Coming from the background of Product Management, I had come to accept notifications as a necessary evil.
Email, Slack, text, calls, support messages, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, GroupMe, and so on.
I was obsessed with being available for my team to support them on a moment’s notice to get the ball out of my court (my mantra as a PM) and never be the bottleneck.
But as of late, my greatest ally has been Do Not Disturb on both my cell phone and my laptop. I am no longer jarred from what I’m doing (normally something important) to do something urgent but less important.
It’s improved my focus, deepened my conversations, allowed for more productive, shorter bursts, and less general cognitive noise.
I’ve reclaimed my time as my time. And if I so choose, I cannot be disturbed.