Resolve to Use Your Device as a Tool- And To Resist Being Tooled by It

Introduction

It’s that time of year: reflection and some soul-searching about what to do differently when we turn over a new leaf on January 1st. Let me offer a modest proposal.

The New Body Part

Everyone reading this post has a smartphone. (Ok, Jared Correia does not have a smartphone, but the rest of you do). And chances are you are not going back to a flip phone, a bag phone, or a rotary dial phone hanging on the wall in your kitchen.

These cases require us to decide how the search incident to arrest doctrine applies to modern cell phones, which are now such a pervasive and insistent part of daily life that the proverbial visitor from Mars might conclude they were an important feature of human anatomy. — Chief Justice Roberts, Riley v. California.

And I know you have some legitimate uses for your device: very convenient to get things done at any time and wherever you are. Ridiculous amounts of computing power and broadband internet speeds and video and pictures and those GIF memes, emojis, etc., etc. I get it.

But I am pretty sure that none of us planned to be on our devices constantly, at least not in the way we actually use them. Be honest: when you are on your smartphone, how often are you doing productive things? And how often are you doing “unproductive” things intentionally?

I am not being a scold here. No one enjoys playing as much as I do. The question is whether you decided to play, or whether your device just happened to be there and you started swiping and typing.

Are You Using the Device, or Is it Using You?

Bright, shiny devices that are so easily accessible and so full of bells and whistles tend to hijack self-control. And left to our own devices (thanks, I will be here all week), we are likely to create our own little Skinner Boxes- with games, social media sites, and constant checking of all our information streams- all the while not knowing that we’re doing it.

Your attention is being sought and used relentlessly by those doing business in the online world.

“If you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold”. — Andrew Lewis.

Technology as a Servant, Not as a Master

And when computer tools are using us, we don’t get a chance to determine the ways in which we can use these technologies as part of our “extended mind”- allowing computers to perform tasks that free up our minds to do higher-level thinking. That higher-level thinking is what is going to enable work and workplaces to continue to evolve as automation advances.

In other words, if you are going to have your device as another appendage, then put it to work for you.

Train Your Mind-Try Meditation.

Headspace is just so easy to use (I mean operating the application, not doing the practice). And you can use it anywhere. At anytime. Carving out those quiet moments may create the space for you to see the way your minds works, and how these technologies have commandeered your attention and created the idea that you are so “busy” all the time.

And I certainly am a proponent of getting quiet- whether through meditation, getting outside, exercising, or undertaking other pursuits- and away from devices altogether. But I don’t think it is an all-or-nothing proposition. The key is to have the space and frame of mind to discern what tools to use and when. And to realize who or what is being used.

Give Your Mind a Rest.

See above. In addition, stop keeping all these ideas in your head. Use Evernote or a similar program to memorialize and organize things for later use. If the device is going to be with you at all times, at least take advantage of that fact. As the late great Mitch Hedberg remarked:

I sit at my hotel at night, I think of something that’s funny, then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen’s too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain’t funny.

Free Up Your Attention

Quit complaining that you don’t have time unless you have gotten smarter about the way you use your time. Try Boxed. Or Amazon Prime. The idea is to use your time and attention up to do meaningful things. An afternoon of shopping and hauling things around is not meaningful in my world when there are available alternatives.

Feed Your Mind

There has never been a better time to learn new things. And these devices make myriad information sources available to you at any time. Below are just two examples.

Listen to Books. It has never been so easy to have great content literally at your fingertips. Consider a subscription to Audible, and listen while you drive, work out, walk, or otherwise have downtime. If you are looking for recommendations, click here.

Listen to Podcasts. See above. Long-form discussion. Topics directly related to your profession, interests, or entertainment choices. Always available. Pushed directly to your device. You don’t have to do anything but click and listen. Podcasts for lawyers? Click here.

Conclusion

The age of machines (artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomous vehicles, the blockchain) is only just getting started. The changes in the way we live and work are going to be significant (and arguably have already been significant). In order for humans to figure out where we fit in, we have to have lots of attention and figure out where to spend (pay) it. That means understanding these tools- their benefits and risks- and making sure we use them wisely and effectively.

Battling Email Overload - Part One: Stanch and Divert the Flow

If you are overwhelmed by email volume, this is the first of several posts with some ideas of how to regain some control. Let me acknowledge in advance some of the ideas in these posts I learned during a Rocket Matter webinar: Maximizing Productivity With the Emails Glutting Your Inbox, and an episode of the Kennedy-Mighell Report: Powering Up Your Personal Productivity.

The first task is to reduce the sheer number of emails hitting your inbox in the course of a day. A high volume of unimportant email traffic makes it very difficult and time-consuming for you to focus on what is important.

Rule 1: Turn off the Faucet (Unsubscribe Ruthlessly): You are not going to use 98% of the marketing and trade publications you receive via email. Get rid of them. Having them in your inbox just increases your anxiety about the need to read them. If the information is worthwhile, as a general rule there is absolutely no reason for you to receive newsletters, updates, offers, etc. by means of email. More efficient and effective delivery mechanisms now exist for that purpose, none of which ever touch any mailbox. These include setting up RSS feeds for the content you need, and following your information sources on Twitter. The process of transitioning this information also helps you discern and evaluate importance and significance.

Rule 2: Divert the Flow (Transition to Web-Based Email: If you are not comfortable with RSS or other web feeds, transition all of your non-essential traffic to a web-based email service. (Gmail is free, and just recently launched Gmail Priority Inbox, to help sort your messages and contacts based on how important they are). With web-based email, you never need to worry about managing your inbox, and you can access your messages at your leisure. As with above, consider while transitioning whether the information continues to be worthwhile.

To the extent that you receive email notification (and consider whether you should) regarding activity in your social media applications (Twitter follows, Facebook messages, LinkedIn notifications), move those to web-based email, too. Better yet, find a desktop application like Tweetdeck, so that all of your activity in those applications is accessible in one place, and you see that activity by choice.

Rule 3: Don't Use Your Inbox as a Library: Time was I would email myself links, articles, and documents so I could evaluate and save elsewhere later. Consider a program like Evernote, which allows you to keep various types of notes (text, links, pictures, etc.) in "notebooks" you create within the Evernote desktop interface. It puts a button in your browser that allows you to send a webpage (or part of one) directly into your notebooks. Moreover, it syncs up your desktop and your smartphone automatically, and it allows you to easily categorize your notes with "tags" for quick retrieval. And it is free.

Rule 4: Use IM Where Possible For short, frequent communications (e.g. preparing a document for filing with your team), consider instant messaging instead of email. Consider the following exchange: <"Is the document final?" "Add X to the caption and today's date." "Done." "Ready for my signature." "Ok"> With email you have five messages that must be managed. IM gives you an easy communications interface, and no messages to delete or move.

Finally, for all you word sheriffs out there, the proper term is "stanch," not "staunch."