Over the weekend it occurred to me how the little bits and pieces of time spent cruising Twitter or scanning blog posts are not serving me well. It’s only five or ten minutes here and there and over the course of a day or a week it adds up. It’s also the accidental, unplanned 30 minute detours that add up too.
I’m not advocating twelve hours a day of complete and utter focus–there has to be time for breaks and play and rejuventation. I’m realizing that since my whole world and work on a distributed team are in front of the screen or on the phone, more time in front of the screen scanning twitter or reading blogs and the news doesn’t refresh my brain… it drains it more.
Right now there’s too much information coming into my brain and not enough going out. In other words I’ve recognized that I”m not shipping. It’s so easy to read about shipping and live vicariously through others who are shipping, but I’m never going to ship if I don’t start producing more than I consume.
I’m also coming off a a mixed schedule of being sick and out of town which has thrown me off my regular routine and trying to get back into one. As I try to get back into a routine I’m trying to consciously pick a better routine than I had before. One way I’m doing that is doing a little journaling at the end of each day to reflect on what worked and what didn’t and what I’m consciously planning to do the next day.
For the next seven days I’m also not reading my Twitter stream or reading any blogs. Two days in and I feel a little more centered, less like I’m spinning my wheels, and more relaxed. I’m filling my time with better things too.
What are the leaks in the way you spend your time and how have you plugged them?
January 24, 2013 at 7:02 pm
Oh no! You mean I should stop reading your blog and go do the dishes?? I don’t think so!