Clean Up the Clutter

I love infographics. Lately I've posted links to a couple infographics that have smirked at the many ways in which we waste time, or at least work less efficiently than we could. These are clever -  sometimes eye-opening - insights to me, although I seldom take them too seriously or let them alter the way I run my life.

Until now.

Let me explain. I get a lot of email - we all do. Over the years, I've subscribed to a LOT of interesting blogs, ridiculous coupon sites, or just willingly submitted myself to corporate advertising. (Yes, thank you, Papa John's, I will buy a pizza from you every seven hours.)

I do my best to segment my personal and work email so I don't have to sift through all of that "noise" during the workday. But, I realized lately that I've been avoiding, even dreading my personal email account. Even more telling, I was simply deleting all of my (admittedly, double opt-in) subscription emails to get to the rare message from another human.

Last week, I took back my inbox. I began to set up automatic filters for emails I still wanted to keep but didn't want to fill up my inbox. (Someday I WILL stay at a bed & breakfast in Kankakee, Illinois. But only for half price.) Even more drastically, I began to unsubscribe from lists I was no longer interested in! Immediately, I felt lighter. I logged in to my inbox and saw 12 unread messages, instead of hundreds. What a relief!

Here are a few other tips I thought were helpful in increasing my productivity, or just making my life better!

• Stay on target. When you've got a task to complete, turn off your email auto-check, your smartphone notifications, and your HootSuite updates. Reduce interruptions and rabbit trails to stay focused until you accomplish what you set out to do. (I'm still learning this one.)
   
• Take a breather. If I find myself struggling to solve a problem or come up with an idea, I try to take a 10-minute break. Get up and stretch, walk around the block, or do something different for a bit. This is critical to staying creative and refreshed.
   
• Know your strengths. We seldom get to control every aspect of our environment, but do your best to find ways to include those things that energize you. Personally, I have "headphone days" once in a while, when I just want to block out everything else and plow through my to-do list. Crank it up!

What helps you do your job better? What makes your life more enjoyable? Let us know!