No One NEEDS to Know Where You Are

We have grown to love what our mobile devices can do. We can consolidate our magazines on our iPads, live blog from events using our smartphones, work in the car on our laptops, and attend conference calls from anywhere with any of the above.

At Infomatix, we tend to work with people who are doing jobs they love to do. Most of our clients are entrepreneurs and there aren’t many business owners who get into a field they cannot stand. This means a lot of them work more than they should (or, at least, more than their families think they should). They may choose to spend their free time working but they’re not recharging their batteries. It’s important to remember to take a break and let a few emails go unread for a few hours or a couple of calls go to voicemail.

It’s nice when we’re attached to the people in our lives and want to fill our time with them whenever possible but we need to know when to take time for ourselves. Responding to emails right away sets the precedent that you’ll always get back within minutes. For most people, getting back to them once or twice a day is sufficient. If it’s not an important email, don’t let it disrupt your flow and get back to it later.

It’s also important to recognize when you’ve become addicted to your device. Jane Vincent says you’re addicted to your devices with you feel anxious and panicked if you can’t use it and you get a thrill from using it and feeling like you can multitask (you probably can’t and are sacrificing quality for task quantity).

Make sure you use your devices with intention, not impulse. Constantly flicking between social media sites, checking your email, and switching focus mid-task slows you down and doesn’t add much value to your work.

Taking time to turn off your BlackBerry at the end of the day (or at least overnight), finish a task before moving on to the next one, and turning off your instant email notifications will help keep you organized and calm throughout the day instead of frantic and unproductive.