I like stuff.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

My short attention span.

I noticed this evening that my attention span has grown short enough that even video games seem like too much work to pay attention to.

Could be I'm just tired (haven't slept well this week) but I think there's some contributors that I can act upon right now.

These are the windows that I usually have open:
Email Client.
IM Client.
Web Browser (with the following tabs open)
-RSS reader
-Twitter
-One or more social networking morasses
-The last 15 or so articles I opened meaning to read and said "Hey, if I keep these open, I'll remember to read them later."

So, I'm constantly context-switching.

I set up my email thing to notify my of new messages with a tiny little number up in one corner of my screen. Maybe I'll get good at ignoring it a bit, but seriously, I micromanage my spam folder. I need new hobbies.

I set up a twitter client (although they've been flaky in the past, hell, so is twitter)

The social networking websites tend to email me if there's something I might want to pay attention to. Close those windows. Check 'em from time to time if I feel compelled.

Turned off "Unread Counts" in my RSS reader. Again, micromanaging.

Installed a little app called "Spirited Away" that hides any window that hasn't been used for a bit. I've got it set at 30 seconds.

Cleared all the shit off my desktop.

Resolved to bookmark stuff. Don't know how that'll last.

If I have to, I may enforce a mandatory offline reading period of half an hour per day. Something where I'm not jumping around as much.

yeah.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This sounds like a good plan. Though having the articles open to remind myself also sounds like something I want to adopt.