If the internet had a voice, I’m fairly certain it would sound like HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
“Hello, Nir,” it might say to me in its low, monotone voice. “Glad to see you again.”
“Internet, I need a few quick things for an article I’m writing,” I’d reply. “Then it’s back to work. No distractions this time.”
“Of course, Nir, but while you’re here, won’t you look at the news headlines?”
“No, internet,” I’d say. “I’m just here to find some specific information. I can’t be distracted.”
“Of course, Nir,” the internet would reply. “But this article titled ‘The Top 10 Productivity Tricks You Just Have to Know’ could be helpful. Give it a click, won’t you?”
“Interesting,” I’d say hesitantly. “Just a quick read and then it’s back to work.”
Three hours later, I’d realize how long I’d wasted clicking from article to article and would curse the internet for sucking me into its content vortex yet again.
Not only was I wasting time reading too many articles, I’d often end up with dozens, if not hundreds, of open tabs strewn across my browser. These external triggers not only made me more likely to be distracted in the future but also led to dreaded crashes, whereby all my tabs, and whatever else I’d been working on, would be wiped out.
Thankfully, a simple rule fixed all my tab troubles and has helped me steer clear of mindless web browsing:
I never read articles in my web browser.
As you can imagine, as a writer, I use the web for research every day. However, whenever I discover a new article, I no longer read it in my web browser right away. Instead, I’ve time-shifted when and how I read online, thereby removing the temptation to read for longer than I intend. Here’s how:
I started by installing an app called Pocket on my phone, along with its browser extension on my laptop. In order to abide by my “never read articles in my browser” rule, I simply click the Pocket button in my browser every time I see an article I’d like to read. Pocket then pulls the text from the web page and saves it (without ads and any other superfluous content) to the app on my phone.
I replaced my old habit of either reading online content immediately or letting it clog up my web browser with the new habit of saving the articles for consumption at a later time. With this new behavior, my temptation to digest the content wasn’t thwarted; I was just as satisfied knowing that the content was safe and sound, waiting for me until later.
But when would I get to the hundreds of articles I’d saved? Was I merely shifting the problem from my browser to my phone? Here’s where the benefits of combining timeboxing with hacking back external triggers can yield big dividends.
Everyone knows that multitasking destroys productivity, right? Haven’t we all seen studies and read articles telling us that it’s impossible to do two things at the same time? In some ways, that’s true. The evidence is pretty clear that humans are awful at performing two complex tasks at once. Generally speaking, we commit more errors when juggling many tasks at the same time, and we also take longer—sometimes double the time—to complete the tasks. Scientists believe this wasted time and decreased proficiency occurs because the brain has to work hard to refocus attention.
However, when used correctly, multitasking can let us get more out of our schedules with little extra effort. I call it “multichannel multitasking,” and it’s a terrific trick for getting more out of your day. To multitask the right way, we need to understand our brain’s limitations that prevent us from doing more than one thing at the same time. First, the brain has a limit on its processing horsepower—the more concentration a task requires, the less room it has for anything else. That’s why we can’t solve two math problems at the same time.
Second, the brain has a limited number of attention channels, and it can only make sense of one sensory signal at a time. Try listening to two different podcasts, one in each ear. Not surprisingly, you won’t be able to understand what’s going on in one without mentally tuning out the other.
However, although we can only receive information from one visual or auditory source at a time, we are perfectly capable of processing multichannel inputs. Scientists call this “cross-modal attention,” and it allows our brains to place certain mental processes on autopilot while we think about other things.
As long as we’re not required to concentrate too much on any one channel, we’re able to do more than one thing at a time.
Studies have found that people can do some things better when they engage multiple sensory inputs. For example, some types of learning are enhanced when people also engage their auditory, visual, and tactile senses at the same time. A recent study found walking, even if done slowly and on a treadmill, improved performance on a creativity test when compared to sitting down.
Some forms of multichannel multitasking pair particularly well together. Cooking and eating a healthy meal with friends allows you to do something good for your body while also investing in your relationships. Stepping out of the office for a long walk while taking a phone call or inviting a colleague for a walking meeting checks off two positive things at once. Listening to a nonfiction audiobook on the way to work is a good example of making the most of a commute while investing time in self-improvement. Doing the same while cooking or cleaning makes the chores seem to pass more quickly.
Another form of multichannel multitasking has been shown to be an effective way to help people get fit. Katherine Milkman at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has shown how leveraging a behavior we want to do can help us do things we know we should do. In her study, Milkman gave participants an iPod loaded with an audiobook they could only listen to at the gym. Milkman chose books like The Hunger Games and Twilight that she knew had story lines likely to keep people wanting more. The results were amazing: “Participants who had access to the audiobooks only at the gym made 51 percent more gym visits than those in the control group.”
Milkman’s technique is called “temptation bundling” and can be used whenever we want to use the rewards from one behavior to incentivize another. In my case, the articles I save to Pocket are my rewards for exercising.
Every time I go to the gym or take a long walk, I get to listen to articles read to me through the Pocket app’s text-to-speech capabilities. The built-in reading feature is astounding, and the HAL 9000 voice of the internet has been replaced by a British chap with a cheery disposition who reads the articles I’ve selected, commercial free.
Getting through my articles feels like a small reward, often encouraging me to work out or take a stroll while satisfying my need for intellectual stimulation and saving me the temptation of reading at my desk. That, folks, is what we call a triple win in the hack-back battle against distraction!
Multichannel multitasking is an underutilized tactic for getting more out of each day. We can build this technique into our schedules to help us make more time for traction and use temptation bundling to make activities, like exercising, more enjoyable.
My hack is one method for conquering the seductive draw of reading “just one more thing” or having one more tab open “for later.” By replacing my bad habits with new rules and tools, I’ve increased my productivity and kept HAL’s seductive call at bay. Today, when online articles tempt me to keep clicking, I respond robotically, “I’m sorry, internet, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
REMEMBER THIS
• Online articles are full of potentially distracting external triggers. Open tabs can pull us off course and tend to suck us down a time-wasting content vortex.
• Make a rule. Promise yourself you’ll save interesting content for later by using an app like Pocket.
• Surprise! You can multitask. Use multichannel multitasking like listening to articles while working out or taking walking meetings.