I’ve been thinking a lot about productivity lately.
This is probably because it’s summertime and my schedule is pretty much non-existent.
I’m getting work done every day, but it’s not at the same times of day as when the kids were in school. And it’s frequently really early.
I read this interesting article called Creative Kryptonite and the Death of Productivity.
Jonathan Fields talks about what happens when we get distracted by social media during our day. There were 2 things in particular that he focused on. One was that we receive “intermittent reinforcement” whenever we get an email, Twitter, or Facebook alert—an actual Dopamine squirt that gets us hooked.
The second thing he mentioned in his post was the Zeigarnik Effect. As Jonathan put it:
Every time we begin a conversation by text, email, twitter, Facebook or Google+, it’s like we’re opening a new loop. One that, until completed, compels us to want to finish the conversation. To keep checking and responding until the loop has been closed.
Problem is, in a hyperconnected world…the loops never close.
Of course, we all enjoy what we’re doing. I know I do. If I had it my way, large portions of my day would be spent catching up with everyone on their blogs, reading tweets, and looking at friends’ status updates.
But….I sure wouldn’t get anything done!
My solution to this is usually pretty extreme:
Close all my computer windows except for Word.
Put my phone across the room where I can hear it if it rings, but can’t check emails, Twitter, etc. on it.
Leave the house with my laptop and go to a place that doesn’t have wi-fi (increasingly more difficult to find.)
Write in a notebook (a real notebook) until I meet my goal.
And then I give myself a reward. :) I have to perform for treats.
How you y’all get things done with all the temptations of social media?
I find that writing in a notebook helps to get keep writer’s block at bay. Since my hand can’t write as fast as I can type, I usually have an idea of what I want to write about before I start writing and then have to keep writing just to keep up with the stream of ideas.
I love your ideas, I’m going to try a few of these, like putting my phone across the room. I write with a notebook first and it helps me a lot. That way I can write anywhere, any time.
I read that post yesterday. Lots of food for thought. I realize I need to give myself blocks of media-free time like that, or I’ll start making myself crazy. It does feel like an addiction sometimes–those spiraling, ever expanding loops that never quite close. Thanks for posting the link on Twitter.
Elizabeth – Those really are good ideas! It certainly is hard to stay productive with the pull of social media, let along family and other demands on time. I think it’s especially hard, too, when one’s not good at multi-tasking; that’s always my issue.
What I do is break my day’s goal into small chunks. As I finish each chunk, I do some of my social media “rounds.” It breaks down the writing tasks and helps me keep in touch with everyone. Sometimes I even find I come back to writing with better ideas.
I am doing very similar things in order to be productive. It’s a mindset, really. And it’s about setting my intention and keeping my energy and attention focused on what I want to accomplish. And I can’t do any of that if I allow distractions.
Elizabeth, thanks so much for yesterday. I am very very grateful.
Karen
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I’m just climbing aboard the social media train and thinking a lot about this. I’m going to read everyone’s comments and hopefully get some ideas. Right now I’m hoping I can spend 15 minutes in the morning and again at night and stay connected enough. But I have no idea if that will work or not.
I just have to get away from the computer. Difficult during the day, as I sit in front of one. Of course, I’m at work, so that’s all right!
Interestng to read about the Zeigarnik effect.
I use much of the same tricks when I want to work undisturbed, and I turn off the cell phone too, or at least don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. Fortunately, I’m very good at sitting up late, so I get stuff done between 1 and 3 am >:)
Cold As Heaven
As a mom and a grandmom, I have trouble saying no, though I’ve done it (then deal with the guilt). But we do have to do it. After 31 years of being a mom and grandmom, I’m finally saying yes to self! Good article!
I’ve been wondering about picking up pen and paper for writing again. I love my laptop, but it is SO easy to get on the internet (“just fact-checking a plot point!”) and then lost a huge chunk of my already limited writing time. And, of course, the thrill that comes from putting actual pen to actual paper and watching the words come just can’t be matched by the computer … an added bonus!
I stay the heck away from Twitter and Google+ (even though that last one looks really tempting). I don’t chat. I don’t instant message. Those were my downfall many years ago. I guess what my strategy boils down to is knowing that I’m a recovering chat addict and staying away from those social media outlets that will trigger my addiction. Now if I can just wean myself off the TV…
I have to do the same thing. I am far more productive if my internet windows are closed, and KNOW the reason I am as productive as i am is that I do the majority of my writing someplace that doesn’t even HAVE a computer. It is challenging though, to get the work typed and to get edits entered. If I were home all day, i think I’d set times to do the networking. (I can’t seem to resist at my day job…)
I tend to deal with social media in the morning, and maybe pop in a couple times a day, but I don’t chat. And this new Google+, I think, further soured me on the value of all the places we’re expected to be. I’m strictly Facebook (and I don’t let anyone post on my wall, so that cuts things way down), and I’ll check Twitter now and then. I NEVER use my phone for anything like that, other than occasionally posting a picture to my FB or Twitter profiles.
Twitter went down for a while yesterday, and the world didn’t end.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Productivity?? Eeks. I have a LOT of trouble with that, especially when it comes to prying my fingers away from Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, and Google Plus. For me, I think it’s something I try to discipline.
I’m lucky because I don’t have WIFI at home. It’s just my fancy shmancy cell phone that I have to pry my fingers away.
But this last weekend I promised myself from Friday until Monday I would ignore my cell phone, except for calls (or text). It worked! Now, if I can only discipline myself to work during that period of time.
Lately I’ve been making my social media time part of my schedule. If I alot a time for it (on mytomatoes.com) then I pretty much will stick to it. I also read that if you make yourself spend ten to fifteen minutes on your email when you open that program, you’ll stop visiting so often. It is pretty compelling though…
Jan Morrison
I completely know how you feel! I work as a web designer as my day job, so because social media is already a huge part of my day, it’s really hard to shut it off when it comes time to write. I either pull out a notebook like you, or I have a 10″ laptop (wi-fi’s disabled), and find a quiet corner in my apartment to write, away from my office. Usually on the couch, or I’ve taken a liking to sitting at the kitchen table with it (and a big cup of coffee of course). :)
Thanks so much for coming by today, everybody! And for sharing some of your ideas on being productive (I need some good ideas!)
I usually have to go off-site, meaning a coffee shop. I can check the ‘net, then close it and write. At home, I get up earlier than the boys, then let life happen when they’re all in and out and their friends are in and out and the cat is in and out. And, my concentration is in and out, usually out.
I think it’s easiest for me if I just don’t check in until I’ve gotten well into my day. That way, a lot of the work is already done and since I haven’t yet had the stimulation, I’m not pulled back repeatedly to keep checking on it.
It is hard to turn off the “connected” places. Some days I’m more successful than others!
I think one thing that makes it tough is that we’re actually getting good ideas and information when we get online! So it’s not wasted time…but it’s time that has to be managed (like all other time!)
Those are great points!
But I do think the issue is larger than social media and email. This issue of open and closed loops has been around in business and anywhere there are lots of interactive and continuing tasks for a long long time. (Including in the lives of Moms.)
And it’s not going to go away. We have to train ourselves to react differently to those signals. Think of it less like a messy house (“must get socks off sofa now!”) and more like laundry.
Laundry has less distractive urgency, because it goes into its bin until it’s time to do a load. You don’t have to remember it. When you have dirty clothes and it’s not time to do laundry… you close the loop by putting the clothes in the bin.
This is why I like Dave Allen’s “Getting Things Done” — in some ways it’s not at all about being organized or disciplined — it’s about getting all the noise out of your head and into a context where you don’t have to remember it.
IMHO, the world is not going to change. We have to change our relationship with it.
Of all the potential distractions a writer could have, I have to admit the Internet is at the top of my list. I try to write before I check emails and blogs. Then I spend time responding to emails and checking blogs and writers’ articles. I receive more than 300 emails a day and I’ve had to get assistants to help me during particularly tough stretches – like when I am on the road doing book tours.
I heard a great phrase on TV a couple of weeks ago and realized I was suffering from “Popcorn Brain” (google it) because I constantly had to check and recheck my emails and blogs. Once I was properly diagnosed :) I started to make changes. Now I believe I am much more productive.