KISS - Do not disturb!
Image by Heike Frohnhoff from Pixabay
One of the things that come with the package of self-employment is the inability to take prolonged vacations. On one hand, it is obvious that it would be amazing to check out from work 100% during the Christmas and new years holidays. To completely get rid of that nagging feeling that you always have some mandatory “homework” can really bring peace of mind and well needed rest. On the other hand, working when everyone else is in vacay mode, has made me realize how brutally my productivity is destroyed by constant interruptions.
When I took the class on philosophy of science during my PhD, I considered it to be the most difficult class I have ever taken. Every lecture felt like blowing a mental fuse due to overload. Partly it was because it was my first real venture into philosophy. Even though I pushed myself until I cried, it was right up my alley. Today, after hundreds of hours in audiobooks and podcasts on similar complex topics, I think I would fare much better. Anyway, when preparing each lecture for that course, I discovered by necessity that the only way I would have a chance to cope, was to start early at 07:00 hours. I then switched off my phone – not flight mode – completely off. Next, I shut down Outlook and every IM service and made sure that every single notification was disabled. Finally, I pulled the curtains to my office and closed the door, and turned my back towards the corridor and plugged my ears. I was careful not to even talk to anyone until 12.00. That gave me five hours every day of complete focus. And I did pass the course using that method.
I still go back to that mode every now and then, when my to-do-list goes out of control and grows faster than I can tick things off. It is pure self-preservation. And oh boy, does it work… Very few things are so urgent that they cannot wait a couple of hours. It is highly probable that I should do this more often. Perhaps on a weekly basis? Now it is only a couple of times per year. Working during the holidays is exactly the same, except that you don’t need to turn anything off. You can just go on with your day as usual with the difference that you will never be interrupted. It is such a nice feeling!
And by writing this, I just realize that this is without a shadow of a doubt, my 2024 New Year´s resolution. If DND mode is so wonderful that I just described and perceived, why on Earth shouldn’t I do it more often? I love New Years resolutions, and the reason is that I never fail them. Ever. The trick is simple. I set a target for my desired activity, that is so easy that I cannot create any excuse at all not to do it. And when you combine it with the fact that I choose an activity that I truly want, and that obviously will make my life better, it becomes physically impossible to fail. To repeat: Set the target low enough, that’s it.
In my case, I hereby promise that I shall henceforth dedicate at least one hour every week to complete and non-negotiable radio silence. I think more would probably be beneficial, perhaps 30 minutes per day or something like that, but that is honestly a bigger commitment. One hour every week, on a task that I choose myself, for that it is impossible to create any excuse. I always have a ton of important stuff that takes at least one hour. There are no drawbacks with this resolution. The only trick is to get it into the calendar. I suspect that it is wiser to put it early, first thing in the morning. But I don’t know what Q1 will look like yet, so I must keep it open for now. But using the same reasoning, why not aim for a DND hour in the first half of the week instead of the second half? That should increase the success probability by around 10X.
What’s your new years resolution? Write it out and tell it to the world. Put some skin in the game. And KISS.