I'm about to share with you my best productivity secret.
Well, actually, I just did in the title, but keep on reading, there's more.
It's 2021, and the main entry point into any mobile app is Notifications. It means that, depending on what you do for a living, you can receive hundreds of them... and it's incredibly bothering.
I've started turning off the Notifications on my Mac.
When you are on your computer, you're supposed to do something, and if that something is work you're supposed to focus on it. Why would you need to know that someone liked your post on LinkedIn?
But it was not enough.
The Black Star of Notifications is your mobile. So I started by limiting the number of Apps that can send me notifications.
But it was not enough.
Apps are built around notifications. So I simply went to Do Not Disturb All Day.
My phone keeps on notifying me silently, and I don't see it.
On my time, I check the locked screen - the main reason you don't want to turn off the Notifications - and see if something worth my attention is going on.
But it doesn't ring anymore, it doesn't even vibrate anymore; It's finally quiet.
I was a bit scared to miss something important at the beginning, but it never happened.
Almost everything can wait for 30 minutes or an hour. In your daily job, most of the emergencies are actually a lack of organization and could be avoided.
I've also silenced incoming calls from people not in my address book.
What's more intrusive than someone calling you out of the blue, most of the time, to try to sell you something you didn't ask for and definitely don't need?
When it happens and when it was a legit call, people will leave a voice mail, so you end up not missing anything valuable.
However, my family, close friends, and business partners are on a list that can go through any time if they call me.
Most of us spend most of the day with our mobile and even sleep with it. I know that the world of 2021 expects you to be available at any time, but the truth is that this expectation is irrelevant.
You need time for yourself.
You need time for your couple.
You need time for your family.
You need time to get things done.
You need time to get a life.
And you don't have to give that time to a random guy cold-calling you when it works for him, or your Clubhouse App notifying you that you should join a room called "Should you add cream in your Carbonara".
