I’ve bought the advice — hook, line and sinker.
Earlier this month I began reading Tim Ferriss’s best selling The Four Hour Work Week.
When I read the chapter that discussed how our current obsession with consuming media is just another example of filling time, or performing uneccesary activities that take away from our overall productivity, I scoffed.
“Who … me?” I thought. “I’m AWESOME at working on multiple projects all at the same time.”
What I didn’t realize was that I was filling time, or taking breaks before and during the task had been started.
My common violations of “filling time” are usually things like:
- Reading the news online: CNN, then TechCrunch, then VentureBeat, then …)
- Watching TV: NCIS marathons are my personal kriptonyte
- Checking social channels: Facebook, Twitter, etc
- Instant Messager: Short of a nuclear fallout, I’m always reachable via IM to discuss anything from how best to photocopy your own face (see photo above) to the Republican Presidential debate
All these activities are examples of filling time and usually go un-noticed. That is, until I thought about what kinds of activities they are replacing in my own life:
- Making important personal / professional phone calls: Yes, I noticed that I was avoiding making NUMEROUS important phone calls by simply logging in to Facebook and cruising around for a few minutes.
- A time sensitive analysis for a current client: By checking my Twitter feeds (which are ENDLESS), I completely ignored even starting an important analysis for a current client that was looking for additional data (i.e. MY ANALYSIS) to support spending more money with us (which was destined for MY OWN POCKET).
The examples could go on, but for your own sanity (and my personal privacy) I’ll stop the list here.
What I’m trying to say is, these seemingly insignificant amounts of time that I was spending consuming unhealthy amounts of media / social information actually added up to consume HOURS OF MY TIME.
To test out my theory, I’m taking Tim up on his advice and banning myself from the following for the next 5 days:
- Watching TV
- Reading newspapers & magazines
- My favorite online blogs and information sources (including my beloved CNN iPhone app)
Will let you know how it goes when I finish up … Wish me luck!