1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:04,840 Speaker 1: Hello there, it's Amantha. I'm currently on a Christmas break, 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:08,360 Speaker 1: so I've handpicked a bunch of my favorite episodes from 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,840 Speaker 1: the last year to share with you. Okay, on with 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: today's best of episode. Are you looking for ways to 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: save time? I mean, there are plenty of tools out 6 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: there to help streamline your work processes, but how do 7 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: you know which ones work best? Well? Today, I want 8 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: to give you three tools so that you can find 9 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: out which websites are causing you too many minutes of distraction. 10 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: Learn how to batch check your emails rather than becoming 11 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: a slave to the inbox, and stop using I don't 12 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: have time as an excuse not to do things. My 13 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: name is doctor Amantha Inba. I'm an organizational psychologist and 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: the founder of behavioral science consultancy Inventium, and this is 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: how I work a show about how to help you 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,639 Speaker 1: do your best work. If I were to ask you 17 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: how you spent your time online yesterday, would you actually know? 18 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: Would you know about how many minutes you spend on 19 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: various sites like YouTube, Facebook, your local news website, true 20 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: to collaborative websites like Google Docs. Chances are you probably 21 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: wouldn't know. But self awareness is everything when it comes 22 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: to managing our time. If we don't know how we 23 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: are spending our time, it's really hard to know what 24 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: changes that we can make to save time or use 25 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: our time more wisely. So this is where Rooster comes 26 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: in very handy. Rooster is a Chrome plugin which means 27 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: you install it and it runs in the background of 28 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: your Chrome browser and it tracks your online behavior in 29 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: the background as you go about your date. So what 30 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: it does it tells you spec typically how much time 31 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: you're spending on every single website you visit throughout the day, 32 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: and you can even set it to be the default 33 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: homepage when you open up a new browser window, so 34 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: that you're constantly reminded of how you were choosing to 35 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: spend your time. So, for example, I'm recording this episode 36 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: in the morning, and I'm looking at Rooster now and 37 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: it's telling me that I haven't done much web surfing today, 38 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: So it's saying I've spent fourteen minutes on Gmail, which 39 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: is very unusual for me, because firstly, I don't use 40 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: Gmail as my email checking software, but it was because 41 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: I was programming a mail merch to go out. And 42 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: I've also spent six minutes in Google Docs, which was 43 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: related to that task that I was doing this morning. 44 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: So I find Rooster super helpful because I think it's 45 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: really easy to go down Internet black holes and be 46 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: completely unaware of it. So I love anything that brings 47 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: more self awareness in terms of how I'm using my time. 48 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: So I strongly recommend trying out Rooster. Go to get 49 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:09,799 Speaker 1: rooster dot inn to check it out, and I also 50 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: linked to that in the show notes. Now, have you 51 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,079 Speaker 1: ever thought to yourself, I don't have time for more 52 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: things in my life? You know, it might be that 53 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: you think you don't have time to take up a 54 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: new hobby, or to exercise more than once or twice 55 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,959 Speaker 1: a week, or perhaps you feel like you're too busy 56 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: to adopt a new habit that you know would be 57 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: good for you, maybe like meditation for example. But here's 58 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: the thing you probably do, which brings me to the 59 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: second tool I want to talk about, which is Eric 60 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: Rud's free Time calculator. So this comes from Eric Rud 61 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: er Ic Rood, and I linked to that in the 62 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: show notes. Eric has created a very cool tool that 63 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: calculates and visualizes the free time that you have. So 64 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: this calculator ask you to input things like how much 65 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: time you spend sleeping, how much time you spend at work, 66 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: how much time you spend working out, how much time 67 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: you spend doing chores, eating, all those sorts of things, 68 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: and then it runs an analysis and tells you how 69 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:17,039 Speaker 1: many free hours you have per week. I personally found 70 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: this free time calculator really puts time in perspective and 71 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: will definitely make you think twice before you say I'd 72 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: like to do that, but I don't have the time. 73 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: I dare say that this free time Calculator will really 74 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:37,039 Speaker 1: challenge this assumption. And I think that that's very, very useful. Okay, 75 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: I want you to think about your workday yesterday, and 76 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: I want to know how many times did you dip 77 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: into your inbox. If you're like the average person, you 78 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: would have done this every six minutes. And I think 79 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: that you know that that's probably not ideal. And you know, 80 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: we all know that email is highly addictive. It's designed 81 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:02,280 Speaker 1: to be that way. But if we can ditch our 82 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: email addiction and batch check our email instead, whereby you 83 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: only check your inbox three or four times a day, 84 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: you'll be far more productive and far less reactive. And 85 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: this final tool will help you do just that. It's 86 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 1: a tool that I found out about from tech entrepreneur 87 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: Ashtosh Priyadashi, who is the founder of Sansama. And this 88 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 1: tool is an email client, which means that if you're 89 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: using say Outlook or Gmail, you can actually run your 90 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: email through this software and have this be the main 91 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: interface that you check your email through and respond to 92 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: email with. So this software is called Tempo, and what 93 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: Tempo does is it actually forces batch checking of email. 94 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: So the default setting in Tempo is that it only 95 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: lets you receive emails two or three times a day. 96 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: And I love this. I think this is a really 97 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: brave choice in terms of software design, because everyone wants 98 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: their software to be sticky, everyone wants you using their 99 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:03,280 Speaker 1: software as much as possible. But instead Tempo said, well, 100 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: actually no, you'll be more productive if you're not constantly 101 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:10,279 Speaker 1: checking email. So look, you can override the default if 102 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: you really want to. But I think that Tempo is 103 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: a really interesting email software to try out. Now I 104 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 1: must add some full disclosure here. I have not actually 105 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: tried out Tempo because I am completely in love with Superhuman, 106 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,720 Speaker 1: another email client that I do talk about on the show. Occasionally, 107 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: and I feel like I've invested so much time in 108 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: learning all the shortcuts in Superhuman that it does become 109 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: very quick for me. And to make sure I'm not 110 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: checking it constantly, I just close the software application when 111 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: I'm not using it. But I think that if you're 112 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: not like me, and you're not particularly attached to the 113 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: email client or email software that you're currently using, Tempo 114 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: is an awesome thing to give a go to, and 115 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: it might help you be more productive and tame your 116 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: email addiction. So there we have it. Three things that 117 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: you might want to try out today or this week 118 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: to help manage your time better. Hello. There that is 119 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: in for today's show. If you enjoyed today's episode, why 120 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 1: not share it with someone else that you think would 121 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: benefit and maybe get some useful tips to improve the 122 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: way that they work. How I Work is produced by 123 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: Inventing with production support from Dead Set Studios. And thank 124 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: you to Martin Nimba who does the audio mix for 125 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: every show and makes everything sound so much better than 126 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: it would have otherwise. See you next time.