Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, text messages, loud cars, noisy neighbours - these are all distractions that could lead to time wasting outcomes. Though we might be aware of it, they can seep into our day and take over. While will power and artificially enforced concentration might work for small distractions, bigger distractions will need to be dealt with better suited tools.
Below are our top 5 tech tips for disengaging from distractions:
Use StayFocusd app: If you find yourself clicking from internet tab to internet tab between work and entertainment sites, StayFocusd can help immensely. This nifty little app can be set up to block any number of sites for extended periods of time. No ability to access the site means no more internet distractions.
Use Boomerang app: Probably, the best email app one can install to manage unnecessary email distractions. Boomerang has one little feature that will easily cut distractions in half. It is called “Inbox Pause”, and it does exactly what you might think: it pauses your inbox. Research shows that the average person spends 28% of their time reading and responding to emails. What is more is that it takes 64 seconds to recover from an email and return to work at the same work rate as before the interruption. Thus, pausing emails can dramatically level-up your productivity.
White noise machine: White noise machines will help block out certain frequencies of distracting noises such as cars or people talking. Sometimes, white noise machines can be great for sleep, especially if we get easily woken up by distracting noises. Here is a list of best white noise machines as recommended by the Sleep Foundation.
Noise cancelling headphones: Good noise cancelling headphones could be quite pricey (around AUD 250 to AUD 400), but it is worth the distraction-free environment that you can take with you virtually anywhere. You do not even need to be listening to music for the noise around you to be almost completely turned off. Putting the headphones on with noise cancelling mode enabled will emit a counteracting sound that will cut out low frequency distraction noise.
Put the smartphone on airplane mode: It sounds simple, but it works every time. Significant percentage of our tech distractions during the day are in the form of checking notifications coming from your phone. By simply cutting off its data connection, we will have no notifications and thus no reason to check it. Another less radical way would be to disable notification from all social media apps and other applications like email, instant messengers etc.
We hope that you will try some of the above tips if you are trying to minimise unnecessary distractions during productive timeslots.
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