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It's not just Slack. It's our phones! Notifications are distraction engines. At the beginning of March, I went cold turkey on most social media (I still allow
by beat 8y ago
It's not just Slack. It's our phones! Notifications are distraction engines.
At the beginning of March, I went cold turkey on most social media (I still allow myself HN and a guitar player's forum), and completely cold turkey on using my phone for these things - I have to use an actual computer. I put Kindle where Facebook used to be on my phone, and always have a book on it that can be read in small bites for those "OMG I AM BORED FOR TWO MINUTES" moments, and I carry a Kindle Paperwhite with longer-form reading for lunchtime and such.
My brain feels amazingly different. I'm more aware and happier. I'm getting more work done. My stress levels are way down. My book-reading rate has at least tripled.
This article refers a lot to Cal Newport's excellent Deep Work, but I wish it also referred to his more recent Digital Minimalism, which is full of useful advice for limiting the ways social media and instant messaging undermine our productivity and happiness.
- chungleong 8y agoThe thing that I really miss about old Windows Phone is the lack of notifications. They're almost never that time critical. Having the same info on a live tile was so much better. The info streams were properly segregated and I had control over their prioritization through tile layout: important stuff at near the top, shown in a wide tile; stupid stuff near the bottom, in a small tile.
- gamma3 8y agoI've done the same - replace social media with Kindle. It's so good. And lock screen notifications are off for all apps. I only see a notification badge when I decide to pick up and unlock my phone.