Karen Hoffman asks “Okay, readers… on the 17th I said I had bought Julie Morgenstern’s latest book, “Never Check E-Mail in the Morning and Other Unexpected Strategies for Making Your Work Life Work.“ …on page 97… she suggests we resist e-mail for the first hour of the day… why? She states that e-mail is the world’s most convenient procrastination device. She says the most dramatic, effective way to boost your productivity is to completely avoid e-mail the first hour and instead devote that first hour every day to your most critical task. According to Julie, by concentrating on a critical task the day starts with you in charge of it, rather then the other way around. Thoughts? Comments? “ Answer: whether you should check email in the morning depends on a myriad of factors, so it’s not … [Read more...]
Improving Your Concentration Span
Rinoa posts, “Could you post something about improving your concentration span? I know the reason why I procrastinate is because I know I won't be able to concentrate long enough to finish the task. Please help.” Inability to concentrate comes from three main sources: 1. Technology 2. People 3. Your brain 1. TECHNOLOGY. First, you must disable your global email alerts, so you don’t receive a notification for every garbage email coming into your in-box but still be able to receive an alert for “important” people. Turn off your global desktop alerts in Outlook: Under the Tools menu Select Options In the Preferences Tab, select Email options In the Email Options dialog box, … [Read more...]
Music, iPods, and Productivity
I was mentioned in the USA Today on 3/23 in a story called "Music hath charms for some workers — others it annoys" http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2006-03-23-ipod-work_x.htm My quote was (as is usual) taken a bit out of context. When I said "I'm all for it," I was referring specifically to people who say they can concentrate while music is playing in their ears (look at your average teenager, listening to music, IMing with friends, watching tv, and doing homework at the same time). Just because you can concentrate don't mean others can. At work, you definitely should follow iPod etiquette and not blast your music through your computer's speakers or portable iPod speakers. When you use your earbuds, make sure it's soft enough that you … [Read more...]
