A Productivity Tip You’ll Pretend You Didn’t Read
TL/DR:
Your open tabs and “read later” list creates stress
Use bathroom time on purpose (you’re scrolling in there anyway)
Catch up on industry news, or knock out one tiny task
Plus, a magical Chrome feature you’re likely sleeping on!
The Whole Shebang:
I’ve been known to preface a statement by saying: “I know this is a little crass, but…”
And I’ll give you that same caveat here.
Because I’m about to share something you likely won’t want to admit will work, because you don’t want to admit the premise.
Look, if you’re anything like most of my clients, you’ve got ambition, and not enough time.
Over and over, I hear that one of the things that’s the hardest to make time for at work (aside from strategic thinking time, which I’ll get into in another post) is to make time to read all those industry (or just plain interesting) articles you’ve got sitting in all those open tabs.
Those tabs are calling your name.
They’re distracting you.
Or they’re making you feel bad that you’re likely not going to read them. Even though you really, really want to.
(And, all those open tabs are slowing down your browser; that’s for sure.)
But you’re not willing to close the tabs because you’re not willing to admit you’re not gonna read all that stuff you really want to read. (Right?)
Or maybe, you have an inbox full of newsletters you’d like to read “one day”.
But it’s clogging up your inbox.
It’s stressing you out.
It’s making the signal to noise ratio even worse.
And yet, you’re not willing to delete those emails, because the info inside of them is going to be super interesting.
You just know it.
If you can ever get to it.
So, if you find yourself in this position, what can you do?
Here’s comes the crass part:
Read this stuff on the toilet.
Look, I know you bring your phone into the bathroom.
We all do it.
It’s ok to admit.
We’ve all pooped while scrolling Instagram.
So hear me out.
What if, instead of scrolling, you used that bathroom time to catch up on all those articles and newsletters?
All that industry news you want to catch up on, but are afraid you’ll never get to.
Now, I hear you coming up with all sorts of rebuttals in your head:
“That’s so gross; I would never.” (Yes you would, and yes you do.)
“But those tabs are open on my computer; I don’t want to bring my laptop into the bathroom”. (Yes, agreed, and below I’m going to show you why you don’t need to.)
(And, if you can convince my teenage boys not to bring their laptops into the bathroom, or to eat an apple on the toilet, please, please tell me how!!)
So, how can you make this easier?
Enter a lesser known Chrome feature: The Chrome Reading List
Did you know that Chrome has already solved the problem of keeping a bajillion tabs open so you can “read it later”?
Yup, there’s a sneaky little feature that you’re gonna love, called “Reading List”.
This feature allows you to save any tab to “read later” with one click, allowing you to close the tab and not lose the link.
And when you’re done, all you gotta do is check it off and it’ll disappear.
This feature can be used on both mobile and desktop. And don’t worry, because I’m going to make it so easy for you, you won’t even have to Goggle anything.
Here's how to enable/use it.
Hot tip: it works for YT videos, too.
So you can add any video you want to watch to the list, without fearing you’ll never find it again and helping you not watch it RIGHT NOW because of this fear.
And what about all those newsletter clogging up your inbox?
Here’s what you can do:
Enable a “read later” label and have those emails skip the inbox.
If you’re getting newsletters in your inbox and you really want to read them AT SOME POINT and don’t want them cluttering your inbox, you can set up a filter have it skip the inbox, and label it (or automatically file it, if you use Outlook) as, “too read later, maybe” or whatever works for you.
Hot tip: Don’t do that with MY emails; they’re practical, they have a TL/DR, and I know you want that actionable info.
How do I know?
Because folks frequently reply and tell me this is the ONLY newsletter they receive that they actually open and read.
Want one more pro tip?
This one I’m taking from Dani Donovan’s anti-planner. And let me just tell you i felt SEEN when I read this, because I’ve been doing this for as long as I’ve had a smartphone:
Do one small task from your task list while you’re on the toilet.
Yes, seriously, so many of the tasks bloating our task lists take 2 minutes or less.
Just yesterday, I emailed the pediatrician while I was on the toilet to follow up about my kids lab results.
Double duty! (er, doody :) )
So sorry, I just couldn’t help myself, but if you’re still reading at this point, I’m gonna guess you find poop puns more funny than disgusting.)
(Also, if you decide to buy Dani’s book, please buy it from her website; she’s been battling cheap knockoffs that keep showing up on Amazon having stolen her IP. Also, I have no relationship with her and this is not an affiliate link; I get nothing from recommending this; it’s just a good book.)
And when you’re ready, here are 3 ways we can work together:
Enroll in the Time Well Spent course
Bite-sized, shame-free steps to take control of your time, and your life. Built for real people with big lives, big jobs, or both. Learn more, or enroll here.
Get 1:1 Coaching
High-touch coaching for people managers, leaders, executives and founders who need a trusted partner to streamline priorities, manage the overwhelm, and focus on what moves the needle most. Schedule a call to explore if this is the right fit for you.
Explore Team Workshops/Training
Customized workshops and trainings to help your team improve productivity without burnout and create a culture where people (actually) thrive. Schedule a call to explore if this is the right fit for you.
