The Always Distracted Economy: The rise of messaging, its challenges to productivity, and what we can do about it
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As messaging becomes more and more pervasive on our workplaces and our personal lives, it's going to continually challenge our productivity. Here, we explore the current state of messaging, how we got here, and what we can do to protect our productivity.
![Intensity Formula
High quality work produced
=
[Time spent] * [Intensity of focus]
1 hour * 50% focus = 30 units of quality work
1 hour * 100% focus = 60 units of quality work
@MattBilotti](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/thealwaysdistractedeconomy-161105142549/85/The-Always-Distracted-Economy-The-rise-of-messaging-its-challenges-to-productivity-and-what-we-can-do-about-it-60-320.jpg)
The Always Distracted Economy: The rise of messaging, its challenges to productivity, and what we can do about it
- 1. The Always Distracted Economy The rise of messaging and its challenges to productivity (and what we can do about it).
- 2. Hi. I¨m Matt. Product Manager at @MattBilotti
- 3. We build tools for companies to have 1 on 1 conversations at scale. @MattBilotti
- 4. Slack. A messaging app to help you run your business. @MattBilotti
- 5. Drift. A messaging app to help you grow your business. @MattBilotti
- 6. So I think about messaging a lot. It¨s an exciting shift in communication. @MattBilotti
- 7. And what¨s apparent is that messaging is taking over our lives... @MattBilotti
- 9. ...which means we¨re all getting pinged all day, all the time. @MattBilotti
- 10. Everyone has access to us. And we¨re crafting a society that expects everyone to be available, always. @MattBilotti
- 11. 1,000+ (The number of messages I received on Friday, September 16th, 2016) @MattBilotti
- 12. 131 (That¨s how many times I was distracted by, or glanced at, a messaging app while I was making these slides.) @MattBilotti
- 13. 1-2 hours (That¨s how quickly I could have completed these slides) @MattBilotti
- 14. 6 hours (That¨s how long it took me instead because I was constantly distracted) @MattBilotti
- 15. I got near a breaking point recently. So I said something in Slack... @MattBilotti
- 16. @MattBilotti
- 17. @MattBilotti
- 18. I was totally vilified (except for the one engineer who agreed with me). Sure, it¨s funny. I agree. @MattBilotti
- 19. And, to be fair, that¨s actually how I¨m starting to feel. Footnote: I do love my team at Drift and they like giving me a hard time because they know I can take it. No hard feelings here at all @MattBilotti
- 20. The problem is we¨re making a joke about how out of hand we¨re getting. We¨re putting so much emphasis on messaging and the benefits of open communication that we¨re forgetting, and overlooking, how it can negatively impact our ability to focus. And we have yet to develop great standards for handling all of these messages. @MattBilotti
- 21. So let¨s talk about how we got here.... @MattBilotti
- 22. We used to have one email inbox. @MattBilotti
- 24. We didn¨t have our phones at all times. @MattBilotti
- 25. We decided when to respond. @MattBilotti
- 26. We worked on our our own schedules. @MattBilotti
- 27. Then, we started having multiple email addresses. And multiple platforms for those emails. @MattBilotti
- 28. @MattBilotti
- 29. All the while, messaging platforms entered the mix... @MattBilotti
- 31. And then we all realized...hey! We can use messaging in our workplaces. @MattBilotti
- 32. We were promised higher productivity by the entrance of internal messaging apps such as HipChat and Slack... @MattBilotti
- 34. Amazing, right? ＾We can all become so much more productive!￣ - The rallying cry of the tech world @MattBilotti
- 36. Okay, fine. There¨s some angle of increased productivity, sure. Knowledge sharing has gone up. Transparency has gone up. Speed of communication has no doubt been increased by an order of magnitude. I agree with that. And it is all great, positive change. But if we lose perspective of what ＾productivity￣ means, we¨re playing a dangerous game. @MattBilotti
- 37. A 2012 McKinsey study found that the average knowledge worker now spends more than 60% of the work week engaged in electronic communication and internet searching. Close to 30% of that time is dedicated to reading and answering email alone. @MattBilotti
- 39. And it¨s terrifying because we¨re constantly context switching. @MattBilotti
- 40. Sophie Leroy of the University of Minnesota ran an experiment to test the impact of context switching. She had her subjects work on a set of word puzzles. ¢ In one trial, she¨d interrupt them and tell them to move on to a more challenging tasks. ¢ In other trials she let the subjects finish the puzzles before moving onto the next task. For those who had to switch tasks before completing the first one, they consistently did a worse job on the 2nd task. @MattBilotti
- 41. She calls this ＾Attention Residue￣ @MattBilotti
- 42. Which ultimately causes us to work like this... @MattBilotti
- 43. @MattBilotti
- 44. Rather than like this... @MattBilotti
- 45. @MattBilotti
- 46. And, as the world of messaging has progressed, businesses have embraced the idea of using messaging to talk to their customers. @MattBilotti
- 47. @MattBilotti Which is important and a welcome change because it¨s how people want to communicate these days and companies need to adapt to maintain an edge.
- 48. And, on top of all of this, we added messaging to our social media platforms... @MattBilotti
- 49. @MattBilotti
- 50. Which leaves us using messaging for´ ¢ Talking to our friends ¢ Staying in touch with our families ¢ Communicating with our colleagues ¢ Talking to customers ¢ Conducting business with external partners and vendors ¢ Building our social media presence @MattBilotti
- 51. Which is crazy.
- 52. So, how do we deal with this new world? @MattBilotti
- 53. First, let¨s accept the fact that it¨s going to get worse before it gets better.
- 54. 3 things are going to happen in the next few years... @MattBilotti
- 55. 1 - More and more people are going to burn out (this is a bad thing). @MattBilotti
- 56. 2 - People will reach their breaking points and snap internally and take a stand for their right to productivity (which is a good thing). @MattBilotti
- 57. 3 - More messaging apps are going to compete for our attention. And everyone will continue to have their preferences of which one to use to reach them (this is inevitable). @MattBilotti
- 58. Okay, so let¨s talk about how you can maintain focus in this world of messages... @MattBilotti
- 59. In a group of 50 ultra-high scoring students at top universities, it was found that this group studied less than the group directly below them in GPA. The best students maximize their concentration and reduced time needed to study or write papers without diminishing their results. @MattBilotti
- 60. Intensity Formula High quality work produced = [Time spent] * [Intensity of focus] 1 hour * 50% focus = 30 units of quality work 1 hour * 100% focus = 60 units of quality work @MattBilotti
- 61. 1. Figure out how you can focus 2. Minimize attention residue and distractions 3. Find ways to make that focus sustainable Three steps
- 62. Step 1... Figure out how you can focus best @MattBilotti
- 63. There are 4 philosophies... @MattBilotti
- 64. 1 - Monastic Maximize deep efforts by eliminating or minimizing shallow concerns. Example: Lock yourself in a room all day long by yourself, 9-5 Works well if: your career is focused, discreet, and independent. e.g: novelist, not a manager @MattBilotti
- 65. 2 - Bimodal Monastic Take one major block of time in a cycle to disconnect and focus. Example: Turn off all communication tools each Tuesday and work from home Works well if: you¨re a knowledge worker who doesn¨t have people relying on you for constant quick decisions (e.g: high level executive) @MattBilotti
- 66. 3 - Rhythmic* Schedule your times to go deep on a daily basis and stay consistent Example: Block time on your calendar from 9-11am, 3-5pm and turn off distractions Works well if: People rely on your on a daily basis and you have a place in your office that you can go to be alone and undistracted *(You didn¨t ask, but this is the method I try to use) @MattBilotti
- 67. 4 - Journalistic Take advantage of times to be alone and focus whenever they happen. Example: While talking with people and you have a spark of inspiration, walk off and get work done and then come back Works well if: You¨ve built up the skill of focus over years and you have conviction in the things you¨re doing as well as a flexible schedule. @MattBilotti
- 68. Step 2´ Minimize attention residue and distractions @MattBilotti
- 69. Aim for hub and spoke office layouts. @MattBilotti
- 70. Make a grand gesture and go way outside the norm. @MattBilotti
- 71. Focus on the one thing... ＾What¨s the one thing I can do right now that will make everything else easier or unnecessary?￣ @MattBilotti
- 72. Develop a culture that sets, embraces and respects boundaries. @MattBilotti
- 73. Step 3´ Find ways to make that focus sustainable @MattBilotti
- 74. Embrace rituals and routine. These will help you slide into deep work because over time you¨ve trained your mind to do so. @MattBilotti
- 75. Keep a running tally of the hours you do deep work. @MattBilotti
- 76. Shut down at night. (Put all of your devices away and stop looking at them to give your brain a breather) @MattBilotti
- 78. 1 - Figure out how you can focus @MattBilotti
- 79. 2 - Minimize attention residue and distractions @MattBilotti
- 80. 3 - Find ways to make that focus sustainable @MattBilotti
- 81. And, most important of all...
- 82. Set proper expectations with those around you. Draw your lines and make them clear. @MattBilotti