Master or Slave?

When was the last time you used your mobile phone?
 
When was the last time you checked your email?

When was the last time you were away from the Internet?

I’m guessing your answer to these questions is something like, “Not
too long ago.”

For me, I used my mobile phone 5 minutes ago, checked my email 2
minutes ago and even as I write this article, I’m connected to the
Internet. I took a short vacation to Sanya in June and I was still
connected via the phone and the Internet on a daily basis…

In the society we live in, we are just so wired up and so
connected. Most of you reading this would have grown up in this
often called “Information Age” where Facebook, Twitter, MSN, QQ,
Google, Yahoo!, Blackberry, iPhone, Skype and Hotmail are just part
of our daily conversations and interactions with the people around
us.

Without a doubt, technology is here to stay. The only question is
this: Are you a Master of technology or are you enslaved to
technology. That is to say, is technology helping you towards a
more productive and efficient life or is it controlling how you
live your life?

Here are some tips to help you become a master rather than a slave
to technology:

1. Use an online calendar to track your schedule, deadlines and
goals. You can share your schedule with your team members so that
with one look, they’ll know when you are free, on leave, working on
an important project, etc. Google has a very neat and free calendar
together with GMail.

2. Schedule a time for emails and phone calls each day. Many people
have the tendency to want to check their emails every 5 minutes and
answer every phone call. I know I have struggled with this. It
simply makes you busy without allowing you to accomplish much each
day. For phone calls, I have heard people using their mobile phones
even while they are sitting on the toilet bowl in the toilet!!

Many professional are “surgically” attached to a Blackberry which
gets new emails PUSHED to the device. As such, they are constantly
reacting to emails as if in a race to see who replies faster. Doing
emails this way disrupts your concentration and interrupts your
schedule. You will find it hard to complete what you want to
complete within the limited amount of time.

There is NO NEED to reply to emails or phone calls AS THEY COME IN
(unless, of course, your job revolves around handling emails).
Turn off your email software and block out one or two hours each
day (more or less, morning or afternoon, it’s up to you) and put it
in your calendar. Handle emails and return phone calls only during
this allocated time.

To be able to handle phone calls well, make sure you have a voice
mail set up. If the phone call is important, the person will either
call back or leave a message. In any case, your mobile phone number
should only be known to people whom you want calling you (for work,
that is). And they should know that calling you on the mobile phone
means the message is important or urgent.

3. Use a electronic To-Do list. Record everything you need done on
this list. Most mobile phones have this little function and so,
you’ll be able to carry your To-Do list around. But whether it is
in a paper notebook, a phone or a computer, the important things is
to use a way to keep track of your tasks AT ONE PLACE.

4. If you are still using an email address like
081234567@university.edu.hk for your communications, it is time to
change it. I’m sure you are not a number and you have a name. Think
about it: How easy is it to remember “081234567″ compared to
“macey.law”? This is especially important in job-hunting as you’d
want employers to be able to email you easily.

And it any case, when you are out of the university, how long more
will you continue to use that email address?

5. Turn off your Instant Messaging system like MSN, QQ, Skype when
you really want to focus on a task or project.

My point is this: Make sure you know what you want to accomplish
each day and do not allow yourself to be interrupted. Be a master
of technology and make it work for YOU.