A Day Without Twitter
I really love Twitter and when I have nothing else to do I can often spend hours on it. The trouble is, it is rather too easy to spend hours on it even when I have something to do. I noticed that when I stayed off Twitter during the General Election campaign I got rather more done on my real work. Since then my Twitter habit has rapidly returned to normal and my output has dropped with bad effects on my bank balance.
But can I live without it? I am going cold turkey today to find out.
8:28am First twinge. I have overcome it, but there are already signs this is going to be harder than I thought. I'll adopt the strategy of substituting some other activity whenever the blue bird pops into my mind.
8.50am Done approximately an hour more work than I usually get done by this time. Not yet getting the main benefit I was looking for, which is a clear mind. Still thinking up witty aphorisms, pithy comments and knock out comebacks. Sadly none of these will ever get posted.
9:54am Another twinge heroically fought off. I only have to make it to 5:00pm as I have guests tonight who will keep me off my phone. Also, really pleased with productivity increase.
11:39am There's that old saying, I hate writing but I love having written. I'm coming round to the idea that I love tweeting but I hate having tweeted.
12:14pm The other thing in my favour today is I'm working on a rush job to a tight timetable. This means I am less open to distraction and I'd have a more productive day on paper anyway.
01:51pm I may as well be honest and admit that I am easily distracted at the best of times, and even without Twitter there are plenty of things that stop me getting on with productive stuff. But to my surprise I haven't so far today succumbed to Twitter substitutes - I've been solidly focused on getting stuff done. I have a rough measure of my productivity in that I work in 25 minute bursts and keep track of the number of those I have done. It is an impressive 10 so far today. My target is 14 and I rarely achieve it before 7:00pm, so I am well ahead of my normal level of achievement.
3:24pm This was always going to be the toughest point in the day. I've put in a solid day's work so far. I'll have met my target in another hour, and I have actually just about met my target for billable work already. This isn't entirely down to my Twitter fast, but it has certainly helped. So the tempation now is to give myself a reward in the form of giving in to my desire for some 280 character limited dopamine. What I need is something else to do which will be enjoyable and relaxing, but which isn't addictive and hard to get off of. Maybe what I am doing right now? A quick blogging session with a cup of tea?
But can I live without it? I am going cold turkey today to find out.
8:28am First twinge. I have overcome it, but there are already signs this is going to be harder than I thought. I'll adopt the strategy of substituting some other activity whenever the blue bird pops into my mind.
8.50am Done approximately an hour more work than I usually get done by this time. Not yet getting the main benefit I was looking for, which is a clear mind. Still thinking up witty aphorisms, pithy comments and knock out comebacks. Sadly none of these will ever get posted.
9:54am Another twinge heroically fought off. I only have to make it to 5:00pm as I have guests tonight who will keep me off my phone. Also, really pleased with productivity increase.
11:39am There's that old saying, I hate writing but I love having written. I'm coming round to the idea that I love tweeting but I hate having tweeted.
12:14pm The other thing in my favour today is I'm working on a rush job to a tight timetable. This means I am less open to distraction and I'd have a more productive day on paper anyway.
01:51pm I may as well be honest and admit that I am easily distracted at the best of times, and even without Twitter there are plenty of things that stop me getting on with productive stuff. But to my surprise I haven't so far today succumbed to Twitter substitutes - I've been solidly focused on getting stuff done. I have a rough measure of my productivity in that I work in 25 minute bursts and keep track of the number of those I have done. It is an impressive 10 so far today. My target is 14 and I rarely achieve it before 7:00pm, so I am well ahead of my normal level of achievement.
3:24pm This was always going to be the toughest point in the day. I've put in a solid day's work so far. I'll have met my target in another hour, and I have actually just about met my target for billable work already. This isn't entirely down to my Twitter fast, but it has certainly helped. So the tempation now is to give myself a reward in the form of giving in to my desire for some 280 character limited dopamine. What I need is something else to do which will be enjoyable and relaxing, but which isn't addictive and hard to get off of. Maybe what I am doing right now? A quick blogging session with a cup of tea?
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