my thoughts

On office concentration

Posted to Random thoughts by Dominic Winsor on 17 Sep 2007

Minimising distraction
I often find it hard to concentrate. I am continually aware of all that is going on around me: the tapping of keys, the falling rain, background conversations, the hum of computers. These are not just there as a backdrop but something intrusive. It is also something that affects every aspect of my life - I will watch a film and be distracted by the subtle details in the soundtrack, or the clever angle and use of focus in the camera work.

So how does this affect the way I work? I guess like many knowledge workers I have to juggle many demands: prioritising and acting on information from projects, clients, colleagues and alerts from the computers. There is an expectation amongst people in my industry that we are always on, always ready to drop everything and answer your query right there and then. Compare this to people who work in other environments where their role prevents them from responding to messages as they arrive. I have been thinking about this for a while, as in my new role is more customer-facing, and I was given a blackberry.

I do generally perform best when able to concentrate on tasks without interruption, and in which I can give time to respond to demands in a controlled fashion. How best to optimise the need to be available with the need to get things done? The following two articles have some interesting points to consider.
→ 10 quick and (almost) painless ways to kill distractions
→ How to check e-mail twice a day.. or even every 10 days

This need to be focussed reminds me of an old article on Joel on Software on the subject of flow.
→ Fire and Motion (Sometimes I just can't get anything done)



Using e-mail effectively
I have lately wondered whether it is worthwhile having a kind of personal e-mail policy, which defines how often you will check messages, and how long a message will be. I generally do not appreciate one-line e-mails, but the other extreme is also poor: huge e-mail essays which overwhelm the recipient.

I think a good e-mail message is one which applies the basic web usability guidelines described in Krug's "Don't make me think". The recently publicised "five sentences" website makes the point, but forgets that like most usability points, they cannot be distilled into hard rules. The important point is that we should do the thinking when we write the message, so that we minimise the burden on our recipient! Use a clear visual hierarchy (headings, lists and paragraphs), design for for wayfinding, and summarise your point(s) at the top if its a long one!
→ Five Sentences (A personal e-mail policy)
→ Don't make me think

Provide a good subject line. An empty subject is awful because we receive so many messages. If you can summarise the point of your message in a short space you help the recipient decide on when to act on your message, and to be able to find it again.

More soon..