How To Fight Off Digital Distractions And Maintain Focus

Distractions, especially digital ones, are ever-present in today’s world. We have unlimited access to anything we could ever need. This raises the question, though, of whether or not it is a good thing.

Access to a wealth of data is invaluable, whether researching the best honeymoon destinations, starting a new business, or trying to reach your fitness goals. But like most people, you probably find that the internet is a constant source of worry, tension, and even outright terror. This digital diversion may negatively impact our psyches and bodies.

Here are some suggestions for blocking out the noise of modern technology.

Manage your alerts and notifications.

Pings alerting you to your dad’s Facebook likes are probably unnecessary. The same holds whenever a team member raises a query or provides an update.

Turning off notifications combats the “always-on” mentality that dictates our continual availability and responsiveness to others. We recommend turning off all notifications except those necessary, whether from an individual or the project. You’ll feel less bombarded and sidetracked by your alerts.

Make some changes to your environment.

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how diligently you try to shut off internet distractions and focus on your task; you just can’t concentrate! When this happens, it’s best to leave your office desk behind and go somewhere fresh. Researchers in psychology have shown that moving to a new location, even if it’s only the next space over, may help reboot your brain and kickstart your creative process.

Because most SaaS-based work applications, such as G Suite and Slack, enable working from everywhere, we do not have to be physically seated at our desks to be efficient. If you need to get your creative juices flowing, don’t be scared to do it while on the move.

Schedule downtime for distraction.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that increasing the number of short breaks one takes throughout the day increases overall productivity. The challenge here is to keep your little break from ballooning into the full day, so make sure you head back to your office chair once it’s done!

Setting up specified time limits for non-work activities, such as reading the news or browsing social feeds, is a good way to keep oneself accountable.  When the allotted amount of time has passed, you should close any programs or browser windows you had open to go back to the business.

Learn to use the Do Not Disturb (DND) mode.

Let’s say you’re trying to fulfill a stringent deadline before the end of the quarter, or you’re calling into a crucial pitch meeting, and you just can’t afford to be sidetracked by anything. There aren’t many things that can fully replace time spent concentrating without interruption. In these predicaments, we strongly advise using the Do Not Disturb setting. Do Not Disturb is now a regular feature on many more popular mainstream productivity products and even on your phone.

You can always flick it off for a brief check-in if you start to fear that you have forgotten anything crucial, but you should try to make the most of the quiet while you still have it.

Adopt A “Less Is More” Mentality

When was the last time you reviewed your social following? Good social media hygiene is one of the simplest methods to reduce unwanted distractions regardless of location.

Unfollow an account if it no longer provides valuable material. Follow accounts that give an abundance of useful links and information to guarantee that your content feeds are beneficial. If you’re feeling very daring, you may even consider deleting accounts on sites you no longer use.

You may also use this skill towards productivity tools. At least once a year, run an inventory of all your office productivity tools to ensure they still provide value. You may be amazed by the overlap across tools (such as internal communications, data storage, and analytics) or find that you seldom use some of them.

You will save not just hours spent switching between tools but also money on unneeded subscriptions and memberships.

Configure Email Filtering And Rules

The vast majority of us each day get at least a few email promos or newsletters that we should have unsubscribed from long ago. These communications clog up our email inbox, making it more difficult to locate notes from external partners and colleagues that are crucial or time-sensitive.

Set filters to automatically sift through what you need to view immediately against what can wait until later to maintain order in your email inbox. This will help you keep your inbox organized. Filtering through senders is a very efficient and effective kind of life hack. If the sender of an email is not from an address that ends in @yourcompany.com, filter that email into a separate inbox so you may review it later.