![]() I know, you’re probably saying, “Why do you need to do that? Just don’t look at your email.”īut there’s a big psychological difference, for me at least, between not looking at something while it cranks on – email stacking upon email while your last leaving-off point sinks down out of sight – and just hitting the “stop” button and making the whole process halt until you’re ready to turn your attention to it again. It would make my inbox sit silent and dead while I work. This means preventing myself from receiving inquiries, notices, or requests. Or there is the option of turning off my email for a couple hours a day while I work. There’s a big difference between being responsive and kowtowing. No one needs in their life people who expect them to drop everything and jump whenever they clap their hands. Telling myself that I will not be fired by my clients. (Oh wait, did I say an hour? Maybe that should be the last half of your day…)īut the main challenge for me is to just stop doing what I’m doing when I need to, with confidence that I’ll get back to the Thing I’m In The Middle Of, once I’ve finished the Thing I Was Supposed To Do At This Time.īelieving that the world will not burn down in the interim. Or maybe put a star on their email, and make it a practice to search your ‘stars’ every day, an hour before lunch or something like that. Barring some honest-to-god, realio-trulio emergency, do not jump to something that someone else wants, right this very minute, just because they asked.Īdd their request to your work schedule, but not in place of your own plan. ![]() I think the answer is probably, “Just stop.” Make your plan, and then execute it. It just doesn’t feel as though it’s on my own terms most of the time.ĭo you have these same kinds of days? If not, how do you head off the detours without anxiety creeping up your scalp that you’re neglecting everything and everyone who needs your work or input or help? Not that I waste my time, I actually get a lot done. I moved the errand to another day, whereupon I will strive to not go down the rabbit hole again. Maybe twice that, depending upon how busy they were. Baloney. Now my half hour errand would be an hour and a half. Yes, this was a full 7 hours and 15 minutes past my plan. ![]() Only at 3:00 pm did I finally feel able to break from the Unending String of Whatever and head for Big O. Do I need to even finish writing this story? One thing leading to another… inquiries, requests, reminders, answers to tech inquiries I made to plugin developers, junk mail. Ta-da! Look at me! But First, I Check My Emailįirst, I checked my email. I was so on top of my game that I sat down to begin work at 6:25, not 6:30, dressed and ready to go. While sitting there uncomfortably, I’d read and answer emails on my phone so as not to let my eyes wander over the ugly sales and service signs plastered on the walls. I’d have to spend maybe a half hour, 40 minutes tops, sitting in a folding chair smelling rubber and hearing some godawful daytime TV show from the overhead set. I’d arrive 10 minutes before they open, holding at the ready my special discount coupon that arrived in the mail last week. I always start my work day around 6:30 am, so no big deal to work for an hour, shut down my laptop, and then leave for Big O Tires. I would do this detested chore in the least time possible with a minimum of psychic pain. I have to get my oil changed, but I really hate the procedure.
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