E-mail, Facebook, Twitter...according to Mayo Clinic researchers, women spend at least one out of every seven minutes at work checking, and responding to, social media messages. And going online dozens of times daily can cut your productivity 25 percent or more, their studies suggest. To protect yourself, schedule specific times that you’ll log on -- and limit how long you’ll stay online when you do, suggests Suzanne Peterson, Ph.D., associate professor of management at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
I failed miserably the first day I tried this -- the second day was no picnic, either. I usually check my e-mail, Facebook and Twitter twice (okay, maybe three times) every hour, all day long. I’m addicted. But, after my intervention, I’ve cut myself down to four checks daily and, yes, I am getting a lot more done—but weaning myself off espresso was easier than this.