In our last episode, the Maven gave a little glimpse into her daily routine. Now, our heroine answers some burning follow up questions from the mail bag.

Do you ever have times when you just can’t focus?

Absolutely! Even when I’m having a really good day, I can feel restless sometimes. If I have to shift gears from one activity to another, like from writing to looking something up, for example, that’s when I feel the temptation to check email or I start to lose focus. I have a couple of ways of coping with it. Sometimes it’s just a matter of taking a good deep breath and diving back in.

Or sometimes what I really need is a few minutes to think. When I’m really snagged on something and am casting around for an idea or an answer, I’ll get up and go do something around the house (I work in a home office). Even a few minutes of ironing or scrubbing something will give me that space to incubate my thoughts and come up with a solution or a next step. And then it’s back to the races.

What about email? What’s your routine there?

With my iPhone, it’s super easy to check email obsessively, everywhere. And recently, I noticed that I was developing some bad habits there. So after my Q3 review, I took on a goal of getting back to my old routine of no email before breakfast and none after 5 pm. I find that if I resist the temptation to check email early, and do my morning tasks like tidying the kitchen and so on first, I’m much calmer and more focused later on.

There’s some interesting findings coming out about how our brains–and thus our focus and attention–are affected by our use of digital technology. I’m convinced that it’s something I have to be really mindful about and use with care if I’m going to live the kind of life I want to live.

I’ve noticed that the urge to check email is a lot like craving a cookie. It’s like it’s something sweet that’s going to give me a surge of energy. When I view it like that, I can treat it the same way as holding the line against snacking. Because I’m not really hungry, you know, I’m just reacting to running into some confusion or a knowledge gap. That’s the times I want chocolate or to check email–it’s not really an appropriate response; it’s just a craving. So I notice it, say “Oh, there’s one of those cravings,” and bring myself back to what I’m doing.

Anyway, about email routines. I triage email after breakfast and then don’t look at it again until after I’ve had my quiet time. Then I bounce in and out, usually giving it a look before and after appointments. On a good day, when I’m being conscientious and mindful, I probably check email five or six times a day. If I’m really in the flow of working on a big project or out hiking, I don’t feel the need to check it at all.

—-
Wow! Can it really be Thank Goodness It’s Feedback Friday? Woohoo!

• Comment on this post (or ask a follow up question) on Twitter. It's easy; just use the little Tweet This button at the bottom of the post.
• Add your comments to a post (or two or three) that gave you some food for thought.
• Really like something you learned here? Hit that favorites button! It's at the bottom of the post, too. (There's lots of good stuff down there: links to similar posts, Digg, and Delicious, too.)