Staying away from social media - Twitter, Linkedin - is going fine. It's helpful, I think, that I have taken tech sabbaticals before from these spaces.

On the other hand, email has been a tougher nut to crack. I still check it multiple times a day, albeit much less than I did prior to the declutter.

One of the issues is that I have accepted a limited use of email. The operating procedures/rules I shared on my initial post were:

My guess is I am not on for more than an hour, but I am not coming to my account with a planned-out list.

For example, in my "leisure" I am trying to replace a light fixture. I cannot determine why it no longer works. Using a voltage tester, there doesn't appear to be any power coming from the wires. Asking around for help, a friend of mine referred me to a handyman. I hopped on my email and sent off a request for him to stop by and assess the situation. (I also have a broken window sill; I am not sure "maintaining a 100-year-old house" counts as leisure, unless one enjoys doing this kind of work.)

But I didn't need to send that email off pronto. It could have waited a few hours.

Here's what I think I will do now:

I also need to monitor my task management system more closely. Messages that require my sustained attention need to go somewhere, whether a to-do list or my calendar. That's something Newport doesn't really address in his book. How do you deal with the asks of your time without some type of system to keep track of everything?

His likely response: make it harder for people to reach you. Stop being so available. This feels selfish. It also seems like you might miss out on opportunities to connect and to contribute. But if one is clear on their values and what the right work is for them, limiting accessibility can better ensure the opportunities that do come one's way are the right ones.