I'm going on a email diet

A few weeks ago I had a vague thought about how I finish the things that I HAVE to take care of at work in a few hours of my day. I use the rest of the day to work on the projects that I am interested in (but also benefit the company). I do the work that has to be done so I can pursue projects that pique my interest. This unofficial splitting of my time has been the way I've worked since I started my job so I didn't pursue the thought much further. It's just the way that I approach my job.

I was reading a few of the manifestos at changethis.com during some of my extra time at work last week when I came across this one by the guy who wrote The 4 Hour Work Week. He has turned my vague notion into an entire lifestyle. I thought about buying the book, but after reading a few pages at Amazon, I think I read the best idea of the book in that manifesto. I'm going to try an idea in that manifesto at work tomorrow.

My day is very unstructured. I get to work, check my email (work and gmail), see if there are any interesting posts in my reader account, and maybe check cnn or msn. I've been at work for 30 or 40 minutes before I actually start working. I'll work a little while, check email, work some more, go chat with some colleagues, back to work, check the reader again, and so on. I mix my work responsibilities with my personal interests as the mood strikes me. My responsibilities have been shifting from working in the lab, where it's easy to stay focused on the task at hand, to a more supervisory and coordinating function that has me spending more time at my computer. I will need to find a better way to manage my day and not get bogged down with random internet stuff.

Tomorrow, I'm going to cut my umbilical to my electronic distractions. I will not check my email or reader as soon as I get to work. I will get right to what I need to take care of. I will try to stay off of the internet until noon or so. I'm curious to see if I finish my must do tasks in a couple of hours at the front of my day rather than scattering various tasks throughout the day. If nothing else this will give me a better idea of how I spend my time at work.