1 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the tactics 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: you use by leading innovators to get so much out 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: of their day. I'm your host, doctor Amantha Imber. I'm 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: an organizational psychologist, the CEO of Inventium, and I'm obsessed 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: with finding ways to optimize my workday. Today's show is 6 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: another mini episode where I share some interesting research about 7 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: how you might be able to improve the way you work. 8 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: So imagine it's ten am on a Tuesday. You're trying 9 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: to complete a report for your boss. But every couple 10 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: of minutes, your computer is alerting you to the fact 11 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,480 Speaker 1: that you have a new email, and your phone, which 12 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: is sitting right next to you, is lighting up every 13 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: few seconds to inform you that that very cute. 14 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 2: Photo of your toddler has just gotten another like nice one. 15 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: A few minutes later, your phone starts vibrating with an 16 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: incoming call. It's a blocked number, so you don't pick 17 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: it up. In spite of all these interruptions, you have 18 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: managed to stay strong and not give in. You keep 19 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: writing your report. But despite the willpower you've demonstrated in 20 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: not giving in to the temptation of constant notifications. 21 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 2: You would have actually done as good a job. 22 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,559 Speaker 1: On that report as if you'd missed a night's sleep. Yes, 23 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: that's right, you may well have skipped sleeping the night before, 24 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 1: and you would have done only marginally better on that 25 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: report than if you'd been smoking marijuana at your desk 26 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: while writing. Research from the University of London has shown 27 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: that when we are bombarded with distractions and notifications such 28 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: as incoming calls and emails, we lose an average of 29 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:45,479 Speaker 1: ten IQ points, and this is if we don't even 30 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: give into the notifications and keep on working. Now, while 31 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: ten IQ points might not seem like a huge deal, 32 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: it's actually the equivalent of not having slept the night before, 33 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: and twice as much as you will lose from smoking 34 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: some marijuana. Essentially, the distractions, even unopened ones, reduce our 35 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: mental sharpness and the energy that we exert in avoiding 36 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: checking the distractions tires out our willpower muscle. So if 37 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: you'd like to maintain your current IQ score while working 38 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: and not be a victim to a dropping, here are 39 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: three simple strategies that you might want to try. First, 40 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: switch your phone to airplane mode even when you're not 41 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: on a plane. The easiest way to avoid distractions is 42 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: to remove them all together, and by putting your phone 43 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: in airplane mode, you eliminate any vibrating, beeping, or lighting. 44 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:43,919 Speaker 2: Up that might occur. 45 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: I mean, sure, you might miss a hilariously entertaining cat video, 46 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,399 Speaker 1: but you'll do a better job on whatever task you're 47 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,959 Speaker 1: currently trying to focus on. As an example, author and 48 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: podcaster Tim Ferris keeps his phone on airplane mode for about. 49 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 2: Eighty percent of the day. 50 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: Feris told Ballet Magazine there are so many distractions, and 51 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 1: so much of social media is designed just to get 52 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: you angry and fighting. When I need to focus or 53 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: just maintain my sanity, I switched my phone to airplane mode. 54 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 1: This disables any unwanted interruptions. This is particularly critical post 55 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: dinner and during my morning routine. Let's say if it's 56 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: good enough for Tim Ferris, it's. 57 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 2: Good enough for you. 58 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: Second, turn off all notifications on all devices. So once 59 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: you've switched your phone to airplane mode, turn off notifications 60 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: on all your other devices. 61 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 2: This includes your. 62 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: Computer, laptop, tablet, and smart watch. It's obviously important not 63 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: to forget any single device, as this could be your downfall. Now, 64 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: while this is easy advice to give it can be 65 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: hard advice to receive. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University try 66 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: to recruit participants into a study where they would have 67 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: had to have turned off all phone notifications for a 68 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: whole week. Turns out they weren't able to recruit a 69 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: single participant and they had to reduce the notifications off. 70 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 2: Time to just one day. 71 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: Not Surprisingly, at the end of the twenty four hour period, 72 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 1: participants reported being significantly more productive and less distracted. The 73 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: final and third tip is to turn your phone to 74 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: gray Let me explain what I mean by that. So 75 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:32,920 Speaker 1: you might have noticed how bright and exciting apps and 76 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: notifications look on a smartphone. 77 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,160 Speaker 2: They use bright colors to get our attention, not. 78 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: Dissimilar to slot machines in Las Vegas. To reduce distractions, 79 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: switch your phone to grayscale. You can check out a 80 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: very amusing video from The Atlantic, which I'll put in 81 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: the show notes about why you need to do this 82 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,679 Speaker 1: and how to make it happen. As senior editor James 83 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:01,839 Speaker 1: Hamblin says, Instagram when everything is in gray scale looks 84 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: pretty awful. Now, while changing any habit or addiction is hard, 85 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: try experimenting with just one distraction busting change at a 86 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,119 Speaker 1: time to give yourself the best chance of success, because 87 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: if you don't, you may as well be smoking marijuana 88 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: at work. Hey. There, that's it for today's episode. If 89 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: you liked it, there are plenty of others that you 90 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: might also enjoy, such as my chat with Matt Mullenweg, 91 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: co founder of WordPress, where we talk about how he 92 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: organizes his phone to create healthy habits, and my conversation 93 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: with Adam Grant, where we talk about the two things 94 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: he does at the start of every week to make 95 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: sure he stays on track with what really matters. 96 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 2: Finally, it's great getting. 97 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,039 Speaker 1: Feedback from listeners such as yourself, so feel free to 98 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: give this podcast a review in iTunes or wherever you 99 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: listen to your podcasts. And if you like this episode, 100 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: make sure you hit the subscribe button so you can 101 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: be alerted when new episodes are released. 102 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 2: See you next time.