Web Worker Daily

It seems there are a lot of people bringing back the familiar cry that “Email is dead” … mostly pointing to the rise of social networks and IM among the younger generation (see also: is email dead?). Many of those who are joyfully proclaiming the death of email (and again, this is not a new proclamation) are those whose email inboxes are full of thousands of messages. I can see why some would prefer the death of email and the rise of other modes of communication such as IM, social networks, texting, etc. — in many cases email is extraneous and overburdening.

The useful emails are great, but how do you deal with all the rest?

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The holiday season is upon us, and you’re beginning to get stressed out. There’s just so much to do during the holidays: decorating, gift buying, gift wrapping, getting a tree, baking cookies, scheduling family get-togethers and preparing for any get-togethers and so on.

And you’ve still got that pile of work to do.

Holiday planning while you’ve got a busy work schedule can be tough. Let’s take a look at some ideas for getting organized this holiday season, web-worker style.

1. Use web apps for planning. We’re web workers. Consider planning things out on Gcal and using a list program (there are tons of them) for your action lists. I like to use tadalist to make Christmas wish lists for all my kids, and share them with family, so that they can check things off if they buy an item. Then my kids get what they want, no one buys duplicate gifts, and it was easy and fun to create!

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Last week, we talked about ways of eliminating the file clutter in your life. Now let’s take care of the mess online:

1. Read It Later. A very cool Firefox extension from the Idea Shower, Read It Later sits in Firefox’s toolbar with two simple icons: one to save your current page to a reading list, and another to serve you with a page from your reading list. You can also right-click on links that you want to read later, which is useful on social bookmarking sites such as delicious or Digg, or on your favorite blog (such as Web Worker Daily).

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Let’s face it: there are times (days, weeks even) when we don’t feel like working. We just aren’t motivated, or we’re exhausted, and we just want to goof off or take a nap. Unfortunately, also means that you won’t get paid, and when the bills come in, it is hell to pay. Here are some basic tips to get you motivated again.

• Work on something exciting.
• Just do a little at a time.
• Put a major project at the top of your to-do list.
• Play a game.
• Go for a walk.
• Talk to someone.
• Commit yourself to a deadline.

What is your favorite way to motivate yourself when you are feeling the blues?

We’re nearing the end of the year, and with the holiday season upon us, many web workers will be getting pretty busy. But with 2008 approaching, it might not be a bad idea to clean out the clutter in your paper and digital files, and start the year afresh and reinvigorated.

So let’s take a look at some simple ways to clear through your pile of old files — in your file cabinet, on your computer, and online.

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While the news of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader could signal a changing trend in the way that readers consume their information, unremarked upon is how the rise of the e-book reader will eventually change the world for writers.

If readers can download books into their Kindle (or Sony Reader), what’s to stop them from cutting out the middleman and downloading directly from an author?

What’s happening to the news media (blogs vs. newspapers) and music (free downloads vs. buying a CD) and video (YouTube or downloads vs. buying a DVD) will happen with novels: the middleman will become unnecessary.

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The best way to be productive with instant messaging (or chat)? Don’t do it.

Seriously, IM can take up your entire day if you let it. Those who stay away from it can get a lot more done.

However, if done right, IM can be a great tool for connecting with others, networking, getting things done quickly, and being productive. I’ve been experimenting with different methods recently, and I’d like to share some of the best tips.

1. Limit your time. If you do IM all day long, it’ll be a constant interruption. If you find that people are constantly pinging you, put your status as “busy”. It’s best to have a certain time of day when you make yourself available for IM … and let your friends know this as well, so they can reach you at that time if needed. I suggest an hour a day.

2. Have a purpose. Unless you have time to kill, don’t chat just to chat. Start a chat session with someone if you have a purpose in mind (that purpose could be just to check in with a friend you haven’t talked to in awhile, but I suggest you limit these kinds of chat). If you know your purpose, you can avoid getting sidetracked and avoid idle talk.

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There are dozens of tips out there about how to be more productive in your RSS feed reading … how to organize the feeds better, how to make time for the hundreds of posts you need to read each day, how to read them faster.

Except that reading so many posts each day isn’t productive, in most cases … it’s busy work, it stresses you out (especially if you’re not keeping up with the hundreds of posts you need to read), and it keeps you from doing truly important work. Not always the best idea.

Instead of reading more productively, try simplifying your feed reading. Read less, spend less time reading, get more done. And stress out less.

Sound impossible? It’s simple, actually.

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