1 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the tactics 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: used by leading innovators to get so much out of 3 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: their day. I'm your host, Doctor Amantha Imba. I'm an 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: organizational psychologist, the CEO of Inventium, and I'm obsessed with 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: finding ways to optimize my work date. Today's show is 6 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: another mini episode where I share some interesting research about 7 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: how you might be able to improve the way you work. 8 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 1: So I'm going to start with a confession. I used 9 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: to be an email addict. It was my go to 10 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: task for procrastination or whenever I felt stuck on a 11 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: bigger and more important project. I would do a just 12 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: check of email many times an hour, and when I 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 1: was away from my laptop, I used to check my 14 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: inbox via my smartphone whenever I was in any situation 15 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: where God forbid, I might be bored. I would check 16 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: email when standing in line for a coffee. I would 17 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: check it when out for dinner with my husband or 18 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: a friend and they left for a few minutes to 19 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: go to the toilet. Email used to be the first 20 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: thing I would check when I work up in the 21 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: morning and when I would go to bed at night. 22 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: But then I realized something email was getting in the 23 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,400 Speaker 1: way of me doing real work. I was simply pushing 24 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,839 Speaker 1: bits of communication around. Now, in his book Deep Work, 25 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: Calen Newport suggests that because of the distractions technology imposes 26 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: on us, we actually spend the majority of our time 27 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: doing shallow work, work that is non cognitively demanding. An 28 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: email fits squarely into this category, and because of constant 29 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: digital distractions, Newport suggests that we've actually forgotten how to 30 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: truly engage in deep work that he is focused thinking, 31 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: where we make meaningful progress on our most challenging but 32 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: impactful projects. So the first step in getting more deep 33 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,559 Speaker 1: and meaningful work done is to kick your email habit. 34 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 1: So here are three ways to make that happen. First, 35 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: you need to switch off your notifications and go full screen. 36 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: Let me explain that. So, the easiest way to kick 37 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: a habit is to reduce temptation. So you've got to 38 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: start by turning off all email notifications that are on 39 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: your computer so that you're not told every time a 40 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: new email hits your inbox, and don't just stop at 41 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: your computer, rinse and repeat for all smart devices to 42 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: which email is connected. Now, if you're working on an 43 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: important project, you're probably using software other than Outlook or Gmail. 44 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: So whatever software application that is, such as Word or 45 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,519 Speaker 1: PowerPoint or keynote, put that application on full screen mode 46 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: so that nothing else creeps into your line of sight. 47 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: Both of these strategies will dramatically reduce the temptation to 48 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,959 Speaker 1: check your inbox. Now, the second strategy is to tell 49 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: yourself I don't check email all the time. That word 50 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: don't is very important if you're trying to change a habit. 51 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: Tend to tell themselves that they can't engage in the 52 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: behavior that they're trying to change. But researchers found that 53 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: replacing can't for don't makes us fifty percent more likely 54 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: to stick to our desired behavior. So, in the case 55 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: of your inbox, say to yourself and others that I 56 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: don't check email all day long, or I don't check 57 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 1: emails until lunchtime, which is personally what I say to myself. 58 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: You will be significantly more likely to spend that time 59 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: engaging in more productive activities. Now, finally, set yourself a 60 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: focus goal, because let's face it, email can be fun. 61 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: The best thing about our inbox, which can equally be 62 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: the worst thing about it, is that once we enter it, 63 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: the rewards center in our brain lights up like crazy 64 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: because of the inbuilt addictive design of email checking, which 65 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: is basically the random presentation of good or at least 66 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: interesting bits of news. For most people, it's energizing and 67 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: gives us a dopamine hit. I feel super productive responding 68 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: and then deleting or archiving emails, and it generally doesn't 69 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: require all that much brain power. So to take advantage 70 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: of this, set yourself a goal of doing a chunk 71 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: of deep focused work, maybe for an hour, and then 72 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: let's spending a few minutes in your inbox be your reward. Hello. There, 73 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: that's it for today's episode. If you liked it, there 74 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: are plenty of others that you might enjoy, such as 75 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: my chat with Nancy Duarte, the global expert on presentations, 76 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: where we talk about how she prepares for her own presentations. 77 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: Or you might enjoy one of my mini episodes where 78 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: I share some simple, science backed productivity tips that I've 79 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: discovered in the research. Finally, it's great getting feedback from 80 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,359 Speaker 1: listeners such as yourself, so I'd love it if you 81 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: give this podcast a review in iTunes or wherever you 82 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: get your podcasts, and if you like this episode, make 83 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: sure you hit the subscribe button so that you can 84 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 1: be alerted whenever new episodes are released. See you next time.