Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Today's Top Distractions

1. The Levenger Circa PDA
2. Updating my Netvibes page and RSS feeds
3. CandyAddict.com
4. Looking up Digital SLR cameras on Amazon.com
5. Trying to get FlexWallet to synch with my Blackberry properly

Friday, October 19, 2007

5 Technology Distractions I Could Have Done Without

Sure, new technology is great. However, here are five recent technologies or features of technology that have probably added to my Distraction Quotient (DQ) rather than making my life easier:

1. Tabbed browsing: While it's a real time-saver, it also allows me to multitask my distractions. Same for Firefox.
2. Push email: While it's a life-saver as far as having my Blackberry now become my primary work PDA, it's distracting as hell to have it buzz me every time I get an email. Then I feel the need to view it, reply to it, or just get involved with whatever strikes my fancy on the Blackberry at the time.
3. DVR's: The ad says "Take control of your TV." But what it also does it causes you to watch more TV than you might have otherwise. In the past, if a show was on when I was working, oh well. Guess I didn't watch that show. Now I can record any show, any time, for playback whenever I want. The really bad news: If you DVR a late-night talk show like The Tonight Show and then watch it an hour or two later, it feels to your internal clock like it's still only 12:30, when in fact it's much later, resulting in less sleep and disrupted circadian rhythms. Argh.
4. RSS Reading Software (in particular, Viigo): Another "get it whenever, wherever" technology. Sure it saves time over reading full web pages, but it's more "push" technology that "pushes" me to distraction.
5. Satellite Radio: Used to be, I turned the radio off if it didn't have something I liked playing. Now that's not a problem, because I can find something I like any time I want it. More choice = more choices to make = more time making choices. It's a vicious cycle.

Why 5 Distractions?

Too often, I get sidetracked by something. Or more often, several somethings. So let's explore what's distracting me today. Maybe you'll find them distracting too.

Today's top five:

  • The Flickr cameratoss group
  • Plague Year, by Jeff Carlson
  • The iminent release of the newest Blade Runner "ultimate" edition DVD set
  • The new Levenger catalog (Productivity Pr0n)
  • Creating this first blog entry

    More distractions to come!