A scientific guide to saying “no”: How to avoid temptation and distraction

Fits right in with my new philosophy. Never realized how much a simple change in words could lead to a big change in behaviour.

Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?

Interesting. I wonder how many decisions I actually have to make in a day (when teaching)

parislemon: Email, Still A Sonofabitch This pretty much sums up my exact feelings about email.

parislemon:

Email, Still A Sonofabitch

This pretty much sums up my exact feelings about email.

minimalmac: Good morning.

minimalmac:

Good morning.

Source: airows

It sure is nice getting to see the Sun again on my morning commute. #montreal #nofilter

It sure is nice getting to see the Sun again on my morning commute. #montreal #nofilter

minimaldesks: Fantastic multi-use room for those that don’t like confining or isolated workspaces.  You have ease of kitchen and nap time access during the day then only a few steps away from sliding into those comfy Herman Miller Setu chairs.  Love the layout of this space.

minimaldesks:

Fantastic multi-use room for those that don’t like confining or isolated workspaces.  You have ease of kitchen and nap time access during the day then only a few steps away from sliding into those comfy Herman Miller Setu chairs. 

Love the layout of this space.

The different, daily inbox zero pictures on @mailbox is a nice touch.

The different, daily inbox zero pictures on @mailbox is a nice touch.

This week’s desktop motivational quote.

This week’s desktop motivational quote.

Mind like water.

Imagine if we all were able to react like this to the different scary (or stressful) stuff that happens throughout our day. 

Side note: How bad ass is Steve Irwin? RIP Steve.

Source: youtube.com

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of Le Petit Prince. (via zachklein)

Source: zachklein

As a Christmas gift, one of my students gave me a picture frame. I didn’t have any pictures to put in it, but I didn’t want it to go to waste. I’m starting a new thing where I write down quotes I like from blog posts/articles and will keep them framed on my desk for a week. This first one comes from a Medium post by Julie Zhuo on where ideas come from, and what happens when multiple people have the same idea. “The Fountain of Creative Juices” was the title of her post. #productivity #motivation

As a Christmas gift, one of my students gave me a picture frame. I didn’t have any pictures to put in it, but I didn’t want it to go to waste. I’m starting a new thing where I write down quotes I like from blog posts/articles and will keep them framed on my desk for a week. This first one comes from a Medium post by Julie Zhuo on where ideas come from, and what happens when multiple people have the same idea. “The Fountain of Creative Juices” was the title of her post. #productivity #motivation

nevver: — W. Somerset Maugham

nevver:

— W. Somerset Maugham

Source: nevver

Needed a new desktop background, so I made this.

Needed a new desktop background, so I made this.

“Actual” Inbox Zero

I’ve been using Lift since August to help me with a few habits I’ve been wanting to develop. Although the habits I’ve been tracking since I first got the app have changed a lot, there has been one that has found a way to stick to my Lift habits list: “Inbox Zero”

I’ve known about “Inbox Zero” since I read David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” a few years back. The idea is that keeping your inbox at zero items (i.e. acting upon all the emails in your inbox until its empty) will allow you to react more appropriately to any incoming items and, therefore, not get overwhelmed.

I have to admit that I’ve become quite good at getting through my emails since I started using Lift, especially over the last two months. However, after declaring myself king of email by checking in on Lift last night, I quickly realized that the throne I sat on was a throne of lies.

Although we often associate “inbox” to email, the truth is that we all have multiple inboxes in our lives. To name a few of my own:

  1. Email Inbox 
  2. Physical inbox on my desk (for notes, mail, forms, etc)
  3. Facebook Messages (Personal and Page’s)
  4. Twitter Mentions & DM’s
  5. LinkedIn Inbox
  6. YouTube Inbox
  7. Voicemail
  8. Pocket Reading List
  9. Actual pockets on my pants/coats
  10. Reeder RSS List 

Keeping on top of all of these “input” sources is draining (exceptions being Pocket and Reeder, which I actually enjoy). Every item in each inbox requires some sort of action, and very rarely do those actions make me feel like I’ve accomplished something important. 

So what are some solutions?

Well, I’ve started setting time aside at the end of my day to go through my inboxes systematically and deal the wonderful things I find there. Since I’m usually drained at the end of the day anyway, I felt like this might be the best time to do it (rather than drain away any creative energy I have in the morning).

Having an app that pulls all of your inboxes into one mega-inbox might save you the time from jumping from one service to the next (which is a huge time drain since one does not simply “log into Facebook to deal with messages”). I use the iOS Notification Center a bit in this way, but if anyone has an app that does a better job, please send it my way! Sidenote: I’m really pumped about Mailbox. Can’t wait for it to launch/for me to get a beta invite (hint, hint).

Finally, limiting the amount of inboxes you allow into your life, or the number of people who can add to them, is another way to reduce the amount of time it takes you to get to “Actual Inbox Zero”.  Check the privacy settings on the services you use and see if there are ways to limit the amount of items that get sent to your inbox, or, better yet, eliminate your inbox altogether. 

Alright, enough about that. If I’m going to Lift tonight, I better get back to my inboxes.

Thanks for reading!

Yes please

Yes please

Source: The New York Times