For the first time in almost five years I was forced to go a few days without my BlackBerry crutch. I had planned on voluntarily going without a BlackBerry for a few days to see how I could manage (someday). Unfortunately, I didn’t quite plan on doing that this week! What surprised me is how much MORE EFFECTIVE I’ve been over the past two days WITHOUT my crutch!
The backstory: Over the weekend my BB started shooting-craps on me. I spent a few hours with tech support only to find out that I the phone was DOA. AT&T got a replacement shipped out to me almost immediately, but that meant 3 days without my phone, planner, mobile mail, alarm clock, entertainment, toy, etc…
Part One – Tasks
As a reaction to my tragic loss, I started planning! I pulled out my trusty todo book (which I havent used in over a year) and began making lists like I used to. I organized all my tasks in three lists: Work, Home, School and set-out to clear them off before my vacation on Thursday. Realistically, I had planned to address 50% of my work ToDo list and 100% of school.At the end of Monday, both lists were almost completed! It’s obvious that technology has been letting me down and paper-and-pen have filled a gap, yet again…
Part Two – Email
I figured it was a somewhat irresponsible to go out without a cell phone of some sort, so I put my SIM in my wife’s old phone just so I’d have voice connection is she needed me, car breaks down, etc… This meant that emails would no longer buzz on my hip every few minutes! How could I cope without the constant stream of data!? What I realized is that my email is more of a constant stream of distraction than anything else! Nothing I do can’t wait until I get back to my desk! A colleague of mine (Scott Gallant) recently started checking his email only 3 (or so) times a day…I now understand why! It’s nice to be ABLE to check my email remotely, but it’s not a requirement…or so I’ve recently learned!
Replacement BB is HERE! What do I do now!?
One thing I truly missed about the BlackBerry was the calendar. I can track To-Do lists all day, but the calendar notifications are very valuable! A couple other things I missed were my “clock” and the web browser (at lunch). Notice there’s no mention of email!
So I plan to change the way I use my BlackBerry. I’m going to set my profile to only notify me on text messages, alarms, and phone calls…not emails. I’m going to continue using my paper todo lists (though I’ve tried various electronic methods), and I’m going to stop obsessing over my typical 15 second email response times!
When I got the replacement, I was almost sad to see my productivity vanish… Let’s see if I can change the way I use my holstered-technology for the better!