One small change that will make a HUGE difference in your productivity level
Photo by Caleb and Tara VinCross on Flickr
There's one thing you can do right now that's quick, easy, painless, and free that can pay huge dividends when it comes to productivity: turn off your email notifications.
Turn. Them. Off.
The little windows that pop up to alert you to new messages. The buzzes and dings. The little icon in the taskbar. Turn 'em off. All of 'em.
Outlook user? Uncheck everything in this box. Trust me: you won't miss 'em.
This may seem like a little thing, but it has a huge collective impact over time. Every time you have to divert attention away from the task at hand--even if only for a second--you lose momentum. Given how important sustained focus is for high-priority work on substantive projects, email notifications can erode the quality of your work--or make it less likely you'll finish it at all.
Now I know what you're thinking: "But how will I know when I have new messages?" Well, let me ask you this: do you really think you'll forget to check email if you don't rely on notifications? The truth is, most of us would benefit from checking email far less often. Instead of being prompted by notifications to check messages continually throughout the day, it's far more effective to check email only occasionally, "batching" like tasks to leverage efficiencies. Changing that habit starts by making email a lower priority and not jumping back in your inbox every time a message arrives.
If you're skeptical, wondering whether this change will cause you to miss important messages, think of it this way: is that a greater risk than the collective downside of the way you're working now? Are you more likely to regret missing an email or regret having to spend extra hours on work every year because you keep losing momentum on high priority projects? Remember, it's unlikely that your best work--the stuff you're uniquely qualified to do--is reading and answering email. It could start with email, but it's merely a conduit. Put email in its place, then. Give it less attention on an ongoing basis so you to pay greater, sustained attention to the things that matter most.
