10 small hacks to 10x digital working

It’s all starting to stabilise right? The past few months have been the most settled as it relates to where we work in years.

But everything is about to change.

The way our days are actually structured hasn’t changed dramatically since before the pandemic.

The pandemic highlighted the fact that most of us had already, some years prior made the switch from digital technology supplemented by in-person communication to a world where in-person supplements the digital and we didn’t really realise it.

The way we work was and is rooted in old norms. Technology doesn’t care for these norms and will continue to get better and quicker, so that requires us to change more and work in a new better way.

It’s time to rethink what work is and how our days are structured. We should be the ones to take that first step, so this week I wanted to share my top 10 tips for optimising and improving you're working lives today.

1) The ping-demic is real.

We’ve all become numb to notifications. The average person gets 46 pings a day. That’s on average 46 moments in just 1 day when where we’re having our attention drawn. At work, these patterns can have major consequences on your production & happiness.

On average, we check our email every 37 minutes! If people checked their email hourly rather than every 37 minutes, they could cut six email checks from their day.

It’s time for you to turn off your work notifications, especially on your phone. Get rid of those constant pings from your email, MS Teams & Slack. It will increase your focus time and you won’t be distracted the second something pops up.?

It’s unlikely something needs to be acted upon straight away, it can wait a moment while you get through your to-do list.

2) Make more time for life.

Lots of us use our work calendars for only work activities.

It can and should be so much more than that. Upgrade your calendar for activities that help you manage your time, day and tasks better. In a dispersed work environment, it also helps your colleague have a better idea of what your day and workload look like.

A gap, if someone checks your calendar will just signify that you’re free…We all know it’s not that simple. They may just assume if they see a gap they can reach you.

It’s YOUR calendar so go ahead and add time for lunch, a walk, focus time and a workout.

3) Screen time detox.

It's important to find variance throughout your working day.

We have all been in a recurring weekly meeting that is covering the same ground for what feels like the 10th week in a row. The same couple of people are dominating the meeting and you’re finding it harder than ever to stay present.

It’s time to mix it up and go ahead and try no video and audio-only calls.

Studies have shown that when audio-only communication is used, team communication is more evenly distributed because members are not relying on visual cues that indicate that others are continuing to, or are about to, speak. This frees people who are inhibited by the fear of interrupting to add to the conversation.

You can also take this from the comfort of your home or use it as an opportunity to get out and take it as a walking meeting.

4)? I hope this finds you well.

Emailing is fascinating. Just think about it, we have this shared social understanding and conformity of how it should be structured. Collectively we also know how ridiculous phrases like “I hope this finds you well” & “I’m touching base” sound but yet we still go on with it.

I can't remember how I learnt how to write an email. I'm pretty sure it was just from being around those more experienced than me.

However, When it comes to instant messaging on platforms like Slack and MS Teams we haven't quite got these norms and characteristics set. It all varies from person to person.

You should never be sending a direct message that just says “Hi” “Hey” or “hello.”?

It may take you just a few minutes from that initial ping to present your actual message and need, but those few moments are creating unnecessary distraction or unease. Your colleague on the receiving end may just be sitting seeing “Jazz Hanley is typing…” and waiting.?

Worse still if you sending the message are more senior you could be creating anxiety.

5) Embrace openness

Direct messaging should be the last option. Open channel-based communication is the future and will pay dividends for you and your company moving forward.

Key decisions or the history of planning something will be lost if they’re conducted within DM’s. That information can’t be viewed by others and isn’t searchable forever.

Obviously, there are lots of conversations that aren’t relevant for the group, which you should conduct in DM’s.

If you leave the organisation or someone close to a key project does that information goes with them. Also, if you’re away on leave and something really important comes up they may be coming to you to recollect.

Try to keep key conversations in slack channels almost always.

….And use threads

6) Get your house in order?

If you're in an organisation that uses a platform like slack heavily, you'll know how important channels are, as I spoke about above.

You will also have a good understanding of how quickly channels can get created. In the blink of an eye, your Slack will likely be full of thousands of different channels, with lots of overlapping.

With all this much information at your fingertips, it’s important to spend time doing some organising.

You have the ability to group and sort channels into different categories. The best bit is you can personalise the category that fits you best.

They can be sorted by activity or importance (e.g. ‘Morning check-in’), departmental groups (e.g. marketing, sales, engineering, HR, etc.), or client-specific where you may have a couple of channels for the same client including a connecting channel with them in it.

7) It’s okay to leave

As more channels get created it can become overwhelming, and frankly chaotic. It’s important that you take stock and look at how many channels you’re actually in. There may be some channels where you needed to be active for a certain period of time, but not anymore. This could add up to hundreds of notifications every day.

You can easily leave all the channels to which you’re not adding value. It’s really easy to do and I guarantee will save you so much time. Just leave and do this regularly do this once a month or once a quarter

If somebody later needs you in a channel you have recently left, they can still tag you, and they'll be notified you're not in the channel and can add you back in. Answer their query and then don’t hesitate to redo the process over again and leave.

8) There is life outside of work

The flexibility that the lack of commute has given us is undeniable. We can start work and end work at pretty much any moment that we want, but this does come with great responsibility.

The average workday has extended on average by 8.2% an extra 48.5 minutes since March 2020.

It's important to be vigilant about the amount of time you are physically spending working wherever you may be. In this highly dynamic period, you have to set clear boundaries and stick to them. The 9 to 5 is dead as a concept but if we're not careful we will continue to work harder not smarter so find a routine that works for you.

Everyone is unique, but give yourself that defined cut-off period so you can enjoy other aspects of your life

9) Get rid of red

As I have talked about Slack notifications can get stressful and distracting.

One of the most stressful things about them is the default colour which is bright red. The receptors for red colours in the eye are clustered in the area near the centre where the sharpest images are formed.

You should simply change the colour of your notification from default red to a calmer pastel.

Now everything will look and feel just that little bit sharper.

10) Step up your emoji game

Just use them! It’s fun and allows for quick communication which is universally understood.

This is not a finished list and it will likely never be. These are just hacks that have worked for me.?

I would love to hear from you if you implement anything I have outlined and if it helped. Also, please share any hacks you have with me.

You’re just made your working day 10x better. Congrats