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Abstract

heme of my lockdown experience, an example of which can be seen in the first few paragraphs of <a href="https://readmedium.com/be-honest-with-yourself-when-you-write-74f56671984a?source=friends_link&sk=85ecf59ecd3d2c12acf9519ebcedc40f">this recent piece</a>.)I decided that deleting all but a few apps from my phone — keeping only those that I use to write, promote my work and keep in contact with my family (who live back home in Ireland) — and turning off ALL notifications would be a much better approach.(Though admittedly I did turn WhatsApp back on again, in case of emergencies. I have only my family on there and it’s how my partner and I keep in touch when she goes out for the weekly shop etc. But apart from that everything else is either gone or switched off.)The reason for taking such drastic actions during a time where everyone else is keeping in touch and trying to stay more connected with each other is that I could see myself beginning to slip back into my old ways of procrastination and I could also feel my productivity levels and drive beginning to waver.Whilst working from home, fulfilling my regular 9–5 duties, I’d find myself in a nice flow of momentum, making good progress on one of my latest projects and then the phone would beep, vibrate or I’d notice a notification symbol flash up on the screen and, of course, I’d have to look.Breaking my concentration and causing me to avert my attention to something that usually turned out to be a waste of time or trivial.Then there have been times when I’d sit down to write, excited and motivated, ideas on the tip of my tongue/fingertip

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s, knowing what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it and then, beep beep, another damn notification.Thirty minutes later, after getting caught up in the latest sports news or having wasted time playing a silly game, I’d finally snap out of it, remember what I was supposed to be doing and proceed to go in search of that drive and those ideas once again.Yes, I could have stayed strong and practised better self-discipline but at times that’s easier said than done and perhaps it’s something for me to work on in the future.But for now, I’m sticking with this little experiment and although it’s only been a few days, so far, it’s been a positive experience.I’ve been inspired to limit the things that didn’t align with my current goals which in turn caused me to clean up my email inbox, unsubscribing from various mailing lists and aiming to receive only information that will be of benefit to me either now or in the near future.I’ve also felt a positive shift in my mindset with thought patterns focused only on my goals instead of being pulled in a number of different directions throughout the day.As mentioned above, this, much as the case for most things that I do, is an experiment in trying to change my life for the better.Who knows, in a week or two I may find that turning off all emails, messages and notifications has a downside and adjustments to this approach will have to be made.But for now, I’m happy with how things are going and I’m hoping that these new changes will have a knock-on effect as I continue to chase my goals and become a better version of myself.</article></body>

Limit Your Distractions, Turn off ALL Notifications. You’ll Feel Damn Good About It Afterwards

In a time where connecting, staying in touch and being in the know has been elevated to a new status of importance, I’ve decided to go in the opposite direction and put a limit on the amount of information being pushed through my mobile phone and the results have been nothing short of positive.

For the past four weeks of lockdown, with nothing much to do outside of working or going for a walk around the block, I’ve found my attention drawn towards electronic devices a lot more than usual.

Mainly in the direction of my mobile phone.

I’ve downloaded more apps over the past thirty days than I have done all year.

Everything from games to social media to news applications.

Anything to keep me entertained for an hour or two and distracted from the boredom which can occur on a daily basis.

But as a result of this influx in time-wasting apps being downloaded, I’ve been bombarded with notifications seemingly non-stop for weeks.

Of course, I could have easily turned off those of no interest to me and kept only the ‘important’ ones but I didn’t, instead, I opted for another extreme.

(Taking drastic measure seems to be the theme of my lockdown experience, an example of which can be seen in the first few paragraphs of this recent piece.)

I decided that deleting all but a few apps from my phone — keeping only those that I use to write, promote my work and keep in contact with my family (who live back home in Ireland) — and turning off ALL notifications would be a much better approach.

(Though admittedly I did turn WhatsApp back on again, in case of emergencies. I have only my family on there and it’s how my partner and I keep in touch when she goes out for the weekly shop etc. But apart from that everything else is either gone or switched off.)

The reason for taking such drastic actions during a time where everyone else is keeping in touch and trying to stay more connected with each other is that I could see myself beginning to slip back into my old ways of procrastination and I could also feel my productivity levels and drive beginning to waver.

Whilst working from home, fulfilling my regular 9–5 duties, I’d find myself in a nice flow of momentum, making good progress on one of my latest projects and then the phone would beep, vibrate or I’d notice a notification symbol flash up on the screen and, of course, I’d have to look.

Breaking my concentration and causing me to avert my attention to something that usually turned out to be a waste of time or trivial.

Then there have been times when I’d sit down to write, excited and motivated, ideas on the tip of my tongue/fingertips, knowing what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it and then, beep beep, another damn notification.

Thirty minutes later, after getting caught up in the latest sports news or having wasted time playing a silly game, I’d finally snap out of it, remember what I was supposed to be doing and proceed to go in search of that drive and those ideas once again.

Yes, I could have stayed strong and practised better self-discipline but at times that’s easier said than done and perhaps it’s something for me to work on in the future.

But for now, I’m sticking with this little experiment and although it’s only been a few days, so far, it’s been a positive experience.

I’ve been inspired to limit the things that didn’t align with my current goals which in turn caused me to clean up my email inbox, unsubscribing from various mailing lists and aiming to receive only information that will be of benefit to me either now or in the near future.

I’ve also felt a positive shift in my mindset with thought patterns focused only on my goals instead of being pulled in a number of different directions throughout the day.

As mentioned above, this, much as the case for most things that I do, is an experiment in trying to change my life for the better.

Who knows, in a week or two I may find that turning off all emails, messages and notifications has a downside and adjustments to this approach will have to be made.

But for now, I’m happy with how things are going and I’m hoping that these new changes will have a knock-on effect as I continue to chase my goals and become a better version of myself.