In our world, notifications dictate our lives and turn us into idiots. They don't have to, though. Being purposeful about how they're involved will change everything.

Creating an Interruption-Free Environment

The information in Part 1 on multitasking, reduced cognitive function, and addictive behavior might sound like “doom and gloom,” but there’s plenty of positivity on the horizon. While our tech-saturated society makes it incredibly easy to be a victim of these unfortunate “costs,” it’s easy to change your environment

Strategically Silencing Notifications

With each new app, more notifications infiltrate your life. For me, telling my phone to “STFU” may have been caused by an article I read, or it could have just been my own built-up frustration. Either way, I decided to silence about 90% of the mobile and desktop notifications last year. I put the “pings!” into three buckets:

• RED: If I miss an alert, it would have a critical impact on my job, health, or family/friends lives. (Example: Google Calendar alerts me about client calls, appointments, etc. Getting notifications is essential to my day-to-day organization and planning.)

• YELLOW: Missing an alert might be inconvenient for others, but it’s not an urgent matter. (Example: I check messages on Slack at regular intervals throughout the workday while I’m on my laptop. Once I leave work, I can be reached by text/call if there’s something urgent. 99% of the time, messages can wait until the next day.)

• GREEN: Whether I see/check this notification, it doesn’t have a significant impact on my life or the lives of others. (Example: Instagram really doesn’t need my attention unless I have spare time. Checking throughout the day is only feeding the multitasking addiction.)

With these in mind, I created a minimalistic notification environment that looks like this:

• RED: Since these are highly important alerts, they will likely have a notification sound, app icon, home screen pop-up, and appear in the notification center. Depending on the app (desktop/mobile) I might want the notifications on both my laptop and phone.

• YELLOW: There is more strategy and selectiveness behind when, where, and how applications can notify me. As in my example above, I only get notifications for Slack on my laptop. Even then, all I have is the app icon, not the desktop pop-ups. This limitation ensures I can concentrate all my energy on client work and avoid the unrelated chitchat. On my phone, I find that sometimes an app icon is enough to get my attention when I have spare time, but a sound or pop-up isn’t necessary.

• GREEN: Anything in this category is “meh.” Whether I check it or not, it won’t make much difference. A few of those include Snapchat, Facebook, Fitbit, Groupon, Waze, and yes, even Gmail. Essentially, I can check them when I want to, but they shouldn’t be intruding on my day and stealing focus away from things I care about. Sometimes you need to “feel out” new apps to see what kind of notification frequency they push out, but a lot of times the “Allow Notifications” button can be toggled to “off.”

Of course, I encourage you to find the buckets that work best for you, but this strategy has been highly effective in helping me silence the chatter. Like me, you may also find some unuseful/dormant apps you can just delete altogether for more phone space.

Find Your Most Productive Setting

Every person has a different high-productivity environment. For me, it’s in my home office in the morning after I’ve had breakfast and a shot of espresso. Consider:

• What time of day are you most awake/engaged? (If you aren’t sure, rate your energy and productivity level in the morning, afternoon, evening, and night for a week to find out.)
• What “tools” help you work best? (i.e. a clutter-free desk, etc.)
• What location is best for you?
• What conditions set you up for success? (i.e. eating a nutritious meal, getting eight hours of sleep, etc.)

Whatever your findings, remember the advice from @NeilStrauss and resist the urge to check your phone immediately after waking up. Mornings might not be your most creative time, but that doesn’t mean they should be squandered with “reactive” (read: non-productive; trivial) work.

Make Time to Unplug Completely

The never-ending demands technology puts on us can be overwhelming after a while. Many people, myself included, find that daily meditation provides incredible de-stressing and clarifying effects. It does, however, require diligence. You can’t do it once every couple days and expect to notice results. When you make it a daily habit, though, you can expect more mindfulness, concentration, and emotional intelligence in no time. Meditation trains your mind to focus on the task at hand and shut out distractions.

In addition to your daily meditation practice, find time to literally turn your technology OFF. Full disclosure: it’s going to feel scary at first. After relying on your phone or laptop to occupy every spare moment of your life for years, suddenly being alone with your own thoughts can be, well, kind of intimidating. If you push through it, I can promise you the effects will be apparent, positive, and lasting.

Silence (From Distraction) is Golden

Breaking away from the incessant blather of our tech-driven world is—if you haven’t already figured it out—critical to long-term wellness and success. Just remember: YOU control how, when, where, and why your technology disturbs you.

Hopefully, this knowledge and these strategies will help you find your own balance. Perhaps you have other techniques that help you? I’d love to hear them!

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