We’ve talked about the importance of alone time here and in Getting Real but I think offline time is worth a mention on its own.
See sometimes just being alone isn’t enough. You can work from home or put headphones on and still be distracted by the online world.
Going offline gets rid of those distractions. No email. No chat. No RSS. No web. That leaves you with only tasks. Things that you need to do. Action you need to take.
See, there’s an inherent problem with always being online: you’re too connected. You wind up in the role of passive observer. Things come to you. You react instead of act. You can easily spend too much time “marking things as read,” reading RSS feeds, watching YouTube clips, or whatever else.
When you go offline, that equation changes. You have to be active. Since you can’t input, you output. If you don’t do something, nothing happens.
So turn AirPort off. Or go to a coffeeshop without wifi. Resist the siren song of being connected (for a couple of hours at least) and watch your productivity skyrocket.
steve
on 02 Nov 06big problem for me. i spend way too much time doing nothing.
Glen Stansberry
on 02 Nov 06Couldn’t agree more… so perfectly said.
--Josh
on 02 Nov 06I agree about unplugging – but I can never understand how going to a cofee shop increases productivity. Isn’t the point of being there to be in an environment with different distractions?
Jough Dempsey
on 02 Nov 06About five years ago I switched from a landline phone to having my cell phone be my only phone. You could always take the phone off the hook or unplug it, but being able to simply turn the phone OFF or at least turn the ringer off has been a huge productivity booster. People sometimes give me grief when I inform them that my telephone is for my convenience, not theirs, but I’ve come to jealously guard the time I’m not talking on the telephone.
Removing any kind of distraction will usually make you more productive. The internet is simply more of a distraction for many of us than other forms of media have been in the past.
I try to resist the Siren’s call of YouTube, because I know that once I start viewing videos there I’ll waste many hours watching videos that contribute nothing to my life.
Charlie
on 02 Nov 06Amen.
Dan Boland
on 02 Nov 06I try to resist the Siren’s call of YouTube, because I know that once I start viewing videos there I’ll waste many hours watching videos that contribute nothing to my life.
That’s how I feel about Line Rider. =)
Jessica
on 02 Nov 06Amen. Although I’m an internet addict, I find in some cases that it’s easiest for me to get my thoughts together making traditional pen-and-paper lists and sketches. Which I then transfer to the internet. Because, addict! But the going offline step is becoming increasingly crucial to my productivity.
Tom
on 02 Nov 06This is spot on. I had to laugh reading it though, as I pulled the posting up in my RSS reader, while sitting at my desk distracted, when I should have been getting project work done… Jessica, your timing is exceptional! :)
PabloC
on 02 Nov 06I totally agree.
But this is very difficult, specialy if you are, for example, a developer.
You need access to latest documentation, blogs, cheatsheets, etc.
I’m a Rails Developer, and cannot work enterely offline, I tried to create my “Rails Offline Developer Package” with al lthe books, cheetsheets, etc, and still completing it…
Srdjan Keca
on 02 Nov 06Amen. In two days I’ll be taking pretty much a whole month offline. I’d love to continue doing that on some scale every once in a while (several hours, a weekend, a week, a month, and why not – a year). And it’s not just about the quantity of work done. The kind of thing you make while offline is simply more in touch with reality than the ones made on caffeine and rss feeds. A friend once named those: ‘false great ideas’. Many of them disappear when you go offline.
Joe Ruby
on 02 Nov 06This whole blog post about getting offline is ironic. :P
Arik
on 02 Nov 06I can’t even count the numerous hours wasted in online social activities, RSS and blah blah blah. This is definitely some great advice.
Doing an entire days work without a computer at all is very rewarding as well.
Yorkali
on 02 Nov 06Funny, I’m reading this during distraction time too. It is quite difficult to go off line while testing code, or while uploading a new site that needs hand holdin’.How much time do we really need online though, come to think of it.
The twist of it all… This glorious superhighway has way too many distractions along the road. What should be helping us be quicker and more productive is truly becoming a humongous Achilles heel. I need some ninja-industrial-strength discipline.
Now…back to work.
Michael
on 02 Nov 06The reason I like this blog is its insightfullness and originality. Which is precisely what this entry lacks. And, frankly, it seems to me to be lacking any value whatsoever. I mean, come on, ‘you will be more productive if you’re not distracted’? ‘Don’t spend your entire day on the Internet’? We’ve been hearing these banalities since the Internet took off.
Booga
on 02 Nov 06The last two postings have done it for me—actually hitting the nail perfectly, thank you!
Mark Webster
on 02 Nov 06I have to agree with Pablo…
I’m so used to being online all the time that my work habits assume I’m online. For instance, when coding and such, I’m constantly uploading and previewing on the server. I guess I could use local copies for stuff, but that’s just not how I’m used to working.
I’m always constantly jumping on Google to find answers to things, find examples or tutorials for something I’m trying to accomplish, etc.
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve used my computer offline in the last 6 months or so. If I’m in the office and our internet connection ever goes down, I feel paralyzed until it comes back…
Nathan Jones
on 02 Nov 06I envy a family I know that has no television: I’d love for our kids to grow up without it being such a big part of their lives.
And ditching the TV would be manageable for me, because I watch very little. But what do I do instead? Sit at the computer. We all use the Internet at home and that just creates more TV watching time for the kids. :-(
Howard Mann
on 02 Nov 06All too true.
In fact, there was a great article in the NY Times by Thomas “Flat World” Friedman talking about his experience in a taxi in France where the driver was on his cell and had a DVD playing in the front and he was in the back on his laptop listening to his iPod. An hour ride where nobody talked to one another.
There is a price for being as “plugged in” and “connected” as we all are.
Richard Bird
on 02 Nov 06I go 90%* offline every day. It’s how I get things (anything) done.
As a rule, I check email every 4 to 8 hours, not minutes.
I ignore IM’s that seek to distract.
I don’t click links I didn’t ask for.
I turn on my cellphone once a week… maybe.
I check voicemail once a day (or two).
I watch less than 5 hours of television a week.
Meanwhile, staff, family and friends seem to seek being incessantly disturbed and distracted with TV, SMS, IM, Email and an exponential thread of references to even more distractions.
The onslaught is not limited to the digital realm. Add: sales, coupons, contests, junk mail, direct mail, catalogues, subscriptions, surveys…. You get the idea.
99% of these distractions are completely disposable. Do yourself a favor and learn to ignore them. It’s painless.
This post is part of the other 10%Mark
on 02 Nov 06@work: Single computer, PC, RSS, Gmail, Outlook, IM, tasks at hand running.
@home: Two computers, home mac + work PC, RSS, Gmail, IM running on the mac. Outlook, tasks at hand on the PC.
I STILL get more done at home. It’s the bullshit around me that hampers me. When I’m alone and online, I’m twice as productive.
Kev Burns
on 03 Nov 06Marked as read.
Kev Burns
on 03 Nov 06Marked as read.
Kyle Talbott
on 03 Nov 06Does this mean that 37Signals is considering making desktop apps to compliment their online predecessors.
There are times when I am offline and have to go back online to connect to my 37s apps…
steve
on 03 Nov 06^i think that they were talking about getting off your computer completely, not just offline.
Clint Ecker
on 03 Nov 06Getting off is the most important part of my day
Roberto Alamos
on 03 Nov 06No time to comment, must go offline!
Joseph LeBlanc
on 03 Nov 06Count me among those who occasionally have to turn AirPort off to get work done. It’s far, far too easy to get distracted by checking forums, blogs, and email. And don’t even get me started on IM.
Ben Delaney
on 03 Nov 06AMEN! :-) You couldn’t be more right!! It’s SO refreshing to hear other people in this business who think this way. I think we’re all getting tired of the “constant on”.
In fact, just today, I shut out the RSS buzz and got a LOT more work done. Then just got home to read this…in my spare time! Just like it ought to be. Not while I’m trying to work and make money!
Thanks for the great reminder.
Charlie Triplett
on 03 Nov 06Similar idea: I recently helped my girlfriend “revolutionize” her productivity: She used to do her school work at home, where there were roommates, emails, IM, radio, etc. She was staying up way too late and generally feeling miserable about the school work she was doing.
Then she started Grad school and got an office space. I gently nudged her to “just try” working at her office space all day, then come home at night when things were finished; to treat school like a 8-5 job anyone else has.
Now she goes home and feels good about what she did because she was focused and knows that she was as productive as she could have been.
And she’s a hottie :)
Joe Ruby
on 03 Nov 06It means that Rails core team has gone offline and is feverishly working on getting 1.2 released! ;P
Ben
on 03 Nov 06Hey what about going mostly offline? How hard would it be to voluntarily firewall myself from everything except, say, port 22 and port 80 on a particular host? I’m sure I could configure my router or maybe my windows firewall to do this, but it would be tedious to enable and disable. Is there a simple app I could run to do this? Can one of those ZoneAlarm type utilities provide two different carefully configured “modes” that I can switch between?
I definitely observe the same sorts of productivity boosts when I am offline, but sometimes I need to be productive when administering my server or checking in code.
BS&S
on 03 Nov 06Feeling a little guilty are you?
Blake P
on 03 Nov 06I forgot what the post was about because I had to read a few blogs in my tabs before the mandatory comment. What were you saying?
Michael Chui
on 03 Nov 06When I disconnect/unplug, I go and input a book into my skull. The point isn’t what NOT to do, but what TO do. Getting things done has nothing to do with how connected you are; it’s just EASIER to get things done when you cut of channels of connectivity.
Kyle
on 03 Nov 06We spend so much time consuming that there isn’t much left for producing.
frum
on 03 Nov 06You mean like commenting on blogs :=o
manuel
on 03 Nov 06oh boys, we are silly indeed.
sometimes, when my 19 year old girlfriend is waiting for me in the bedroom (i mean, men kill for this) i unexpectedly find myself in front of the damn imac to quickly check if theres mail. at that very second (and praise the lord that i do) i realize how silly i am. 0.5 secs later i am in the bedroom. and then i get off :)
Kenny Smith
on 03 Nov 06I love that a blog is telling me to get offline.
genius.
Bobby Bears
on 03 Nov 06I haven’t used an RSS feed in 2 years …. They lead you to distractions like this one :)
Michiel Ebberink
on 03 Nov 06I’m on dial up @ home. Have broadband at my studio. This way I can’t download larges files. So youtube and flash sites are a waste of my dialup time. I only use it to get my mail and search for some tutorials. On the other side. There are times I’m sitting behind my mac and i feel bored. Nothing new anymore. I watched, downloaded and played everything interesting there is for that day on the internet. Can you imagine? The passive me is completely full. Nothing more to add. This makes me sick. As an active person I feel much better. I’m no longer into online social networks either. They suck you dry.
Elia
on 03 Nov 06Let’s unplug the LAN cable! see you beloved blogs, emails, IM, ...
Don Schenck
on 03 Nov 06Matt, you know I love you, but you’re stating the obvious.
My Saturday mornings at the local cigar lounge are great off-line time. I’ll sometimes take a tablet and brainstorm/dream/plan.
It’s funny; you can be totally “connected”, and then walk away and suddenly the solution you’ve been seeking comes to you. I love when that happens.
pb
on 03 Nov 06You must be crazy!! Disconnected??? never.
Matthew
on 03 Nov 06Nice topic. Couldn’t agree more.
I used to have one Net-free day a week (Sunday). No Internet, no email via my mobile phone, etc. Lately I’ve slipped on that conviction.
I do, however, spend about 15-20 hours a week on my road bike and that’s the best alone time and offline time I could ever want. Great for mental and physical fitness.
Ryan Bergeman
on 03 Nov 06I find myself doing this quite often. Sound advice.
Curtis
on 03 Nov 06Ironic that this review for a workout case for smartphones was also in my rss feeds this morning. Two differents takes I guess.
Kyle Talbott
on 03 Nov 06To further my previous concern… iScrybe allows for offline working in browser then online syncing later. I’d like to see that with web 2.5 products.
I really like being able to access my data online from multiple cpu’s but sometimes when I’m in a dialup situation and out of town, I would have preferred to not have to go online.
@Steve: offline means off-line. online means on-line. getting away from the computer means getting away from the computer. eg: AOL online
Kyle Talbott
on 03 Nov 06Further thoughts from another.
Lakshan
on 03 Nov 06Great Post ! The one thing I hate of this new web culture is you are too connected so that you don’t get the freedom to work as you wish. You are right we become passive observers.
I think I did my best work when I only had a dialup modem.
Lakshan
on 03 Nov 06Great Post ! The one thing I hate of this new web culture is you are too connected so that you don’t get the freedom to work as you wish. You are right we become passive observers.
I think I did my best work when I only had a dialup modem.
wax
on 03 Nov 06funny timing. on yahoo’s main page today, there’s an article about internet addiction and an organization that helps with it. try the test & see how you do… http://www.netaddiction.com/resources/internet_addiction_test.htm
mister rabbit
on 04 Nov 06See sometimes just being alone isn’t enough. You can work from home or put headphones on and still be distracted by the online world.
As true as that may be, there’s also something to be said for having some self control. It’s easy to blame the “internet” for your distraction. Before that, it was TV. And before that it was looking for shapes in the clouds. There’s always a handy excuse for those unwilling to accept responsibility for their own inaction.
Stephanie
on 04 Nov 06True. We all know we need to get offline but our bosses and neurotic co workers keep us online. Please forward your post to all those control freaks in the world! I think there needs to be a ‘New Social Contract’ of sorts to help professionals work with their technology in a balanced way.
Don Schenck
on 06 Nov 06Oh, and let me add: you people that walk around the mall or stroll into Starbucks with a Bluetooth phone clipped to your ear: You don’t look “cool” or like a cyborg; you look like a DORK.
We are laughing at you. Yes … you.
[email protected]
on 06 Nov 06No need to be perfect (I’m certainly not great about it), but if spending (too much entertainment) time online is rolling towards an addiction, I would say taking care of the actual issue is more helpful in the longterm then cutting wires and flipping switches and saying “look, now I CAN’T obey my addiction”
Aka, just pay attention to what you are doing AND be online. Not so tough, is it?
Ryan
on 06 Nov 06so true. thanks for the kick in the butt…
jamo
on 06 Nov 06the Internet up to the end
Ricardo Augusto
on 06 Nov 06Disconnect?? Even my runs are on the company of my nike+ ipod nano things
John A. Davis
on 07 Nov 06I definitely can get more productive if I quit sending emails to myself. That is how much of a loner I am!!!!
sob
Rodrigo Landerdahl
on 08 Nov 06Couldn’t agree more with you. Sometimes we have to discipline our inner-child (the one that wants to play and websurf 100% of the time) if we want to get some serious work done. The way I discipline mine is by imposing: “you have a 4-hour websurfing allowance every day!” and then disconnecting the net. Sometimes he does break the rule, of course (especially when I’m not watching)...
Also, sometimes it is too easy to skip over something (a problem, a page, a design) because you just don’t feel like doing it at the moment. But this might lead to dispersive behavior (ie, skimming over a lot of text, but not actually reading any of it, nor giving it some thought). So, it is also good practice to break down big tasks into smaller tasks and allot time to it.
Say, you’re designing an interface but can’t come up with anything useful. You could break up the interface into smaller bits (menus, logo placement) and deal with them separatedly, assigning 30 min to each. You will come up with something. Even if it’s not good enough, you can always refactor it (much better than to start from scratch).
Kyle Cordes
on 10 Nov 06I stumbled on the “get off” idea myself a while back, and this post inspired me to write up my thoughts on it. I found that a change in tools in addition to the change in place, can boost focus. In my case, I use a two-big-LCD monitor configuration at work, and a little 12” notebook when I flee to focus.
Dave
on 10 Nov 06I don’t read SVN all that frequently as I’ve been trying to reduce distraction in my life (Boing Boing is another evil evil site in that department).
So I was surprised when catching up on SVN today that you’ve posted about something I wrote about a few days earlier which expressed similar sentiments:
The Internet the Enemy of Productivity
As far as an update on the post’s content, I’ve found that WiFi is the culprit. For example, right now I should be reading any of four different documents. Yet I’m commenting on someone’s blog post. Grrr.
This discussion is closed.