Emad Ibrahim

Now that I have no income and very soon I will start feeling the heat, I need to develop a laser-sharp focus super-power.

photo credit: Stephen Jefferson

Here are the steps I am taking to reduce distractions and stay focused and productive:

1. I unsubscribed from 95% of the feeds – my Google reader is lean and mean (I still read Dilbert every day)
2. I unsubscribed from every newsletter or email I get – specially the ones that tell me to buy stuff. Damn you Amazon.com
3. I turned off all my instant messaging – AIM, MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo and Skype.
4. I am trying to limit email checking to twice or three times a day (very hard to do)
5. I am limiting blogging to once or twice a week and schedule posts to be spread out several days.
6. I am using Basecamp to keep track of my project, milestones, to do items and so on. Albeit its limitation, I love this tool.
7. I use outlook and remember the milk to manage my tasking and calendaring (I might get rid of rtm)
8. I listen to a lot of DJ Tiesto on Pandora
9. I am eliminating video games. The Xbox 360 is broken, and I am not going to fix it. I think Microsoft programmed it to break 1 week after the warranty expires.
10. I am limiting web browsing to 1 hour a day or less if I can.
11. I am limiting TV to very specific shows (lost and family guy), plus my media center just croaked. Why have a surge protector if the first storm fries your electronics.
12. I am not showering or shaving. I am just kidding. Actually, I would love to do that but Laura would leave me.

Do you have other tips on how to stay focused and productive?