📲 Find Focus in a Busy World

Having trouble focusing on composing or creating? Here are a few ways to help make it easier:

Turn Everything Off

Nothing is more invasive than your technology buzzing unread notifications all day.Turn off badge notifications and sound for apps.

(The only time my phone buzzes is for a phone call or text message. Every app on my phone has zero red badge notifications.)

Pause Emails

If you’re a Gmail user, try the Boomerang extension. Use it to pause incoming emails until you specify.

Keep your inbox empty and prevent the temptation to respond immediately. 

Use Bookmarks (Not Apps)

Limit your usage of social media mobile apps by bookmarking web pages to your phone. Use the bookmark instead of the app.

(They’re less mobile-friendly, so you’ll spend less time on them.)

Batch Respond to Messages

In the words of my mentor Rich Webster: “We don’t do our laundry one sock at a time.”

Batching our messaging minimizes the “switching cost” that comes with changing tasks.

Set two times a day you’ll check all messages—email, Discord, Slack, phone—and stick to it.