Need a reason to turn off that “you’ve got mail” tab, ghost box or other notification?
Every time it pops up, it takes an average of 64 seconds to regain your train of thought.
Via the Sydney Morning Herald:
It had been assumed that email doesn’t cause interruptions because the recipient chooses when to check for and respond to email (bit.ly/email3). But Dr Jackson found that people tend to respond to email as it arrives, taking an average of only one minute and 44 seconds to act upon a new email notification; 70% of alerts got a reaction within six seconds. That’s faster than letting the phone ring three times.
I’d add up the consequences of that 64 seconds of downtime by multiplying my daily email interruptions by 30 (days in a month), but frankly, I’d rather not know.
In truth, after years of doing things the same way – mostly because that’s the way I’d been doing them – I’ve been looking hard at alternatives.
Moving from Windows Vista to Linux is one result (I get more done).
Now – as I support a pair of ongoing online engagement marketing projects, and write more online copy than ever – I find I’m using my “main” word processor (OpenOffice) less than half the time, and taking advantage of the project management/html/speed features of a Linux programming editor (Bluefish).
It surprised me too.
I tell my students marketing’s changed more in the last five years than it did in the prior 50; I’m starting to see the same trend in my own work habits.
Is the same true for you?
Keep writing, Tom Chandler.
I figured out the email interruption thing before and removed the GMail Notifier program. An email can wait a few hours before getting a reply, it’s not an IM after all
(and even those are OK to wait when you’re busy).
Vadim P.(Quote) (Reply)
Yo Tom! Changed how I do what I do? Of course not…
Well, actually, a little bit. I blog (your fault), I check emails on break only, I use two editors to optimize my input. I may have Google Talk on, but I have the alerts off.
Oh, and I’m probably 10x as productive as I was before the email era…
Dr. Mitchell R. White(Quote) (Reply)
I have three different Yahoo e-mail accounts that I use for different types of items.
I try to check the main e-mail account just a three or four times a day, usually when I need a mental break from writing. The other two are not very time sensitive, so I check them a few times per week.
And I’ve started blogging, for which Tom is partly to blame. So I’ve subscribed to a number of blogs and put them on RSS feed, not the e-mail notification I had been using.
I try to have uninterrupted blocks of time to devote to work–at least 20 minutes per chunk.
Tom, I’m very interested in time management ideas for writers.
John Soares(Quote) (Reply)
I would agree about email as an interruption. I don’t get notified when a new message appears and also set up a separate account for Facebook and other subscriptions.
Apart from email, my biggest challenge is people who think I’m available to chat because I work at home. I’ve trained most people but it’s hard for them to realize I may be working on a Sunday afternoon.
Cathy Goodwin(Quote) (Reply)
Vadim: I’ve also learned to close my Google Reader windows when I’ve got work to do. It’s just too tempting. Actually, this is one area where Ubuntu’s virtual workspaces come in handy. It’s purely psychological, but running my editor(s) in their own workspace helps.
Mitch: I’m blameless on the blog thing – reading the Trout Underground would lead most people to conclude a different course was indicated.
John: Time management is tough, especially when you’ve got clients asking for a piece of your time.
Cathy: It used to be everybody assumed I could their daytime errands for them because I worked at home. Those days, thankfully, are gone.
Tom Chandler(Quote) (Reply)
Oh, a tip to maximize your screen space and minimize chances of you getting distracted.
On Ubuntu, if you have the visual effects enabled, pressing alt+F10 will maximize a window, remove it’s window handles, and hide the toolbars (without visual effects, it’ll just maximize).
Or, you can PyRoom a try (install http://launchpadlibrarian.net/17244750/pyroom_0.3.1.1-ppa0_all.deb), although I found it to be a tad too extreme for my taste. I prefer alt+f10.
Vadim P.(Quote) (Reply)
I did the math, and assuming you only checked your email every thirty minutes, not every five, you lose a little over 8 hours a month to email interruptions!
Jamie Simmerman(Quote) (Reply)