The missing step to all Productivity Advice - Disable Notifications

The post argues that productivity advice loses its effect if notifications keep interrupting attention. It recommends disabling notifications on phones, tablets, and computers, keeping only the few that are truly needed, and treating email as an asynchronous channel.

Reading notes

#

• The routine of checking the phone when waking up, reading and sending emails at the breakfast table, and following social media at moments during the day became the norm.
• The author says he read many productivity recommendations and tested several routines, but concluded that none of that works well when notifications remain active.
• The central proposal is to cut all notifications on all devices.
• On the phone, he suggests disabling what is dispensable and keeping only alerts that are really necessary, such as calls, calendar, and travel or transportation apps.
• The text uses the cellphone battery indicator as an example of a passive notification that increases tension and reduces well-being; the same applies to the laptop battery indicator.
• The author says the first days without this type of alert are difficult, but then the person gets used to it and stops caring so much about it.
• Emails are presented as another major source of distraction and wear on productivity.
• The text recommends not checking emails frequently, not opening them in the morning, and dealing with them only two or three times a day.
• If work starts following the flow of emails, the person lets the sender control their routine, their work, and their family.
• Notifications from newsletters, offers, discounts, and spam make attempts to organize email use better useless.
• The author states that, if something is truly important, the phone call will handle it, because email is an asynchronous channel.
• He also advises turning off sound alerts, repeated app animations, instant messaging pings, and notification counters in the dock.
• According to the text, living without notifications reduces interruptions and makes the other productivity tips start to work.
• The page ends with an update to a related article, focused on phones.