The Simple Manifesto #7 – Limit communication
This is part of our series on The Simple Living Manifesto. We invite you to join us on the journey.
The seventh idea in the manifesto is:
Limit your communications. Our lives these days are filled with a vast flow of communications: email, IM, cell phones, paper mail, Skype, Twitter, forums, and more. It can take up your whole day if you let it. Instead, put a limit on your communications: only do email at certain times of the day, for a certain number of minutes (I recommend twice a day, but do what works for you). Only do IM once a day, for a limited amount of time. Limit phone calls to certain times too. Same with any other communications. Set a schedule and stick to it.
Oh boy! This one is a tough one for me. I’m always hoping/wanting to stay in touch with people. It’s not so bad when I’m at home but sitting in a cubicle 99% of the work day really leads me into some bad habits.
When I get to work I tend to open Gmail, leaving it open for several hours and I also open TweetDeck and let it run all day as well.
Because of the constant barrage of e-mails I get at work (that rarely have anything to do with my job), I’ve learned to check GroupWise (company email) only once or twice a day. Unless I’m expecting a necessary response from someone, I leave the program closed the majority of the day.
It’s funny how too much noise will help us learn to ignore things easier.
A few things I have done to limit my constant barrage of communication/noise:
- Turn off Facebook notifications (in both e-mail and SMS texts). You don’t need to know every time someone comments on your status, or when you get another invite to Farmville. You’ll be able to see all that next time you log in.
- Filter Twitter notifications in e-mail. I haven’t turned this off completely, but I do filter updates telling me about new followers and direct messages. This way I still receive the notifications but I only check them once a day at most. (More about filtering your e-mail with G-mail on Wednesday)
- Unsubscribe to newsletters. I’ve subscribed to many newsletters over time and many of them are now simply getting a glance at that and then going to the trash. If I’m not reading them, I’m taking a minute or two to unsubscribe. If it’s not being used — toss it or cut it off.
- Save phone calls for the commute. I try to limit long phone calls to only during my daily commute (roughly 30-45 minutes depending on traffic). This keeps me from being distracted at both work and home — and of course I recommend using a Bluetooth ear piece as well.
- Turn Twitter cell phone notifications off — at least part of the day. As soon as I signed up for Twitter, I turned my alerts off from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. I don’t need additional distractions while at home. And in all honesty the only Twitter alerts/notifications I get are from a couple VIP people (like my wife) and direct messages. Everyone else can wait till I take the time to check online.
- Leave my phone in the bedroom after I get home. My phone will continue to buzz and distract me all night long if I let it. This was something else I decided to do when I joined Twitter. As soon as I get home I empty my pockets and leave the phone in the bedroom. Yes, there are some nights I end up keeping the phone nearby — but those nights I can really detach are so much nicer.
What other things have you done to limit your communications? Is it helping?
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