This morning, I came to my office determined to do some real work. I had a report to finish and then some research to do for a project.
I decided to tackle the research first. So I went online to look up some references. Soon I was on the sites not quite relevant to my research: Quora, Google News which led me to BBC, Guardian and finally FT.
I consumed good amount of political, sports and business news.
Looking back, I spent far more time browsing than doing the work.
Here is the point: we are finding more and more easy to get engaged with activities that feel like work, but aren’t. I can appear just as engaged browsing than when I am researching a project online.
Knowing the news and current affairs gives me pleasure. But the problem is, this pleasure fades fast, but researching the project (or finishing the report) can lead to concrete results.
Here is the real problem. We are using exactly the same device to do our work as we are to distract ourselves from our work.
When we are trying to be productive, distractions happen That is the nature of working on devices connected to online. The challenge is to keep those distractions at bay while we finish the work.
I am sure there are many ways to get around this. Blocking the sites or apps likely to distract you the most is one way. Creating stronger will power is another.
But here is another solution: use different devices.
One for productivity. It would probably be your laptop or desktop.
The other for browsing, shopping, online games or networking. It could be your tablet computer, iPad or phone.
The rule is, anything that doesn’t produce a quantifiable output remains on the 2nd device.
Now, go ahead and be productive.
