Friday, November 07, 2008

Removing distractions

Over the course of several days I have cancelled subscriptions to many on-line publications, cancelled memberships at sites that send me e-mail, removed myself from various e-mailing lists, quit a handful of Yahoo groups, and changed my memberships in most of the remaining Yahoo groups so that I no longer receive e-mail from them.

In short, I'm uncluttering my e-mail in-box.

Will this make me more productive when I'm at the computer? Possibly.

But mostly what I hope it will do is help untether me from the computer. The bulk of my income is generated by what I do when I'm sitting in front of a computer. For the past few years the bulk of my "life" has also been determined but what I do when I'm sitting in front of a computer.

Perhaps now I'll spend a little more of my "life" somewhere else doing something else. The exercise certainly won't hurt me and, who knows, maybe I'll be more productive when I am at the computer.

5 comments:

Kevin R. Tipple said...

I have tried this from time to time and usually find myself joining things all over again. I wish you better luck with this than my own.

Kevin

Susanne said...

Michael -

I hope this works well for you, BUT must confess it makes me more than just a bit sad because you have contributed so much to so many over the years ... especially on the SMFS and TrueWriters loops!

Michael Bracken said...

I tried to weigh each decision carefully, Kevin, eliminating those that provided the least value to me and, in the case of Yahoo groups, those groups that I provided the least value to. By quitting or going no-mail on one or two each day, I was able to determine which ones I followed only because they sent me e-mail and which ones I might actually miss.

So, Susanne, you may be pleased to note that SMFS and TrueWriters are two groups I'm still following.

Susanne said...

Definitely pleased, Michael!

Thanks!!

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Yep, I tried to do the same thing each time. Glad you stayed with SMFS.