Here are 3 little suggestions in the name of getting things done when you’re an internet entrepreneur.
After 9 solid years online filled with blinking IM screens and the world at my fingertips, I suggest giving the following a try:
Close your contact list.
Wherever you do your communicating, whether it’s email, Twitter, or some chat client (or all 3), close the contact list box. Leaving it open on your desktop beckons your attention to wandering thoughts like:
-“Billy just logged on.”
-“I’m bored, who can I hit up.”
-“Only 8 people are on right now, I guess the internet is down in Columbia. Or they went to the bar. Maybe I should go to the bar.”
Terrible waste of time. Especially if your contact list sits in between your browser and your email client. You see it every time you scan from one to other.
These are wasted thoughts because it doesn’t matter when/if Billy logs on or if your friends are at the bar. Unless you work at Initech, that is. Stay focused on your own self. You can always open it up to contact someone when the need arises. Just close it right after.
Stand up while you work.
I’ve tried this periodically over the years, and recently started doing it every day before 10 am. I can’t sit down until 10 am, that’s the rule.
Standing up makes you focus. Maybe it’s science, but I’m no scientist. It just works. You keep on task and don’t get lost browsing the news or the Twitterverse.
There are some desks that you can crank up and down throughout the day and I may end up with one. I also think the iPad (or any tablet) could help here – you stand up and work for a few hours, then sit down and use the iPad for an hour reading news, checking stats, brainstorming. Get away from your inbox and alerts for a bit then head back – standing of course.
Use short to-do lists.
People generally have a love-hate relationship with to-do lists. If you keep them short – focus only on the next 2 hours, and check things off as you do them – I find them helpful.
My friend Scott is writing a book on focus and released a simple checklist app. I actually use it all the time now (if you want a free copy hit me up). You can only put 3 items on the list at once.
The joy and effectiveness of a to-do list only comes when you can check things off. Lingering tasks from 8 days ago make you feel anxious. So keep it short, and make big check marks through them as you finish.
In the End
It’s all about getting things done. Avoid the dopamine rush all the shiny lights of the internet can provide. There are millions of drone employees out there getting their fix clicking around in the Age of Distraction. Gotta watch it, less you become one.
Image: Kristi Broughton
