Milkthistle.
4 Ways to
Disconnect and Get More Done Without Unplugging Completely
Gwen Moran
You check your email as soon as you wake up, and send
text messages
from just about everywhere. But if you’re not taking a break
every now and then,
you could be hurting your effectiveness,
says Joanne Cantor, founder of Your Mind on Media,
a Madison, Wisconsin consulting firm that helps companies
manage cyber-overload.
Research backs that claim:
Research backs that claim:
A 2012 study by the University of California, Irvine and
U.S. Army researchers found that
being cut off from work email periodically
significantly reduces stress and increases focus.
We know: You own a business. People depend on you. You
can’t disconnect.
But Cantor says that’s not really true. Maybe you can’t
turn off your smartphone entirely
for a week, but here are five ways you can
buy some tech-free time.
1. Recruit a gatekeeper. "Our gadgets take control," says Cantor.
1. Recruit a gatekeeper. "Our gadgets take control," says Cantor.
"Business owners used to have secretaries and other
gatekeepers who understood
the critical people who had to get through and had
tactful ways
of running interference with those who could wait," she says.
An assistant or trusted second-in-command can field calls
while you’re working on a project
that needs focus or when you simply need a day off. If
that’s not an option,
change your outgoing voicemail message to tell callers
you’re unavailable
and let them know when you’ll be available to answer their calls.
And, don’t forget to turn off
instant messaging.
2. Schedule your
prime time.
The best time to be tech-free is the time when you are
most productive or creative, she says. Perhaps you’re sharp as a tack first
thing in the morning or get your second wind at 3 p.m.
Think about your most productive times and block out
those windows as you would
an important meeting, she says. A disconnected hour or
two several times a week
can make a tremendous difference in your creativity,
focus and the quality of your work,
she says.
3. Use a
distraction-blocking app.
Even as our smartphones, tablets and laptops seek to
monopolize our time,
a collection of apps has emerged to help us disconnect.
AntiSocial and Freedom are site blockers, making any time-sucking sites (like
Facebook) unavailable for as long as you choose.
iPhones running the iOS6 platform and apps like I’m Sleeping and Ultimate Call Block
iPhones running the iOS6 platform and apps like I’m Sleeping and Ultimate Call Block
offer "do not disturb" functions, but also
allow you to whitelist certain people (your gatekeeper, spouse, or your child’s
school for example) to bypass your settings and always ring through.
4. Change your
culture.
If you’ve spent time cultivating an "always on"
workplace, it’s not going to change overnight,
says Cantor. But change is possible. Work on a
communication hierarchy for your team,
setting boundaries for essential and non-essential
contact.
For example, if the issue is urgent, reach out with both phone and text messages.
For example, if the issue is urgent, reach out with both phone and text messages.
Non-urgent issues will be communicated by email with a
“please respond by” time.
No non-urgent messages of any kind will be sent between 8
p.m. and 6 a.m.
That might not be your company’s game plan, but you can
set boundaries.
"It has to be tailored for your workplace, but there
has to be a discussion and agreement
so that everybody’s on the same page about
communication," she says
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