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Abstract

fit:800/1*[email protected]"><figcaption>My Focus Modes (From Author)</figcaption></figure><h1 id="621d">First I will go through the Benefits of Focus Modes :</h1><ul><li><b>Silences all the notifications</b> except for the important ones which you explicitly mention to show up.</li><li><b>Hides the super Addictive Red Notification Badge</b>, which kicks our OCD and our urge to open the application to make it unread, and eventually losing 50 minutes of our valuable time to the endless scrolling.</li><li><b>Customize the Screen for each focus mode respectively</b>.</li><li><b>Fewer Distractions during a meeting or an online class</b>.</li><li>Enabling the focus mode on my iPhone syncs with all my other gadgets like iPad and iWatch. (<b>For me a single Tap silences 3 Gadgets</b>)</li></ul><h1 id="afc5">Steps to Configure the Focus Modes :</h1><ul><li>Go to Settings, and go to Focus</li><li>Tap on the + button on the top right.</li><li>Select any pre-configured or create a custom one (My recommendation would be create a custom).</li><li>Enter the name that you would like to keep, select the color and emoji of it.</li><li>Select the Notifications from the People who are important to you, family members, Boss, friends, or partners.</li><li>Select the Important apps for the notifications (My Recommendation — Calendar, E-Mails, Work IMs)</li></ul><figure id="b18d"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*[email protected]"><figcaption>Option inside the Focus Mode (From Author)</figcaption></figure><h1 id="0750">Few Tips :</h1><ul><li>I have selected University Email, University WebEx for Study focus mode (When I am at a Lecture, or Studying) <b>and</b> Work Email, Work Slack Application for Work Focus (When I am Working), this helps me to focus only on one thing at a time and not overlap my study and work hours.</li><li>You can schedule or Automate the Focus modes based on Time, Location, or App. I have scheduled my focus modes based on my Lecture, Work timings.</li><li>Enable the Hide Notification Badge and trust me it will make you less tempted to click on an App.</li><li>Since you can have specific screens for specific focus modes — Create multiple home screens where you have only productivity-related apps and hide the distracting apps during the Focus Modes.</li><li>You can permanently reduce the Notification Badge of the Emails to make it more organized and clean by reading thi

Options

s article on <a href="https://readmedium.com/reaching-zero-mail-inbox-effortlessly-dcd295aba3d4">how to reach Zero Mail Inbox Effortlessly</a></li></ul><div id="c96b" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/reaching-zero-mail-inbox-effortlessly-dcd295aba3d4"> <div> <div> <h2>Reaching Zero Mail Inbox Effortlessly</h2> <div><h3>Wipe out the spam from your inbox forever in no time</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*tXhptwqBX0vVMdb4)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><figure id="99d0"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*[email protected]"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure id="2398"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*[email protected]"><figcaption>Before (No Focus Mode - with Notification Badges) And After (Work Mode — without Notification Badges) — By Author</figcaption></figure><h2 id="a59f">Conclusion</h2><ul><li>Smartphones should be used consciously and never more than that, make sure you limit your screen time and FOCUS ON THE REAL WORLD</li><li>Always use focus modes, whenever you are working, studying or anything that needs your 100% concentration - You have no idea how much time you lose just because of a single tap on the screen.</li><li>The above configurations are shown for iPhones (ios), but I am sure there are similar features in Android as well.</li></ul><h1 id="c612">Connect</h1><ul><li><i>I will regularly be posting about Organizing and Productivity.</i></li><li><i>You can connect/follow me on <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/ajain108">LinkedIn</a>, and on <a href="https://iamanjain.medium.com/">Medium</a> too.</i></li><li><i>Feel free to buy me a <a href="https://ko-fi.com/iamanjain">Coffee</a>!</i></li><li><i>You can become a member of Medium by <a href="https://iamanjain.medium.com/membership">signing up here</a> and if you would like to get notified of my articles you can <a href="https://iamanjain.medium.com/subscribe">subscribe here</a>.</i></li><li><i>If you run into any issues regarding this topic, do not hesitate to comment on the article or DM me on LinkedIn, I will try to revert as fast as possible.</i></li></ul></article></body>

How A Minor Smartphone Trick helped me gain my Focus Back

Do not let the smartphone consume you, have control over it.

There are always distractions, IF you allow them - Tony La Russa

Let me be honest, most of us have been struggling with the issue of over usage of smartphones which is definitely making us less Productive, deviating from focus, and lazier and lazier.

I have been a smartphone addict as well mostly because I am a huge fan of football and was enormously active on Twitter because of it. There were times when I have spent 4–5 Hours on Twitter in a single day for weeks.

While Working, Studying, or Travelling I was continuously barraged by the notifications from the Applications on my phone, and clicking on one of them, was bait and resulted in at least 50–60 minutes of scrolling.

Football App Notifications (From Author)

I started to turn off my Data which was helping me a lot, but I realized there were some important notifications which I was missing like an important call from my Mother over WhatApp 👵 ❤️ (As I live in another country), University Emails, Work Emails, Work messages on Slack and many more…

I already knew the Do Not Disturb feature on iPhone but had never explored it. (Which I regret now, else I would have saved a lot of time)

I came across some latest updates on ios which had some additional focus features, I was quite eager to experiment with it. BINGO! THAT EXPERIMENT WAS A LIFE CHANGER FOR ME!

The Focus features on the iPhone are extremely powerful, unexplored, and underrated. It helps you to limit your notifications while you are focusing on your Work, Studies, or, whatever.

First I will go through the Benefits of Focus Modes :

Silences all the notifications except for the important ones which you explicitly mention to show up.
Hides the super Addictive Red Notification Badge, which kicks our OCD and our urge to open the application to make it unread, and eventually losing 50 minutes of our valuable time to the endless scrolling.
Customize the Screen for each focus mode respectively.
Fewer Distractions during a meeting or an online class.
Enabling the focus mode on my iPhone syncs with all my other gadgets like iPad and iWatch. (For me a single Tap silences 3 Gadgets)

Steps to Configure the Focus Modes :

Go to Settings, and go to Focus
Tap on the + button on the top right.
Select any pre-configured or create a custom one (My recommendation would be create a custom).
Enter the name that you would like to keep, select the color and emoji of it.
Select the Notifications from the People who are important to you, family members, Boss, friends, or partners.
Select the Important apps for the notifications (My Recommendation — Calendar, E-Mails, Work IMs)

Option inside the Focus Mode (From Author)

Few Tips :

I have selected University Email, University WebEx for Study focus mode (When I am at a Lecture, or Studying) and Work Email, Work Slack Application for Work Focus (When I am Working), this helps me to focus only on one thing at a time and not overlap my study and work hours.
You can schedule or Automate the Focus modes based on Time, Location, or App. I have scheduled my focus modes based on my Lecture, Work timings.
Enable the Hide Notification Badge and trust me it will make you less tempted to click on an App.
Since you can have specific screens for specific focus modes — Create multiple home screens where you have only productivity-related apps and hide the distracting apps during the Focus Modes.
You can permanently reduce the Notification Badge of the Emails to make it more organized and clean by reading this article on how to reach Zero Mail Inbox Effortlessly

Reaching Zero Mail Inbox Effortlessly

Wipe out the spam from your inbox forever in no time

medium.com

Before (No Focus Mode - with Notification Badges) And After (Work Mode — without Notification Badges) — By Author

Conclusion

Smartphones should be used consciously and never more than that, make sure you limit your screen time and FOCUS ON THE REAL WORLD
Always use focus modes, whenever you are working, studying or anything that needs your 100% concentration - You have no idea how much time you lose just because of a single tap on the screen.
The above configurations are shown for iPhones (ios), but I am sure there are similar features in Android as well.

Connect

I will regularly be posting about Organizing and Productivity.
You can connect/follow me on LinkedIn, and on Medium too.
Feel free to buy me a Coffee!
You can become a member of Medium by signing up here and if you would like to get notified of my articles you can subscribe here.
If you run into any issues regarding this topic, do not hesitate to comment on the article or DM me on LinkedIn, I will try to revert as fast as possible.