💡 1 IDEA FROM ME
Want to exponentially increase your focus? Turn off all notifications on your phone.
There is no bigger distraction and productivity killer today than our phones. A big reason for that is our push notifications. It’s hard not to pull out your phone and check what caused it to buzz. Or just seeing that you have an unread email or a new notification from Instagram makes it hard to not open it and see what it is.
In reality, it is extremely rare that any of these things need to be dealt with right away. True emergencies don’t come in via email or a direct message on Instagram. Yet, we can’t help but check it whenever we see something new pop up.
So what should we do? Turn push notifications off. All of them. Check it when you want to check it or when you have scheduled in your day to do so and not when your phone is telling you to check it. If you let your phone be your boss, it will be.
I turn off all notifications on my phone except phone calls (and people rarely call anymore). And yes, this includes text messages as well. No dings, no notification banners, nothing. The only way to know anything is waiting for me on any app is to open it. I open my text messages with some regularly anyway, so I’ll still see it eventually.
Again, if it is an absolute true emergency, it’s not coming via text message.
Responding to every text or email right away is a huge time waster and distractor. Check these things on your time and don’t let your notifications run your life. Give it a shot, turn off your notifications, and see how much you didn’t need them anyway.
I promise after only a couple of days of doing that your desire to check your phone will happen less and less. I’ve been totally notification-free for over a year, and I have yet to miss something truly important.
Is it possible to miss a small thing here or there? Sure. But to argue constant disruption is worth the trade-off? No thanks. I’ll stick to a more focused and less stressed life.
Next week in The Best Minute I’ll share the one thing you can do to live life with fewer regrets.
📖 1 BRIEF BOOK REVIEW
The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
A quick read of Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku and his story. As you might expect, there is great sadness in reading about the experiences of so many Jews and the evil they endured.
However, it was neat to see how he survived and endured. If you’re wanting a shorter biography of a Holocaust survivor, this would be a decent one to read.
7/10
🤔 1 QUESTION TO LEAVE YOU WITH
What is one area of your life that frustrates you? Have you just accepted it as is, or is there a tweak you can make to reduce your frustration?