Desktop distractions are trickier than mobile notifications: they could be important, so you still have to check them.
Tip 1: Block distracting websites
Avoid getting distracted by your go-to websites
The internet is a great place, but there are a lot of distractions too.
Set up a schedule to block distracting websites during working hours
With Freedom, you can create a schedule to block distracting websites during working hours. Instead of seeing your go-to distracting news website this screen pops up:
Freedom uses a proxy server to block websites - this is not allowed for all companies. Check with your administrator if this tool is allowed.
How to set up Freedom
Create a schedule for blocking ‘fun’ stuff. Set up a schedule from 9 AM - 18 PM to block:
- News websites
- Social media (if you’re FB marketer, whitelist business.facebook.com)
- Cryptocurrency
- Any other websites that are not work related and distract you
Pro tip: Create a schedule to block email in the morning
To help you defend the morning clarity, block Gmail on desktop from 7AM - 10AM. Besides blocking it on desktop, use Quiet for Gmail to block receiving emails in the morning on mobile too.
Start small & learn what works for you over time
Start small. Don’t block everything all the time. It’s also good to give yourself a break and some distraction - but control those time slots to make sure the time spent doing other things doesn’t escalate. Check social media around lunch time and unblock Instagram between 1PM - 2PM.
Tip 2: Turn off WhatsApp desktop notifications
Avoid getting distracted by WhatsApp (group) notifications
Deep work means you get way more work done. The problem with WhatsApp on Desktop is that you get distracted from the messages coming in.
To be clear: It’s completely fine to read your messages when you’re having a break. It’s probably even faster to reply on a desktop by typing on a real keyboard.
How to solve getting distracted from Whatsapp during working hours
What you’re trying to accomplish is to batch read the messages. Respond to the messages after you’ve done a deep work block of 90 minutes.
Go inside the desktop app and turn off notifications. You can also turn off the app while you work in deep mode.
Reduce stress and avoid WhatsApp as a communication channel for work
If you use WhatsApp for business communication, I recommend changing it. Using WhatsApp opens the door for responding to it on the weekends too. Read the chapter on communication guidelines later in this guide to set up guidelines for when to use WhatsApp in your team.
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Tip 3: Don’t work from your email inbox all day
Email is important, but not urgent (most of the time).
Email contains important work. But usually, it’s other people’s important work. If you respond to every bit of information coming your way, you’ll never work on your own list. The result is that you’ll be stressed, overwhelmed and overworked.
If you work from your inbox, you probably are busy but not contributing to creating a larger impact. For that reason, spending the entire day in your email inbox is a big no-no. The only exception is if you work in customer support or sales. If you don’t know what to work on, set goals and create a list of projects to work on.
Solve this by having fixed times to check email
Set up 3 times a day to check your email, e.g.:
- 10AM
- After lunch
- End of day
If you have a meeting at the time of the email slot, just move it or skip a slot. If you check email twice a day, that’s still good enough.
Pro tip: Don’t open email before 10 AM
If you work the first 60-90 minutes of the day without any interruptions from email, you can accomplish a lot.
Practical tips from 10 years running growth teams - translated into practical tips & insights you can implement directly.
Tip 4: Turn off desktop email notifications
Avoid getting distracted by incoming emails in real-time
Seeing an email from your boss coming in, it’s appealing to have a quick look. The truth is, that it’s better to finish what you’re working on and then read the email.
However, if you’ve seen it come in, you still think about it.
Turn off email desktop notifications to prevent getting distracted
Every notification you receive is a distraction. That holds true for email as well. Although it’s work related, you still get distracted from it.
Stick to the time slots you’ve planned to read email and work on more meaningful work in the meantime.
Tip 5: Turn off ‘Unread message icon' icon in Gmail
Avoid being distracted by the ‘number of unread messages icon’
If you are anything like me, you get distracted by the little red dot with a number inside the browser tab of Gmail.
Solve it by turning off the ‘unread message icon’ inside Gmail
Go to Advanced settings to turn off the unread message icon:
Tip 6: Hide your inbox and keep using the Gmail search
Avoid responding to emails outside of ‘email time’ when finding an email
When you work proactively on important work, sometimes you need information from an email like a file, a phone number or an attachment.
What could happen is that you feel the urge to start responding to that one email. Before you know it, you’ve replied to all of your emails and didn’t work on that important task.
Block your inbox view and still use the search functionality
My inbox looks like this with Inbox when Ready:
The solution is the tool Inbox when Ready. You can still open Gmail and use the search functionality to find the information you need. But all ‘new emails’ are hidden by a screen. If you don’t see the new emails, you can’t get distracted by them.
Note: when you use the free version, a link will be added to all the emails you send out. Trust me: the paid version is worth it!
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Master your focus
Minimise distractions from your devices, get control by keeping your focus and feel on top of work, instead of being distracted and feeling overwhelmed.
