It’s not everyday that your life is made better by a simple computer tip. However, the other day my friend Elle gave me a tip that without a doubt did in fact make my life better.
She and I were talking about work, school, studying, and just overall the lack of free time. It was then that she mentioned that she had found that she was able to stay more focused and be more productive at work simply by turning off the little envelop that notifies you of new email.
Knowing that this envelop was somewhat of a bane to my existence, I decided to turn it off.
Then the withdrawals started.
I kept constantly looking at my taskbar expecting that little envelop to be there. However, since it wasn’t, I had to keep pulling up my email to see if I had received anything new. I would walk away from my computer to get coffee, go to the restroom, etc. and I would immediately come back and check it. It was pretty bad and I actually almost caved several times and turned it back on.
Then after about two days of this I got used to the idea of not instantly being notified about new emails. Then I realized that I was able to complete whole thoughts and tasks without being interrupted. Also I realized that emails are so much easier to deal with once I let them “pile up” so to speak and then just tackle them all at once. It’s been great.
If you’re plagued with a large number of emails everyday like I am you might find this tip helpful… Once you get through the withdrawals!
