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Being productive is often presented as a lifestyle – get up early, learn to block time, practice a healthy lifestyle, use the right tools – you name it. The promise is that when you’re taking full control of your time and work environment, you’ll perform at your best.
While there is definitely some truth to this, all of us think there’s one little thing that may undo most of your productivity gains – notifications.
Nowadays, as an entrepreneur or manager, your attention is consistently being drawn from all directions. Urgent requests, project updates, general communication, team member questions, sales pitches, impromptu meetings… and that is just work. There is also life – social media, personal messages and conversations, news, parcel deliveries.
Every interruption is accompanied by a notification – a beep, pop-up, vibration or call – all designed to immediately grab your attention. This releases dopamine, which makes you are feeling good, and a heavy dose of cortisol, which creates a sense of urgency.
This kills you and your team’s productivity.
Here’s how and what to do about it.
A note on productivity
The holy grail of productivity is achieving a state of flow. In on a regular basis life we often call this being in the zone, riding the wave, or being locked in. Simply put, it’s that moment when you are working and fully focused on the task at hand, effortlessly making progress when time seems to disappear.
When you are in a state of flow, your personal productivity is at its peak.
Most productivity techniques are simply different methods to show you how to achieve this state:
- Pomodoro timers? Give yourself a runway to work non-stop
- Time block? Get rid of distractions for a longer time
- Eat a frog? Do the most vital thing first so that it doesn’t hassle you and distract you for the remainder of the day
Productivity is all about maximizing focus and minimizing distractions. And there’s science behind it. Research suggests that once you distract yourself, that is enough up to 23 minutes to fully focus on the task in which you were engaged.
The reason is twofold.
First of all, humans are absolutely terrible at multitasking. It has been proven time and time again that we peak when we dive deep into one task. While it’s definitely possible to juggle multiple tasks at once – all of us do all of it the time – your attention is a finite resource that dwindles the more it is divided.
Second, when it comes to work, we will not go from 0 to 100 all at once. Getting into the flow of things requires dynamism – acclimating and reorienting ourselves to the context, purpose, workflow, and progress of a specific task. Once momentum is lost, it should be rebuilt, and this takes time, energy and willpower.
Notifications – the productivity vampire
You probably already see where I’m going. Notifications are the number one biggest threat to your productivity because:
- Break your concentration and derail your train of thought
- Increase your stress levels by creating a constant sense of urgency
- Develop a culture of immediate response, leading to shallow work
- Contribute to decision fatigue by draining your willpower throughout the day
For some, the negative effects may go beyond this. As mentioned, notifications create a dopamine-driven feedback loop that will be addictive. Each bump or vibration causes a small release of dopamine, making us feel temporarily good and necessary. This constant stream of small rewards can lead to a compulsive need to check our devices, even when there are no notifications.
Over time, this behavior can rewire our brains, making it difficult to concentrate on deep, meaningful work. We change into accustomed to constant stimulation, which makes it difficult to engage in the focused, uninterrupted work that drives true productivity and innovation.
Fix in 5 minutes
Turn off notifications and, if possible, let your team do the same. You can do it now, in just a few moments – take your devices to work, step inside Settings > Notificationsand either turn them off or delay them.
- Too drastic?
- Mute individual apps.
- Are you fearful about being unreachable?
- Leave a contact channel open in emergency situations.
- Do you have any other reason?
Consider implementing a notification schedule. Set specific times of the day to check and respond to messages. This allows you to stay connected without constant interruptions. On most devices, you too can use (*5*) modes, which will be customized to allow calls from specific contacts or repeat calls in emergencies. Remember, it’s about finding a balance that works – one that enables you to focus your time on your work while still maintaining essential communication.
It’s not only about you
As a leader, you explicitly and implicitly dictate how the people you manage work. If you are “always on,” your team will feel pressure to do the same. There are also strong power dynamics at play – who will dare ignore a message from the CEO, even if it’s only for a few hours? This creates a culture of interruption that may significantly reduce overall productivity.
If you notice the harmful effects of notifications, lead by example and free your team from them too. Establish clear communication guidelines that respect work time and encourage your team to block out periods for deep work.
Listen, I’m a CEO and father of two – I fully understand that we live in an era of immediacy, constant communication and incredibly accelerated workflows. Not everyone can switch off for long periods of time, even if it’s just an hour or two.
Just keep in mind that notifications can derail any other productivity efforts – and blocking them is the simplest way to start improving your productivity.