Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Do you feel overwhelmed by today’s all-consuming digital culture, both at work and at home? With the pervasive, non-stop quality of technology, it’s easy to see why. Yet, technology is also our best friend, provided we know where to draw the line. Here are five daily habits to help you tame the technology beast and make the digital world work for you, not against you:

1. Don't let emails linger. When you're reviewing emails, try and take an immediate action: respond, flag for follow up, file, forward, delete, or block as junk. Letting emails accumulate thinking you'll get back to them later only creates a mounting pile of digital paperwork that you'll likely never get to, and worse yet, will eat up critical communication. So when it's email time, focus and be proactive.

2. Know when to close your email. You might have trouble accomplishing tasks if you’re constantly tending to emails. When you need to focus on a project, write a report, have a meeting or make a phone call, close your email altogether so you can focus on the task at hand without being tempted to read or respond to emails as they pop in.

3. Organize your inbox. Take some time first thing in the morning or at the end of each day to stay organized. Sort your inbox by sender, which will allow you to delete large chunks of email all at once. Create folders to save important emails by category and flag any emails that need to be followed up on within a certain time-frame. 

4. Time block your social media. Social media can enrich both our business and personal lives, but it can also consume us. Avoid falling victim to the perpetual scroll by setting aside specific times of the day to check your social media accounts, then logging out after said timeframe is over. By doing this, you won’t be constantly scrolling and distracted by the ding of notifications.

5. Unplug every day. Be sure to take some time each day to ‘unplug’ from all devices. Get away from the computer and TV, turn your phone off, and go for a walk, read a book or have a device-free meal with family and friends. This little technology break is important for both your physical and mental health.

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