The return of sanity, simplicity, and “single tasking”
by Caroline Nevin

There is a new hero in the hyper-connected world of the Silicon Valley. His name is Timothy Ferriss and he is 29 years old. His celebrity among the high-tech set is bizarre, because his whole schtick is about how real success means unplugging. His book (a fascinating read) is called “The 4-Hour Workweek.” No, there’s no zero missing. His 15 minutes of fame may be almost up, but he’s got some smart things to say about life.

We have all heard the term “Work smarter, not harder.” Ferriss’ proposition is that working smarter means eliminating all unnecessary drains on time, attention and energy (that which consumes 80 per cent of our life force now), and focussing only on those things that are truly important (the remaining 20 per cent).

In his words, “simplicity requires ruthlessness.”

In thinking about the 80 per cent challenge, e-mail is an obvious place to start. Truly urgent things can reach you other ways; everything else can wait. According to Mr. Ferriss, checking e-mail, even briefly, can be poisonous to your peace of mind. Any problem found in your inbox will linger long after you shut-down the computer. “It’s the worst of states, where you experience neither relaxation nor productivity. Be focused on work or focused on something else, never in-between. Time without attention is worthless, so value attention over time.”

And so, I am conducting my own 21 day productivity experiment. Those who know me will laugh – I am an “early adopter” Blackberry addict – but for the next three weeks, my plan is to:

1. Check e-mail twice a day. My Outlook and Blackberry e-mail will be turned off except at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
2. Ask the most important people in my work and home life to call or SMS if there is an urgent need to reach me.
3. Set-up automated e-mail responses that explain what I’m doing and how to get faster attention from my assistant if necessary.
4. Hand-over to my assistant the power to book appointments for phone or in-person discussions on specific topics, eliminating drop-in interruptions as much as possible.
5. Concentrate on one project, person or task at a time.

Year after year, CBA surveys show that the #1 issue of concern to lawyers is the Holy Grail we euphemistically refer to as “work life balance.” Of course, there’s no such thing. What we mere mortals strive for is to manage and reduce the moments of stress doing one thing in the face of a mountain of competing things we “should” be doing. The trick, as Timothy Ferriss says, is to value attention over time… to be present for the person or task before you, and not to worry about other things. There will be time enough for them too, if we clear the clutter out of our way.

Note: Visit the CBABC Work Life Balance Committee web page for great links and resources: www.cba.org/bc under Practice Resources.

This article was published in the December 2007 issue of BarTalk. © 2007 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.