Beautiful day. Nothing to fear.
Finding inner peace through simplicity, technology, perspective, and other means.
Jonathan Fields, writing for Unclutterer:
Over the years, I’ve noticed a strong connection between the state of my physical space and my ability to do high-level creative work. When my space is in disarray, my thoughts are generally also in disarray. I can still function, I can come up with ideas, write decent-enough content and solve-problems. But, I always know that I’m not operating anywhere near my true potential.
Dave Caolo’s productivity tip of the day:
Turn off the “new email” notification sound. Nothing says “stop what you’re doing and look” like that damn little beep. It can take 15 minutes to get back on task following an interruption. Multiply 15 minutes by [X] number of beeps and you’ve baked a do-nothing soufflé.
Totally. I have very few notifications enabled on my Mac and mobile devices. Most of the time, being notified is unnecessary because I look at the app on a regular basis anyway. I don’t need an alert when someone mentions me on Twitter because I’ll see it eventually when I decide it’s time to check Twitter. I don’t use unread badges on my RSS reader for the same reason.
When apps demand my attention RIGHT NOW, they disrupt my productivity, which is counter to their intended purpose. By turning off notifications, I’m telling my apps, “Relax. I’ll get to you when I’m good and ready.”
Happy Labor Day!
This weekend, there was a bit of an uproar over RSS and its ability to overload the user with information. The discussion was catalyzed by Jacqui Cheng at Ars Technica, who wrote about why RSS is poisonous to productivity and sanity. (Via Forkbombr)
The headline is melodramatic, of course, but the concern is valid. She writes:
The Internet echo chamber is most apparent in RSS—mildly amusing items multiply across friends’ Tumblrs like rabbits on crack, and controversial items seem to invite commentary from every single person (and possibly some cats) who has access to a keyboard. This is, of course, one of the great benefits to the Internet—everyone has a voice—but it is not a great benefit to your productivity or sanity.
What makes it worse is that a huge number sitting in a little red badge over your RSS reader icon carries an obligation. “How many of those 342 items can I just mark as read, and how many of them do I actually have to pretend to read?” becomes a question that you ponder often. Even a ruthlessly curated RSS list can make you feel like you have to read the entire backlog—maybe even moreso, since you’ve now put time into making sure you’re following quality sources—and that’s just not a feeling that contributes either to getting things done or to relaxing.
I use RSS to keep up with websites and writers whose commentary I value. Currently, I have 89 subscriptions in my Google Reader. Like the number of people I follow on Twitter, I try to keep it under 100. This constraint ensures my feed is always curated with only the highest quality posts, and that I’m never overwhelmed with too much information.
At the very least, I do scan every RSS entry’s headline. I read short and/or pertinent posts on the spot, or mark them as unread for later reading. Long-form articles, or things that interest me, but aren’t pertinent, get sent to Instapaper.
I use Reeder on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro. I do not use unread badges on any of them. I check Reeder on my own terms, usually multiple times a day. That is, I read RSS when I want to read RSS. It doesn’t try to force its way into my day and steal my attention. I agree with Cheng that multitasking can be detrimental, which is why I don’t leave Reeder open on my Mac while I’m working on something. If I open those apps, it’s because I’ve consciously decided it’s time to look at them. Since I have to actively open Reeder to look at my feeds, it’s easy to forget about it completely when I’m writing or working on something else. Same goes for Twitter, Facebook, and the like.
Marco Arment, in his response to Cheng’s article:
RSS is best for following a large number of infrequently updated sites: sites that you’d never remember to check every day because they only post occasionally, and that your social-network friends won’t reliably find or link to.
This is exactly how I choose which sites to follow. I subscribe to very few big news sites. Lifehacker is the biggest one that comes to mind, and I could probably stand to unsubscribe and just follow their Twitter feed. All of my other subscriptions are independent writers. I don’t follow all of TechCrunch; I just follow MG Siegler. I don’t follow CNN, the New York Times, or any traditional news sites via RSS. I follow a couple on Twitter because it’s easier to scan a tweet than mark every news item of the day as read.
Ben Brooks, in his own response:
To claim that RSS is bad for you if you subscribe to too many feeds is absurd.
What’s bad for you is letting a tool like RSS overwhelm you, take over your life if you will. I have gone away for 3 days, as Marco suggests, and come back to thousands of RSS items, I read them all in time and it never bothered me.
If it bothers you, then blaming the tool is not the solution to this problem.
I agree wholeheartedly. The solution to dealing with information overload — be it via RSS, Twitter, Facebook, etc. — is self-discipline, not blaming the tool itself.
I love RSS. It’s a great tool, and Reeder makes it a joy to use, but I keep all of my feeds carefully curated. If someone starts tweeting way too much, they get unfollowed, or put on a list where I can check in less frequently. I have over 400 friends on Facebook (ugh), but a huge majority of them are hidden from my News Feed, so I only see the people I care about. This disciplined approach always presents me with a feed of high quality information, and it prevents me from getting bogged down and having to sift through meaningless posts.
Cheng asserts that it’s possible to get behind even with a highly curated feed, and that’s true. If I do somehow manage to miss a couple days on my RSS feed, I might have around 200 unread items. But like Ben says, I just get to them over time. I’ll set aside half an hour to clean up my feed. Reeder makes this an easy task. I don’t feel guilty about having unread items. The fact that I’m going to miss things is inevitable, but it’s also not going to kill me. Plus, by keeping my feed populated only with high quality sources, it’s much more likely that I’m going to want to work through the backlog, and doing so won’t be a source of stress.
Obviously, Jacqui Cheng is a tech reporter, and her job dictates that she stay on top of every news story coming down the pipeline. I can’t say what’s best for her. As for me, I’m thankful for having a tool that makes it so easy to read my favorite writers. I use the tool; it doesn’t use me.
I try to post something worthwhile here every weekday, whether it’s original, a link worth reading, or some combination of the two. Subscribing via RSS is one of the best ways to support QLE and keep a steady, but hopefully not too overwhelming, stream of posts coming.
Federico Viticci on venturing beyond his most used apps:
iOS devices are now playing an important role in our lives, and we shouldn’t stop exploring all the ways to make them better with new apps, and different workflows. But I believe no one can blame us for choosing the trusted system when it’s time to work, and stop tinkering.
Agreed. The search for my preferred writing app shouldn’t prevent me from actually writing.
Apps I trust:
These apps are reliable to the point where I can use them effortlessly, without thinking. They actually help me get things done, rather than put things off. I follow the developers and know I can count on them for regular, thoughtful updates. I was also glad to pay for each of them, which both supports the developer and invests me in the app’s success. Paid apps also usually indicate quality. I’d rather pay $2.99 for an app that just works than waste time trying and discarding several free apps, especially if I plan on using the app everyday.
Once I find an app that fills a particular need well, I’m content. I’m not opposed to hearing about new Twitter apps or RSS readers, but my trusted apps have set the bar very high, and thus they’ve earned my loyalty.
Leo Babauta, with a simple, yet profound productivity tip:
Deal with something once. Do it now. Then it’s off your mind, and you can fully focus on the next matter.
Do most of us do this? We might read a bunch of emails, and say, “I’ll reply to those later. I’ll decide later.” We might see a bill or other piece of mail, and put it aside for later.
We put off small decisions and tasks for later, and they pile up, weighing on us at the back of our minds, pulling on us until we collapse under the weight of “later”.
Try dealing with it immediately.
Yup.
If you’re dreading making a phone call, make it now. Then it will be over, and you’ll feel at ease. If you put it off till the last minute, you’ll be anxious between now and when you’re forced to actually make the call, which could be quite a long time.
Michael Lopp, of Rands In Repose, on how a clean workspace allows you to get in The Zone:
Try it. If your desk isn’t already OCD-tidy, go find a piece of paper hiding on your desk where upon discovery you realize its importance — was it important before your [sic] discovered it? Yes. Did it matter? No, because you forgot about it.
His article talks mainly about virtual desktops, but in any case, a clean workspace is often a tremendous boon for productivity.
Your external environment reflects your internal state of mind. When things are clean and organized, you feel calm and relaxed. When your desk is laden with things demanding your attention, you probably feel behind or stressed. I know when I’ve gone three days without putting my laundry away, going through my mail, or cleaning my room, I’m much more likely to get flustered or anxious for what seems like no particular reason. I’ll eventually get so fed up, knowing I still haven’t done what I’ve been meaning to do for days, that I’ll rip through those chores in a burst of productivity. And afterward, I immediately feel better. It’s like a great sigh of relief.
The more your desk accumulates piles of things over time (mail, books, papers, etc.), the more your brain reminds you, “Hey, you need to go through this stuff.” The longer you put it off, the more the task weighs down on you because you know you still haven’t done it yet. The thought of “Ugh, I need to do XYZ…” is still bouncing around in your head, and it will continue to bounce around up there until you either A) write it down, or B) do it. Since your mind only has a finite amount of space, it’s vital that you not leave too many things bouncing around at one time.
Of course, you might be a person who loves clutter and thrives under pressure; in which case, by all means continue doing what works for you. But if you’re at your best when you’re relaxed, try getting your environment to reflect your desired mental state. When your workspace is clean, you have more room to breathe, and you can focus on the one thing in front of you. As Lopp says in his article, “Distractions damage creativity.” I totally agree.
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Hello. I’m Andrew Marvin. This is my website.
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