CC Attribution License from Flickr User Mrs Logic
Its interesting to study information overload as part of my coursework and to constantly be reassuring myself that there’s no way that could ever happen to me. And yet, as I sit behind this screen, I have 3 tabs open in my browser IN ONE WINDOW, and another 3 in another window, articles to read, comments to add, Mail sound just alerted me to a new message, texts to return and actual work to be done. Is this an effective way to manage ones information needs/desires?
Probably not. The deeper I go into working in the “information professions” (blog topic for another day), I find myself being more attracted to simple things. Plain desktops. Productivity apps. Textedit. Balanced code. The color gray. So, how come this minimalist streak has yet to reach my surfing habits? Well, probably because I haven’t taken the steps toward making it so. Thus, Unitasking.
This is a little experiment I have been attempting for about a week. Inspired by MinimalMac.com and Profhacker’s persistent GTD proselytizing, I am failing miserably at doing one thing at a time. But, its starting to make sense finally. So after I finish this post, I will read and comment on one article at a time, answer that email, check my calendar for the weekend, etc. The idea of attempting to unitask in order to get things done is mildly exciting in some way, and uncharted territory for my plugged in self. I’ll let you know how it goes. Crap. Just got a text and gotta look something up for a friend.
{unitask : fail;} <— (bad attempt to showcase my barely acceptable coding experience. Should that be in HTML?)
One thing I’m looking forward to – I am selling my Macbook and have ordered an iPad. According to this article over at TUAW, the iPad is the perfect unitasking machine. We shall see how my habits adapt to the new device.
As I read this post and looked across my desk at the Macbook, PC, netbook, iPod Touch, two cell phones, and the remote to my stereo it occurred to me that I may be in need of a similar experiment. I do actually unitask more often where work is concerned and have been know to shut down instant messaging and even [gasp] email while working on a single project that needs focused attention. Keep us posted! I think you’ll find some satisfaction in getting things done, one at a time, and maybe even increased productivity. And have fun with the iPad. I don’t have one, but even with everything listed above, i have iPad envy.
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