The Productive Student

Happy new year, dear readers.

This morning I came across a link via minimalmac.com to a post about digital cleansing for a week. The blog suggests we do the following for one week:

Guidelines:

• email only from laptop or desktop computers
• cell phones can only be used to make calls, and no text messages or e-mails are allowed – if you receive a text, you must reply in voice over the phone. E-mails must be returned from a laptop or desktop computer.
• no use of Twitter or any other social networking site – this includes reading as well as posting.
• no visiting of any entertainment or gossip sites. (No need to detail which ones – you know what they are.)

I think this is foolish. Not because I love Twitter (I don’t, actually) or can’t go a week without doing these things (I can and have many times, actually), but because this approach has two major flaws:

1. It doesn’t respect your daily workflow whatsoever and takes an over-technical approach.
2. Its a short term program that might help you regain some focus, but within a week you’ll be back stapling your eyeballs to social media sites. It’s like crash dieting. Never works.

I do see the good intentions behind these guidelines, but in their terrible misguided-ness, allow me to correct them and propose the following alternatives:

• E-mail only at fixed times each day, in focused bursts, regardless from what device. I propose 3 checks for students, and two-hourly checks for a full-time worker. On non-working days, check once.
• Use your cell phone for calls, and minimize the amount of time-consuming apps you have in the first place. Keep those that add value to your life and goals, and use them mindfully. Reply texts with texts, a call takes longer. And only reply if you really need to reply. I don’t return most of the new year’s wishes unless it falls in line with my intentions of social planning.
• Delete your accounts on all social media sites apart from Facebook (or your equivalent in terms of activity). Twitter is for geeks. Ditch it unless you feel it actually adds something to your social life. I am still trying to come to terms with it myself, as I think its a good way to reach readers.
• Don’t visit entertainment sites in the first place. Use RSS feeds and an RSS reader. Then, like e-mail and text messages, check in one burst a day to catch up on this stuff. See it as part of your leisure time, and invest your time accordingly.

The premise for the initial article was that our brains are suffering from information fragmentation and overload. I think that the real problem is that we don’t limit the inflow of information in the first place. A digital cleanse will help you see what you need and don’t need. But I propose that you invest the time to find a balance of information management in your life that works in the long run.

My Mantra

In a nutshell, my mantra for information management is as follows: Limit the sources of information, battle each bit of info with agility and get it off your plate. If Mom’s putting too much on your plate to begin with, you should do something about it.

You might want to read some of my digital mess articles.