In a given day, if you count the number of times alerts from your cellphone, texts, instant messages, smart watch, and social media grab your attention, you might be surprised. While our devices provide the convenience of having instant access to information, being distracted by them can quickly become habit. We can find ourselves proactively checking email or texts before our devices alert us, wondering why our devices are not pinging, dinging, or beeping. This is addictive behavior we may not even realize is hindering our focus and productivity.
Building Your Habit
- Turn off your email notifications in your email applications.
- Turn off any calendar reminders that aren’t useful for you.
- Get in the habit of leaving your mobile phone screen down while you work and are in meetings, or keep it out of sight.