Well I didn’t take these two days back to back, as I found that a bit intense, but set aside 2 separate days this week. A couple of quick observations:
- I find myself looking forward to a WhiteSpace Day, as this gives legitimacy to going offline. it is like a pressure release day
- People in my network are getting used to the idea, and accepting that I will pop back up in a day or so. Some people are sending me emails late in the day saying “I hope this gets you before you go into WhiteSpace …”
- I am feeling much more focused and productive, knowing (for example) that I can focus on a project, or meeting, or piece of thinking, without wondering about what may be lurking on the email, or whether I should check out the news sites to see if the world changed in the last 5 minutes.
- Email volume seems steady, with around 70% being deleted immediately the next day. I will measure this and see what happens.
- I think real conversations are replacing email conversations – for me and those I connect with. The tendency we have adopted to email someone, rather than pick up a phone, is adding to the fragmentation we feel. I find myself calling people, because I know I probably won’t get the email response for a couple of days as I am offline.
- Many people have commented to me that they are raising this concept in conversation with others.
- Some people are adopting WhiteSpace practices – eg no meetings or emails on Friday morning. Offline for an hour a day. No checking emails outside the office. That’s a hard habit to break – but seriously there are very few mission critical emails that require us to check the Blackberry at 11pm. I know sometimes there are deals going through, and global business to be done, but even that can have walls around it to protect our sanity.
A number of people are curious to know what I think about when in WhiteSpace. I will answer this more fully later, but I do want to make it clear that a WhiteSpace Day for me is the same as any other day. I have some meetings, work with clients, research and write, work on my business (www.confideregroup.com), … My hypothesis is that I will become more productive on those days by becoming less dependent on, and less distracted by, electronic interference.
