We usually talk about ways to be more productive, but getting things done is always easier said than done. For every task that lay ahead, there is always something or someone happy to distract you from your work. Sometimes these distractions are welcome breaks and sometimes a small break can spiral out of control to be an all out unproductive hour. It’s hard, after all, to stay focused and motivated 100% of the time. Below is a look at the five greatest weapons in what I call, “The War on Productivity”.

1) Construction and other loud noises
As I write this, I am working from home. Why? Because today is the day (thank goodness!) that someone has come to fix the leak in our ceiling that happens to be right in front of my desk. What started out as sheer joy on my part that a life without buckets full of brown water greeting me as I enter the office would soon be over, quickly turned into pipes being cut through, clogs being unclogged and other generally loud construction noises. One half hour spent debating about leaving and a fifteen minute bus ride home, and I’m finally back to work.

2) RSS feeds
This is both a necessity for me, and a danger. On the one hand, part of my job is to be up to date on the latest news. On the other hand, when my little Google Reader tells me I have (14) new items to read, I can’t really focus till I’ve read them. I’ve had to create new reading times for myself, much like the people who check their email three times a day, now I only check my RSS feeds three times a day.

3) Twitter
Again, a hazard of my job. Finding balance between staying in the know and actually getting things done can be hard, especially now that there is Twitter search. It’s endless entertainment! So endless in fact that it has once again been quarantined in my quest to accomplish more in one day, to special visits done in the morning and later afternoon.

4) Facebook
Why, oh why, Facebook, must you send me emails notifying me that someone has commented on my status, or added me as a friend? Well, I know why, because it gets people like me to stop what they are doing a second, login to their account and then get sucked into the Facebook world. It’s strategic, it’s effective, and darn it - it’s just about the best weapon they have against productivity.

5) Smells, especially microwave popcorn
Recently our office was gifted a case of microwave popcorn. This is both a blessing (who doesn’t love popcorn?!) and a curse. Once a single bag of popcorn gets popping, that sweet smell of buttery, or in this case Smart Balance, goodness spreads throughout the office and literally forces me to stop what I am doing, appreciate the smell and remind myself that I can wait till later to have a snack.

So let’s hear it, what are your biggest distractions, and how do you work around/though/against them?

Just came across this great idea on Twitter– using Jott to archive your text messages! For a long time now you’ve had a record of text messages you send using Jott, but since we implemented being able to text message your Jott account, now you can forward text messages others send you (not using Jott). Here’s how to do it:

1) Create a list on the website for all your archived messages, for example: Texts.

2) Select the forward option on your text message

3) Insert the name of the list you created, which in our example is Texts, in front of the message you are archiving.

4) Send to 40101

Lifehack had an interesting post the other day about taking time back in your work day, something I think most of us struggle with. Ever since I started my adventure of the empty inbox and have been books like Lifehacker’s Upgrade Your Life,  I’ve realized that emails can often be my biggest time waster. Think about it…

You get one unclear email, which leads to you responding with follow up questions, which leads to another email, which leads to your actual response to the original email now that you have all the data, which leads to a reply from that person, and it keeps going and going and going. This is what I like to call of the dreaded Email Cycle of Overload. Everyone is guilty of it (admit it, you’ve sent at least one unclear email in your life), and it causes everyone’s email inbox to overflow with emails that answer no questions, make no points and serve no purpose.

How you can help:

1) Use bullet points or numbers to call out important points
This helps organize your message and allows for easy reading.  If you can’t come up with a single one, rethink sending that email.

2) Practice sending emails with your voice
 I know I know, I’m biased, but it really does help! When you have to construct a message in 30 seconds over the phone, it teaches you to get right to your point.

3) Reread your message
Before you send your email, ask yourself if you were the recipient if you would get the information you need to convey out of your message.

4) Thank you
This is the only exception I’ve found to the email cycle. Maybe it’s just me, but I always appreciate a thank you email.

Recently we’ve made some great improvements to the Jott Lists functionality. I thought I’d shine the spotlight on a few of them you might not be aware of:

1) Creating reminders for list items
Most of you know you can call and send a Jott message straight to a list you have created by just saying the name of the list, but did you know you can also add a reminder to that item? This great new little feature is courtesy of the folks who attended our first Jott User Group gathering.

2) Printing out lists
Take them with you while you run errands, leave for a business trip, or stick them on the fridge for your kids to see the chores they need to do. No matter where you like your lists to be, they don’t need to just be in your computer. To print out a list, log on and select the list you’d like to print, from the “More Options” menu choose “Send To Printer” and a list complete with check boxes will print out.

3) All Lists view
For the ultimate experience in list management. It’s like an outline of all your to-dos with the addition of reminders, priority, and the ability to nicely cross off completed tasks.

4) Adding to lists via text message
Somewhere you don’t want people hearing you talk? You can add items to your Jott to do list by texting 40101 with the name of the list and the item you’d like to add to it. For more info on texting your Jott account, check out the Power Tips section.

According to Laura Stack’s book Find More Time I am in need of “preventative maintenance” when it comes to organizing. Luckily, Stack offers a step-by-step system to cleaning out different sections of your home- start with the closest, move on to the piles of paper, etc. It’s an approach to home organization that acknowledges that you probably don’t have enough time to do this all in one day.

This sounds great, but in reality, finding the motivation on any Saturday to do all of this is hard. Which got me thinking about the different ways you can trick yourself into accomplishing organizational tasks. I asked a few of the folks who work here how they go about accomplishing organization tasks, and here’s what they had to say:

1) Use that task as an excuse to procrastinate
Remember when you were in college and could always tell when a roommate had a test because they were cleaning the dorm room? Why study when you can find any excuse to procrastinate, even if it is cleaning?

2) Reward yourself for a task well done
This is my favorite method - it goes a little something like this: cross one item off your list, pat yourself on the back. Pats on the back are easily and often substituted for: ice cream, a cold beer, bike ride, or any material item you’ve been wanting but felt too frivolous to purchase.

3) Remember that accomplishing this task is just like winning
This one is for the hyper competitive. You know that feeling when you’ve just washed your car and your driving down the street and all you can think is… my car is cleaner than yours?! I recommend that you keep gloating to yourself, after all, what’s the point of having a clean car if you don’t have any friends to drive and visit? But there’s no harm in feeling great about what you’ve accomplished.

Robert Scoble’s recent post The secret to Twitter has raised a flurry of comments from readers on the benefits of “listening” vs. “talking” on Twitter. This has got me thinking about how I use various forms of web services that on the surface focus mainly on output, seemingly adding the barrage of information which floods each of our computers and phones every day.

Working at Jott I spend most of my time focusing on ways to organize that information into simple structures that allow for easy access and dissemination. The challenging aspect of which is that every person has their own threshold for incoming messages, as well as desire to create outgoing ones. Everyone also has a different sense of what the best way to organize all of that is. Creating tools that lend themselves to being useful for  both  talkers and listeners, while giving them both relevant organization options is tricky. And though sometimes people fall on one side or the other, most of us live somewhere in-between. After all, with no one willing to talk, there would be nothing to listen to, and without anyone to listen, you might as well just talk to a mirror. 

I do not drastically differ on my take of Twitter from Scoble. I am definitely a Twitter listener, using it mainly as a news aggregate to scan posts from the tech blogs as they get added. However, I am curious about the boundaries of the talk/listen relationship Scoble, and others (including myself), fuel with their posts. After all, it takes a fair amount of talking to make a point about listening. What about the Jott Link to Twitter? Is it yet another way to contribute to information overload, or a way for you to empty the information you’d like to share quickly and easily? Honestly, I believe that answer is different for everyone.

The line between information contributions and information excess is a debate that will continue. Whether you love it or hate it though, the information age is definitely here. The pertinent question then becomes: how do you use today’s web 2.0 world to help you, rather than hinder you, to do both- talk and listen? 

Today is the 1st day of spring, officially noting the start of people getting happier, birds chirping, and ah yes… spring cleaning! After a winter of rain and grayness in Seattle, I figured it was about time I gave my email organization system, if you could call it that, an overhaul. Lifehacker editor Gina Trapani’s new book Upgrade Your Life arrived in the mail the other day too, I took it as a sign that it was time to clean out my inbox.

Enter the new (to me) system: 3 folders and an empty inbox. I created my new folders which I named Archive, Action and Review with some hesitancy… what if I couldn’t find something I needed right away? Calming my nerves with constant reminders that search works well and can find anything, I eventually ended up compromising (note: this is very different than cheating!) by moving my old folders into my new Archive folder as subfolders for reference.

The new folders were created and at the recommendation of both Merlin Mann and Gina Trapani, I took everything in my inbox and moved it to a folder to sort through later when I had time. My inbox was officially empty and I felt… liberated. Dorky? Yes, I admit, but also very true. I can’t for the life of me remember why I hadn’t done this sooner!

It’s been almost a week now since I’ve started down this new path of email organization and life is grand. The best part has to be checking my mail in the morning, it’s no longer a daunting task, I don’t feel weighed down by yesterday’s mail and I feel like the day ahead is manageabale. I am a total 3 folder email system convert.

Onwards and upwards to an organized spring! Got any tips on staying organzied you’d like to share? Send them our way!