Part of being a web worker is getting some actual work done once in a while. Whether it’s writing a proposal, creating a web site, banging out code, or auditing financials, web work tends to require concentration. But the same tools that help us be connected from anywhere also act to interrupt and destroy this concentration if we’re not careful. Take instant messaging, which is a wonderful tool for pulling together a geographically-dispersed team. As you grow to depend more on IM, you’ll likely also find that random interruptions from well-meaning friends and colleagues pop up on your screen with increasing frequency, pulling you out of the zone and making it tough to get your work done. Short of pulling the plug entirely, what can you do to tame your IM usage? Here are some ideas:
Keep your status message up to date: If you log in, set your status to “available,” and leave it there all day, no one will ever know that you’re busy. If you tell folks that you’re in a meeting or heads-down to make a deadline, the sensible ones will leave you alone.
Use a multi-protocol client: Without a unified standard for IM, most of us accumulate contacts and accounts across multiple networks, leading to a tremendous clutter of windows and icons. The solution is to run a consolidated client like Adium for the Mac, Trillian or Miranda for Windows, or Meebo online. As a bonus, these applications will let you merge chats into a single tabbed window so they don’t take up your entire screen. Beware the time sink of “skinning” and customizing things forever, though.
Declare IM “office hours”: Do you really need to be on IM every waking hour? If not, pick some regular and consistent times that you can be reachable (perhaps 9-11AM and 3-4PM, for example), and turn the client off the rest of the time. Let your business contacts know that this is when they can IM you. They’ve got your e-mail and phone information for emergencies outside of office hours, right?
Trim the troublemakers: Just as you’d drop an e-mail newsletter or an RSS feed that wasn’t adding any value to your life, you should remove any IM contact who ends up being nothing but an interruption. Have someone on your list who was a contact for one past project, but now just pings you daily with updates about their cat’s dietary habits? It is not a crime to delete them from your contact list. There are other places where bored and lonely people can hang out.
Move things to other media: Conversations that start out on IM don’t have to stay there. Sometimes what looks like a quick question that can be answered by two people working together turns out to be a knotty problem that will require group input. In that case, it’s perfectly all right to end the IM conversation with “Bill, we’re going to need to get a conference call going with Mary and Anne on this – I’ll send an e-mail out right now to schedule it.” Don’t be afraid to shift things to phone to settle them more quickly, or to e-mail to make them asynchronous.
Got your own tips for taming the IM monster? Add them below!
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