Reducing Distractions, Increasing Productivity

Reading through Fortune’s “How I Work” series is an enjoyable escape for people like me who obsess about productivity. Executives and “movers and shakers” deal with a range of decisions and challenges that’s beyond what I’m likely to be dealing with on a day-to-day basis, but the tools they have available to them are really no different than those that I have available – with all the convenience and distraction that comes with them.

Perhaps I’ve been scared by some of the recent work on productivity and distraction, the exploration of the myth of multi-tasking, and the impact on the quality of my work from having information flowing at me non-stop, all through the day. These are very real problems that all of us contend with, but I think each of us has to determine how we’re going to cope, and what strategies we’re going to use to bend the odds in our favor.

Well, 2006 has become my Year of Productivity. January began with a close reading of David Allen’s “Getting Things Done,” which has shown me a range of tools to reorganize how I plan and execute projects. I’m not a master yet, but I’ve already started to experience what Allen says is the result of using his method – a peace of mind and sense of relaxation about my work that I’ve never experienced before – a sense of being in control. If you’ve not read his book and think it might be good for you, then it will be, and this Amazon link to “Getting Things Done” is just for you.

This year, I’ve also undertake a major effort to control my email. This effort is, in part, the result of my shift from Windows to OS X. In the Windows Outlook environment, I used the Neo Pro database sitting on top of Outlook. It was perfect – and if you get more than 20 emails a day and you use Outlook, you will be amazed at how this piece of software simplifies your life as far as email is concerned. It gave me a level of organization I’ve never had with email before – and I’ve not really had since I switched to the non-Neo world of OS X and Entourage. One thing about Neo: it beautifully controls the chaos of the inbox for you – but there’s no substitute for controlling some of that yourself. Last week, I began unsubscribing from dozens and dozens of emails I receive – sale updates from LL Bean and Eddie Bauer that I no longer want (when was the last time I bought something from LL Bean??), scads of newsletters that I haven’t read in more than a year, information dropping into my inbox that I can now get on my RSS reader. It’s a somewhat laborious process but it’s important if you want to take control of your inbox. In fact, I should restate that: I had all kinds of rules to shunt all of those emails off to folders, but the distraction of a little bell going off around 120 times a day has reminded me that new mail, even when it’s automatically routed, still interrupts the flow of work. I haven’t checked yet, but it looks like I’m down to about 100 emails a day from 200-220, and I think I can cut the number further. I’ve also shut off the new mail sound.
I’ve reduced the clutter on my desktop to two folders – one for personal projects and one for work projects, and I’ve cut the size of my dock in half. Merlin Mann at 43 Folders recommends tools to eliminate distractions on your screen entirely, and this may ultimately be the direction I’ll go, but for now, i can’t quite bring myself to accept having only one thing on the screen.

I do a great deal of my work in cafes – either the closest cafe to my house where I can pick up my wireless connection, or other nearby cafes. I find I concentrate well with a blend of noise – the buzz of customers and cafe sounds – all at a level that somehow contributes to my productivity. Who would’ve thought? I’ve augmented that with soma.fm – Groove Salad is is pleasant electronica/chillout – the music keeps me moving, masks outside distracting noise and yet isn’t foreground enough to distract me from my work.

I’m still tweaking these tools and I may add others. Some things work for me and some things don’t – I find that good old-fashioned experimentation helps me find the best mix for my own level of concentration and work productivity. I’ll update you from time to time on what I’ve discovered.