Are You Reactive?
You probably wonder what this means. If you Google “define:reactive” without quotes you will find a whole bunch of answers, many related to chemicals of some kind. One of those examples stood out amongst the many:
Participating readily in reactions; “sodium is a reactive metal”; “free radicals are very reactive” WordNet
Like sodium, most of us react to our environment. We fall prey to the demands of other people on our time, life and mind. Let’s face it, most of you probably check their emails first thing in the morning. Email is one of the most reactive environments we can possibly be exposed to. Other typical ones are:
- SMS
- Chat
- Forums
- Blog commenting
Every time you are within those environments you react to what other people say, write or do. Often those things are the number one reason why you don’t get anything done in the day.
Being reactive is human for sure, but unless we control our reactions to other people’s influences, we waste a lot of time.
It is not only a key to working productive, but one of the hardest things you will have to learn in your life.
Some days I do really well by shutting out those environments and on others I think I “miss out” (god knows on what) if I don’t check my email at least every hour.
If you find that you lack productivity in your day to day life, you might want to look at those reactive environments to nudge you in the right direction.
What do you think?
Monika
About the Author: I'm a passionate freelance writer and problogger. To further build my business I'm also in the process of building my own niche empire which pays me residual income.
Davina | Sep 27, 2008 | Reply
Hi Monika. Very true! A couple of years ago turning on the computer first thing in the morning was the last thing on my mind. Now it’s the first. I’m working on setting up a daily schedule for myself, to get this under “control”.
My plan is to estimate how much time I need/spend on activities such as blogging, admin & emailing, marketing, (notice blogging was mentioned first — hmmm), business development, professional development/reading, and actual production time. This also has to include time for me such as meditation, exercise, socializing, eating and sleeping, etc. Gee, are there enough hours?
If not then the next step? How can I work smarter, not harder?
Brett Legree | Sep 27, 2008 | Reply
Monika,
This is a good analogy and I like the chemistry tie-in. I think sometimes I’m not sodium, but more like potassium (or maybe even something *more* reactive).
Something that worked for me a few months ago was to actually write out a daily schedule as suggested by Leo at Zen Habits. It worked really well for me – I had set times for checking email, RSS, whatever – and blocks for working, exercise, whatever.
Alas, summer came and with help from too many pints of strong ale (!) I fell off the Zen wagon. But I’m climbing back on because I need to get back on track with several things. And I will…
Perhaps that is my contribution then – it is okay to be reactive, like a chemical, the key being to keep it safely bottled up until you need it.
It seems that you do that well – and I will get back to doing that myself.
Thanks for the words – Brett
Friar | Sep 27, 2008 | Reply
There’s two parts to blogging: Doing the actual writing, and then commenting.
And I admit, I’m addicted to commenting. I really enjoy it, and I like to discuss things with friends, but I’m finding it’s a huge time suck.
Especially now, that summer is over, and it’s it’s dark by 7:15 PM. It helps pass the time on long dark nights.
There are a lot of things I “Should” do (Excercise, painting, housework, work on my book, etc.). but I end up farting around on the computer too much.
I need to kick myself in the butt and get my act together. (Or maybe this is just a phase I’m going through, it will eventually fizzle out on it’s own).
Anyway, this is why I don’t DARE try Twitter, I’d get hooked for sure!
Tumblemoose | Sep 28, 2008 | Reply
Monika,
I think it’s very difficult to not be reactive, at least in part.
My strongest belief applies here for certain:
Life is about balance. I think we need to make sure we have the discipline to keep in touch, read the comments and emails and review the forums. If something resonates that you are passionate about then respond, and move on.
Establishing a daily routine may be helpful too. Say, you allow two hours or whatever every day to do this kind of thing. This should help keep the focus.
For myself, if something smacks of being twittery-myspace-flcikr-facebook, I pass. Maybe I’ll fit that stuff in my next designated block of free time, which is in um, Nov. 2015.
George
ps – sending you the blog later today!
Vered - MomGrind | Sep 28, 2008 | Reply
I find that I can do it all – react AND create AND spend time with my family.
HOWEVER.
I do pay a price: I don’t sleep nearly as much as I should.
Cath Lawson | Sep 29, 2008 | Reply
Hi Monika – I must admit I’m fairly good at blocking these things out. I feel so guilty sometimes tho. I’ve had this nasty cold bug for over a week, so I’ve been doing the bare minimum. And I only checked into my emails today after not looking at them for four days and there was one message marked urgent.
Things that interrupt, like the door and the phone, I ignore if I’m busy. I used to rely on the phone for business and now that I don’t anymore, it’s a blessing not to have to answer each time.
Monika | Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
@ Davina: I know, there are not enough hours in a day to do all we want. But like you said, making a plan is a good starting point. However, if you over plan it won’t do much either.
Smarter is definitely the way to go.
lissie | Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
I rewrote a complete ebook over the weekend: because I was away somewhere with no internet access: coincidence I think not! The trouble is I often need access for research – but I do not need to login to my email/favourite forums/blogs!
Monika | Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
@ Brett: It is ok to be reactive for sure as it shows passion and engagement. You are doing the right thing anyway. It is no good trying to bash yourself up if you fall off the bandwagon so to speak.
Like you said, when you are ready you will try again … and again…until it works out.
Monika | Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
@ Friar: You would get addicted to Twitter for sure. I stay well clear of it now because otherwise I will get nothing done.
I understand the need for more company when the weather gets cold and the days shorter. It’s kind of depressing really and that is one of the main reasons I migrated to the sun. I couldn’t stand having darkness and cold for long amounts of time.
Beats me how you Canadians stay so chirpy all the time.
Monika | Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
@ George: LOL, 2015 hey. Yeah, I know what you mean. Despite this though I’m going to stumble your post now just in case.
I agree with the resonating bit though. Trouble is when a lot resonates and nothing else gets done.
Monika | Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
@ Vered: Tell me about it. Sleep is an elusive activity for me and if I’m honest about it (which of course I am) I have to say that I do feel it too.
It’s good though that you are able to balance both sides of the equation. It is important I think.
Monika | Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
@ Cath: You have to do this for your own sanity. Look at me. It is three days since I posted this post and only now I’m replying to the comments. Usually I don’t like doing this at all as I like to show my appreciation to the reader.
My RSS feed reader is like the count up to the next millennium but really I don’t care.
First comes what makes me money, then comes what will make me money and last comes what does not make me money. It’s a tough act, but one I have to follow if i want to pay my bills and grow the business.
Monika | Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
@ Lissie: Good on you. I think not having access to Internet can actually be a blessing in disguise. I might have to do this intentionally and just unplug to get stuff like that done.
Jenny | Oct 3, 2008 | Reply
I could probably get a lot more work done in a day if I quit checking my e-mail so often “just in case” i have a new one!!
TDMV | Oct 8, 2008 | Reply
Hello Monika
(it actually contains a quote from you!)
Having been busy the last 2 weeks, I didn’t have the oportunity to read as much as I wanted too. But I just saw this article, and I had to react. I wrote an article about something related to your subject, that you might find interesting. It’s about the pressure of the social internet and how we humans tend to cope with that. Hope you enjoy it
Brett Legree | Nov 21, 2008 | Reply
Monika,
That is very true, isn’t it – I know I’m doing a good job just by getting back on the wagon again and again
Hope you are well today – ack! I must have forgotten to tick the followup box…
-Brett