Welcome back! It's good to see you again. Please note that I am now publishing all new material at my hub site: StephenPSmith.com

Brian Oberkirch has a post on “Trimming the Attention Sails”, getting more done by spending less time on things that do not need to get done. Here is a sample:

* Unsubbed from all email discussion lists.

* Turned off all email notifications from social networking sites.

* All sound-based notification off. Dock bouncing, outta here. Only growl for notifications.

* Reinforcing my habit of making a micro to do list of 3 to 5 things. Index card or sticky note for the day. Setting crazy short deadlines for each activity. Doing only one thing at a time.

* Keeping my desktop clear of cruft and using Merlin’s distraction free environment hacks.

As for the distraction free environment, it is on an MOV download - geared toward Mac users.

Also, Ian of the Messy Desk has Four Tips to Unclutter Your Life:

• Create uninterrupted time for concentrating. (Guard your schedule)
• Manage your in-box. (The 10 Commandments of E-mail)
• Plan on face time. (Count on Interruptions)
• Manage your desktop, both real and digital. (10 Tips to Help Keep Your Desk Clean and Clean Your Messy Desktop)

Scott Young has some tips at Lifehack:

Technology can definitely make life easier. E-mail, rapid communication, RSS and the internet create vast opportunities for new information. But technology isn’t perfect. Adopting new technologies can have a sharp learning curve and many programs have unseen bugs and usability problems. Even more prevalent is this boost in information can cause overload, zapping your time in endless e-mails and feeds to read.

Breaking your paradigm of technology as a cure-all to every problem can open you up to other avenues for solving problems. Technology may be innovative and wonderful, but learning when to unplug the power cord can help simplify your life. Here are some ways you can untech yourself to simplify your life and get more done.

It looks like everyone is getting on the bandwagon. How have you cut back on the interruptions and distractions in your day? Leave a comment.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/5h8yrg. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen