Stop Distracting Me!
There are a couple apps that I see discussed here and there that are becoming quite popular. They are Notify.app and Google Notifier. What these applications do are create icons on your computer that will alert you if you have a new email message. I used them both for a while, but I don’t anymore. I also took email off of my phone. Here’s why:
I found that when I was running these applications I was constantly checking my email. I would see the icon in my menu bar letting me know that I had a message waiting. Despite my best efforts, I could not just ignore it. Even if I was in a wicked groove with another project. Seeing that icon would force me to stop what I was doing and check my email.
I have tried to get past my addiction to email. For a while I was only checking my email a few times a day. That was great to reduce distractions, but didn’t work well for my type of work. I find that checking my email once an hour or so is more than enough.
So even though these apps are wonderfully designed (especially Notify.app), I find them more harm than good.
Maybe it’s just the OCD in me, but what do you think? Do you like to be constantly notified of new email?
9 Responses to “Stop Distracting Me!”
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Vin,
I’m exactly the same way. I have to go one further, though. I can’t even have a Gmail tab open in my browser. If I see that I have an unread message on that tab, I have to go read it. They definitely need to add a feature where you can set how often you want the notifier to check to see if you have new messages. If there is a way to do that already with Gmail, please let me know!
David
I don’t know of any way to do that. I know Google Notifier doesn’t have any preferences for that. Have you heard of apps like \“Rescue Time\” that block you out of Gmail and other sites for certain time periods? Kinda cool concept: http://www.rescuetime.com/
Do you find it sad that there is even a market for such a product?
Yeah, maybe you should write an article on time management for the internet. Seems like it would fit in at http://www.control-yourself.org. There are actually several products I know of that do such a thing.
I have highly considered taking email off my BlackBerry. And the Twitter app. And the Facebook app … I’ve even considered getting rid of my smartphone and going back to the basics (like a phone that just makes phone calls … go figure).
The other nice thing about that is your battery would probably make it through a full day again!
No I turned off the beeps to notify me on my computer when an email came in. I’m like you in that I can’t ignore the email.
Have you read Tim Ferris’ \“Four Hour Work Week\”? He talks about only checking once a week! Can you even imagine? I don’t think our industries would allow that benefit.
Very true. I struggle with this same thing. I need to prioritize my time better and not let myself get as distracted as I do. Sometimes I think technology (or the abundance of it) can be more a curse than a blessing.