Yes, it is a great Nirvana song but I’m actually on a plane right now as I write this amazed at the amount of work I have gotten done. In the last couple days I while in San Jose I have not been monitoring my email and it’s built up almost 180 unread emails. But amazingly I just finished responding to them all. Yup currently on my iPhone I have 180 Emails in the outbox on my that will start sending as soon as I land.
In addition to all those emails I also wrote some really good in depth blog posts, came up with some new ideas for ShoeMoney Tools, and various other stuff.
I am always so productive when on a plane. How can I recreate this to be more productive at the office?
I think a lot of it has to do with how much shit I have notifying me instantly of things. Like I have gmail notifier telling me when I get a new email, wordpress comment notifier telling me I got a new comment to moderate, Aol Instant messenger flashing and jumping up and down when I get a new message, facebook telling me one of many things, tweetdeck telling me someone replied to me on twitter, and many other things…
Here is a typical day. I get in the office about 8:30am. I buzz through my email when I see one from DK about his thinktank event I begin to respond when Tigh sends me a message on AIM asking me if I can meet with someone at Affiliate Summit East and while responding to Tigh I get a notification that there is 25 comments waiting to be approved on my blog. While approving the comments I follow some of the commentators links and one goes to this site that is pretty cool and I am wondering if they want to work together on something. So I start to write them a email when I get a notice from Facebook that I can’t ignore. This girl that I had a HUGE crush on in high school (she never dated me cause I was to fat) just befriended me and sent me a message. So I goto facebook and friend her up and instantly and read her message. Come to find out she has packed on 200lbs, has 6 kids, been divorced 3 times and tells me she can’t figure out why she keeps dating the wrong guys (whats up now biatch). While messaging her back David shoots me a message about this company that looks good for us to invest in. While writing David back my tweetdeck goes off from some punkass SEO who has never accomplished anything in his life talking smack because I said something that Matt Cutts might disagree with.
I start typing my response when I look up and realized I wasted the last 2 hours writing incomplete messages to DK, Tigh, my high school crush, dillsmack, some punkass SEO and still have many more comments to approve.
So this week I am going to whack all the notifiers…. Now I am not going to go all 4-hour work week and only check my email 2x a day but I for sure need to cut back on the 0-second notifications.
Its an amazing world we live in where communication happens so fast but it can be hard to be productive.
P.S. If you think you are the punkass SEO or the hot chick I went to high school with… you probably are.
August 3, 2009 at 6:09 am
How about getting somebody to moderate the comments?
(…and pre-read your email?
August 3, 2009 at 7:10 am
Yes I think Jeremy can go for comment moderation but reading email by someone else is not at all good idea.
August 4, 2009 at 3:06 pm
do you mean that this comments not moderated?
August 12, 2009 at 6:40 am
We are talking about delegating work to someone else so that Jeremy can have free time.
August 3, 2009 at 7:09 am
Wow you switch one job to other very smoothly Jeremy. I think that is the main thing or time saving.
Seems to me that you have got great arrangements of every thing.
August 3, 2009 at 7:32 am
Wow Shoe …Working from Plane, Sounds Interesting to me. I agree with your saying of getting ideas while you are on holidays and one can become really productive when external distractions are very limited. Communication is the only way through which we can achieve our goals depending upon their priority.
I have sent you email to get Vany out of TOP commentator list as i guess she is promoting her PORN BLOG …..damn
August 3, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Yeah I think it’s awesome you are so plane productive. I am not. I prefer to work from the office and relax on the plane…
August 3, 2009 at 8:06 am
I don’t think I’ve read something this funny in a long time.
August 3, 2009 at 9:13 am
Funny ??? What the hell is Funny in this ??
August 3, 2009 at 9:20 am
Hi Jeremy,
It’s awesome to see the pro bloggers are just as prone to time wasting and distractions as the rest of us!
A huge part of the mentoring process I am going through at the moment with Rich Schefren and Alex Jeffreys is all about strict planning, getting rid of distractions and keeping yourself accountable.
Now I try to limit my email access to just twice a day, Twitter just a few times and work to a countdown timer. I’m not all that fussed on Facebook any more so hardly bother with that.
David
August 5, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Aha another ex facebook lover David?
I just wondering how to left it behind, spent too much time checking for friends update
August 3, 2009 at 9:47 am
So I am sure after reading about her on facebook you have pleasant smile … lollzz
August 3, 2009 at 10:03 am
LOL..LOL
August 3, 2009 at 11:39 am
When your chick friend reads this, she’s going to have a heart attack or go out and buy 3 more buckets of ice cream.
Speaking of which, time management on planes are the easiest because there are absolutely no distractions. Even the TV channel selections are limited.
We all seriously need to shut down the technology once in a while.
August 3, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Hey man this is my first time making a comment at your blog. After reading your post I realized this happens to me way too much. I need to start setting time tables. To make myself more efficient haha.
August 3, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I guess…that is the price of your popularity shoe
August 3, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Hey Jeremy,
I recently became a full time internet marketer/blogger and I am starting to run in to that same problem. Now that I don’t have a boss checking in on me all the time, I find myself wasting a ton of my day. I read tons of blogs, play around in Twitter, check the new photos people have put in facebook, answer e-mails 15 times per day, hang out in forums, etc. etc. Now some of that isn’t wasted time. A lot of it actually builds more traffic to my site. But it definitely isn’t the best use of my time. I have started doing a lot of the same things you have. I whacked 3/4 of my Twitter list, I am trying to cut down on the amount of e-mail I check, and I’m trying to set certain times during the day allocated to commenting on blogs and in forums.
It’s definitely tough. Sometimes it’s really hard to stay focused when you work for yourself.
Matt
August 3, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Hey Matt
If you are just starting to run into this problem, I have some advice: Get ahold of it now and always keep the inbox down to zero if possible. I have the same problem as you but I’ve let it get out of hand and now I have hundreds of emails to catch up with – after getting behind for a week or so….good luck Matt!
August 5, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I saw you mentioned about builds more traffic to your site, how did you do that Matt, do you think, at first, buying traffic is a good start?
August 5, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Hey Mary – I know you asked Matt this question but in case he does not respond – I have some advice. I saw your website and the design is awesome. If you are trying to get more traffic to it – twitter helps, but the most important thing is to do the keyword research and figure out what you want to rank for in the search engines. After you know that – create a bunch of content that contains those keywords and also post regularly. The traffic will arrive. I had a blog on a topic similar to yours before and I had a lot of articles about hairstyles and was getting a lot of traffic that way. Hope it helps. Having giveaways (contest to giveaway a beauty product) through twitthis.com also works wonders.
August 3, 2009 at 2:00 pm
What about your spam email did you read it too???
August 3, 2009 at 2:01 pm
wow to much to do there
August 3, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I have the same problem and ADHD to top it all off. I have stop some of the notifications yet ADHD seems to find it’s way through and shine in it’s brightest of colors! Maybe I should try and adult ADD drug, who knows! Lol.
August 3, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I end up getting side tracked with facebook, twitter, blogs, videos too. But more recently I’ve began to plan my weeks ahead, & work to a countdown timer. It’s amazing how much more productive I’ve become.
I now only spend about 30mins a day doing twitter/facebook. Instead of killing around 2-3hrs on it.
Paul.
August 3, 2009 at 9:03 pm
What software do you use Paul? I’ve been using Toggl for the project/work timer. It has helped a lot.
August 4, 2009 at 2:51 am
Toggl’s great!!! I am open for more options.
August 4, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Hi Holly,
I’ve been using both the countdown timer on my mobile phone, and an app called Sphere Timer, it’s a gadget for the Vista sidebar.
Paul.
August 5, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Thanks for the info Paul. Is it just a regular timer on your phone or an app? It makes me wonder if toggl has an iphone application too…thanks for hte info!
August 3, 2009 at 5:10 pm
From this day forward you shall be known as Captain Distraction!
August 3, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Ive done that same sort of stuff before. I use a day planner and have my day pretty much planned out in advance. You got to have a plan to be able to get stuff done. One thing I did was i have 2 cell phones and I know exactly what types of calls are coming in on each.
I try to farm out repetitive tasks too.
the count down timer sounds like a great idea too.
August 3, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Also, if the phone distracts anyone you can use Google Voice so you dont need to deal with the calls and they can be managed, fwded and sent to a specific voicemail. Google voice is awesome for that.
August 4, 2009 at 2:45 am
I am sure one needs an invitation to use Google Voice. Can you help with that?
August 4, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I think if you go to their website you can fill in your email – they should contact you asap to give you an invitation. If I could I’d send you one myself..i’ll check on it Steve.
August 3, 2009 at 8:42 pm
It sounds almost like my day and at the end i never get anything done. Pisses me off how easily I get distracted. And look at me now, the fact that I’m reading and typing here where not planned either so Shoe now you distracted me
August 3, 2009 at 9:02 pm
You may want to try Toggl.com software – it lets you manage your time by timing your projects throughout the day. That way you know how much time you are spending on shoe’s site, commenting and doing your actual projects. It really helps put things into perspective.
August 3, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Same old stuff here in my life.
It comes with the job of being an internet marketer. The email management is always an issue that I’m always working on.
Today I found Fuser.com – you should try it Jeremy. It integrates ALL of your email accounts and social network sites (Twitter, facebook, myspace) into one interface where you can reply and post. It may help.
August 4, 2009 at 2:47 am
Fuser? Never heard of it. Will try it out. Thanks Holly
August 4, 2009 at 8:26 am
Yes Steve – it seems to be very useful. For example if you post a status update – you can have it posted to ALL of your social sites at one time. You can reply to your facebook and myspace comments right there – answer emails from any or all of your accounts. It seems great so far.
August 4, 2009 at 10:47 am
Holly,
I just signed up. Got a question.
It is possible to send e-mail from different e-mail accounts or it sends it out from one default account?
Do you know of anything that would solve that problem. Thanks.
Steve
August 4, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Steve,
You can add multiple accounts and it is no problem. I manage 3 gmail accts all through Fuser.
August 5, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Yup, it’s a good tool even for a starter like me, very recomended
August 5, 2009 at 8:36 pm
I like it too Mary. I have a question – do you guys find that it’s a little slow to load? I think it may be my internet connection – not sure.
August 3, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Hmm…I’m just wonderin’ who these punkass SEOs are? They’re all a bunch of punkasses aren’t they? Except for maybe Aaron Wall
SEOs have bigger egos than hedge fund managers.
August 3, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Dude, some of your posts make me laugh my ass off. This just happened to be one of those posts.
Kinda funny you wrote about this, though. I posted something similar not too long ago: http://eliteeternity.com/elite-insight/add-internet/
August 3, 2009 at 10:38 pm
haha..that was a great post Shoe. Its always a great feeling to see yourself succeed beyond those that initially looked past you.
August 3, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I agree, a whole lot of “instant” alerts can make a day pass by without you ever getting really productive…..
August 3, 2009 at 11:31 pm
People can be such time wasters and energy robbers and they can suck every bit of creative juice out of you if you let them…..
DELEGATE……I delegate everything I can….
August 4, 2009 at 2:33 am
Just made changes to my plans for tomorrow. Gotta be on the roof and clean those gutters…
Wondering how will i be productive up there..
Thank god, i don’t have to mow my lawn, i hired someone to do it for me.
August 4, 2009 at 5:03 am
LOL Great post Shoe
))
August 4, 2009 at 10:58 am
Shoe, I have been having the same problems but with my RSS reader. I subscribe to all these blogs I like and it sucks my time. Like this post for example.
J/K, I think I might take your suggestions and get rid of some of the distractions.
August 4, 2009 at 11:23 am
I’ve had the same experience with Facebook. There’d be that one girl that contacts and you get all excited only to find out the chick has turned into a buffalo butt over the years. It’s funny! The only thing you can think of, “Is that Jenny from high school?” Wow, she’s gotten FAT!”
August 4, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Dude… You’re funny, I like your writing style … I’ve been following your blog for about 2 weeks now… My buddy JDog told me to follow you, and I’m glad I did… so far…
I have a couple of questions, there are multiple social network managers… Tweetdeck, HootSuite, Thwirl, Seesmic, Nambu… Fuser (I just heard of from Holly Mann above)… What do you use and why?
Thanks,
-B-
August 4, 2009 at 8:43 pm
I just use Tweetdeck
August 5, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Have you heard about twadder Brian?
I heard this one is good but I never try that before, just need second opinion
August 5, 2009 at 10:47 am
After reading this post i suddenly realized how much time we lose on a daily basis checking hi5, facebook, myspace, e-mail etc… Like you said I think I should cut back the time i’m spending checking out the newest updates in order to be more productive.
August 5, 2009 at 11:00 am
Time is the most valuable thing in the world and something we can never get back. I pray that I become more productive in my work.
Thanks for the inspiration, Shoe!
P.S. Shouldn’t this post be titled “A Productivity Plan”?
August 5, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I’ve got your point here Jeremy, get me sorts of fresh ideas to do, thanks
August 7, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Getting rid of MSN & YIM was the best thing that ever happened to my productivity. LiveZilla is the perfect chat program because it makes people seek you out and keeps all chats centered around business. W.I.N.
August 8, 2009 at 1:17 pm
I almost missed the point here because of the comedy. I know what you’re saying though. All of the retarded messaging services slow everyone down without realizing it.
August 8, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Now that is good productivity..
August 12, 2009 at 5:25 pm
What I want to know is: How did you become so successful when you manage your time like this?
August 12, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Haha this is a funny post, but its so true. All of these distractions are what keep us from working on one things, than we do 5 things at once and get none of them down. There are so many distractions that sometimes shutting it all off is the best way to be productive.
September 3, 2009 at 3:12 am
Yup life has really become more and more pacey and we have to perform multi-tasking all the time. And some times it leads to lower effectiveness.