD is about focus, not tools. It can be supported nicely using only paper.... ;-)

[Jason Powell]

I'm a GTD fan, but that's not the type of distractions I'm talking about. I'm talking about the visual, audible, type distractions vs. mental distractions :-)