Re-Shuffling Data Input Points
I’ve been a little overwhelmed recently with all the projects I’ve taken on. With these projects my email load has increased. Along with this increased email load, I’ve also become overwhelmed with RSS feeds, tweets via Twitter, and Skype calls coming my way.
In a few months time I’m likely to drop a lot of these projects and focus solely on this blog, though at the moment I’ve felt the need to get into a slightly better shape before I make any changes down the line.
Last weekend I sorted through my entire machine, applications, and web services in order to try and cut down on “digital noise & clutter.”
Friend Updates and Communication
I’ve sifted through my Twitter friends and deleted some who I don’t know, and others who haven’t updated in months and months. I also changed my update frequency to show me new tweets every 60 minutes, rather than every 5. This will help me keep on task, without the distracting “Tweet” noise every few minutes.
Inside Mail, I finished cleaning up my 3 actionable folders. To-Do, Reply, and Hold. With these folders empty I have a clean base to start from.
To-Do’s and Tasks
I’m currently using GoPlan for project related tasks, and iCal for personal tasks. Previously my personal tasks have been scattered all over, on various pieces of paper, and TextEdit documents. I’m still waiting for OmniFocus which will replace iCal for my personal task management in the future, but for now iCal seems to be working fine.
GoPlan for projects related tasks. iCal for personal tasks.
RSS & Newsfeeds
RSS is one of the things I’ve decided not to cut down on any more. As long as I’m under the 100 feed mark, I’m relatively happy with everything. When I come to a point where I feel overwhelmed by the amount of data coming in, then I’ll cut down.
Currently I’m happy with what NewsFire brings in for me, I’m always up to date on the latest happenings on dozens and dozens of sites online. The only change I made in NewsFire is setting the update frequency to 60 minutes, rather than 15 in order to cease distractions.
Is anyone else out there feeling overwhelmed with all these web services these days such as RSS, Twitter, Skype, etc?
#1
Paul Stamatiou → paulstamatiou.com
Haha, I haven’t checked my feeds (google reader) in weeks. I have 200+ and sitting down to go through them requires time which I never have.
#2
Michael Yurechko → michaelyurechko.com
Paul: It’s called mark all read :D
I am the least organized person here. I am an avid procrastinator and never do what I’m supposed to be doing. My mail updates every minute along with my Twitter, and NewsFire updates every 5 minutes brining in a bunch of new content for me to get side-tracked looking at.
Tonight I was supposed to: Finish up my powerpoint for a project, organize a bunch of things for school, study for a science test, finish my math homework and study for the test which I just remembered now, finish my science homework, and….there was one more….oh yea, spanish homework.
Then for writing I was supposed to write 4-6 posts, organize a bunch of info for an upcoming project, work on the upcoming project and talk with my designer/developer, as well as clear up some emails and a few other tasks that needed to be taken care of.
Out of all of that I did…nothing. Yea, I hung out on Twitter and iChat, kept refreshing Digg laughing at HD DVD posts, Talked to a bunch of people on Skype who I just talked to for the sake of talking to people, and watched/chatted with Chris Pirillo (http://live.pirillo.com).
#3
Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com
Sure you didn’t mean 2000 Paul? ;-) I’m pretty happy that I am keeping on top of my feeds, at the moment I have..0 unread.
#4
Chris ‘MyAppleStuff’ Marshall → www.myapplestuff.com
Absoluteley!! Just done pretty much the same thing (http://myapplestuff.com/revised-workflow/) and am now getting my mind around the distribution of my data across a number of macs (http://myapplestuff.com/distributing-data/).
What used to be ‘fun’ messing around with stuff is now seriously getting in the way of getting anything done!!
#5
Marvin Sum → 50volts.com
As my workload increases, I’ve learnt to prioritise. In the past I could happily read 20 articles each morning; now it’s more like 4-5, plus managing a blog and answering email.
But I still think its important to keep things in moderation. Sure you can cut down on one or two things, but a healthy mix is nice.
#6
Dumitru TiraSorry, I’ve been lurking here recently(reading your posts and not commenting :shame:). I’m a bit more fortunate than you,
I’m not that requested by email and I don’t have a skype(So this makes things better for me), my bloglines rss reader is just nice, I have like 100-250 new items every morning, I read them while lunching. Not having a personal blog makes things even easier for me. :D
good luck and keep the great articles coming :D
#7
Conner Downey → connerdowney.com
Good idea, Glenn. I like being able to kind of chat with Twitter, so I may eventually change it back to every 5 minutes or every minute, but I’ve done newsfire every 20 minutes. I rarely check on it anyway, it always has 300+ unread. Mostly digg, though.
#8
Shawn Blanc → thefightspot.com
I did this about 3 weeks ago and it’s been great. I sorted out all my email and got a better folder system set up. I use an open source ticket/order client hosted on my site that I use for keeping track of projects.
What is it they say about productivity? It’s not working more it’s working better?
#9
Andreas Climent → www.andreascliment.com
I started writing my daily to do list in a notebook a few weeks ago and my productivity has really gone up. I always have the list beside me on the desk all the time so I always see what tasks need to be done.
#10
Chanpory → www.lifeclever.com
I’m totally facing digital creep because I love testing out new software, widgets, and sites. It gets to the point where my apps folder on my Mac is incredibly bloated with programs I rarely use.
I’ve also signed up for so many Web 2.0 services, I don’t even remember their names anymore. I feel compelled to test out new products, because as a blogger, I need to keep an eye out for things to review.
What I need to do is schedule weekly or monthly “purges” like you just did. Not just for RSS feeds, Twitter, and Skype, but for applications as well.
#11
shadownight → thomasgvl.50webs.com
I reduced my Twitter update frequency as well some time ago, as a bird chirping every 5 minutes is not fun! Other than that, I do pretty well. I do immediately switch to Mail when I spot that red badge in Mail’s icon, ’cause I’m an email addict. But it goes pretty well.
#12
elclinto → difted.com
I hear ya Glenn, i gotta say your 3 folders idea in Mail has helped me a ton… thanks for that.
#13
Conner Downey → connerdowney.com
What three folders?
#14
DeathAxe → justincomparable.com
I unsuscribed from nearly 20 feeds last week, including Engadget. When I need to focus on something, I simply quit Vienna, Mail and Twitterrific.
#15
Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com
I have three actionable folders setup in Mail. To-Do, Hold, and Reply. I’ll blog about the setup next week.
#16
Elliott → www.35light.com
Great article! I have been following your system organization post and I have been cleaning up my computer and going though apps. I would really like more follow up posts about your organization methods. What about one on how your Aperture libray is organized. Keep up the good work!
#17
Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com
Thanks Elliot, I’ll try work on one for Mail & another for Aperture.
#18
BenI don’t get why people use all these organization and GTD apps. I’ve never used one, not even a calender app or a real calender for that matter for keeping down dates. The truth is all you really need is the occational post it note :P. Explain to me why it is necessary. (oh and don’t say it’s because you do more than i do)
#19
Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com
Ben, to each and his own for To-Do/GTD applications. Personally I’m just using a small notebook at the moment. Why do I have a need for OmniFocus? Because most of my To-Do tasks come in a digital form, I want to be able to quickly enter them into the database and forget about them (until OmniFocus reminds me).
I find GTD applications useful for entering chunks of data into, then referring to it later. It’s a much less stressful way than trying to remember everything in your head, or alternatively, having dozens of notes and stickies sitting around - it’s all in one place with a dedicated application.
#20
alej744Lol, you’re so popular!
But what do you mean by “projects”?
#21
Glenn Wolsey → www.glennwolsey.com
Alej - I’ve been writing for a bunch of smaller gadget blogs recently, along with regular podcast episodes on a few podcasts. I also have a bunch of work I’m currently prepping for the future.
#22
Jayp80I know what you what mean. Between work, my personal blog, creating a new site, chatting, talking and keeping up with emails. It’s tough. I’m also in the middle of a massive online clean up. It’s insane the stuff we accumulate over the years, and I’m only referring to stuff online.