1 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:09,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,639 Speaker 1: tip is that what you don't know can't distract you. 4 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: By reducing the number of audio and visual notifications you get, 5 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: you can increase the chances that you focus on whatever 6 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: you choose to focus on. I don't have to tell 7 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: anyone listening to this podcast that the world can be 8 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: a distracting place. Our phones and laptops can wind up 9 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: dinging all day long, to say nothing of people popping by. Now. 10 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:50,520 Speaker 1: To be clear, sometimes things that look like distractions are 11 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: just the nature of collaboration or building your relationships. If 12 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: you work at home, I would suggest not scheduling anything 13 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: un in interruptible for the moment your kids get off 14 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,400 Speaker 1: the bus. They might want to tell you about their days, 15 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: and planning for that is probably better than viewing that 16 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: as a distraction. And if you work at home, you 17 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: actually do want your colleagues to reach out to you 18 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: if doing so means that you are not a bottleneck, 19 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: or if you're able to redirect something that would take 20 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: a long time to unwind. That said, none of this 21 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,040 Speaker 1: is either or, and many of the things that distract 22 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: us do not rise to that level of necessity. The 23 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: key is minimizing the unimportant distractions so that you have 24 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: more bandwidth for getting your work done and properly responding 25 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: to important interactions. So think about what generally happens when 26 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: you get distracted. I know that for many people, being 27 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: able to see that there are unread messages piling up 28 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: in your inbox can make you feel antsy. If this 29 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: is happening on your laptop or desktop, one easy way 30 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: to avoid this feeling is to expand whatever you are 31 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: working on to fill the entire screen. Now you can't 32 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: see the rising number, or the bolded messages, or anything 33 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: else you are still logged in in case this is 34 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: an issue for you, but what you don't know can't 35 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 1: distract you. I would also suggest being judicious about your phone. 36 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: Make sure you have turned off alerts from apps you 37 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: really don't need to know a baseball score or most 38 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: headlines in the middle of a workday when you are 39 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: trying to focus. The trickier area is texts and calls. 40 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: These days, if someone is calling you, it might be 41 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: a colleague who really does need your quick input on something. Indeed, 42 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: many of us tell our colleagues call if it's urgent. 43 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: So one approach is to set your phone to send 44 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: just unknown numbers straight to voicemail, so you don't hear 45 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 1: a ring for SPAN calls. That way, you are only 46 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: hearing a ring when it is people you probably do 47 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:14,239 Speaker 1: wish to hear from. Then look at your text chains. 48 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: Any highly active ones that tend not to be urgent 49 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: can be put into quiet mode. They'll still be there, 50 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: and when you choose to pick up your phone, you 51 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 1: can see that you have forty texts, and you will 52 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: know that the neighborhood association is still figuring out how 53 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: to get people to bring their trash cans in quickly 54 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: after the trash pickup, but you won't hear the dinging 55 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: forty times. I'd say this can even be true with 56 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: colleague group texts. Go ahead and make any of them 57 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: quiet that you don't think are going to be urgent. 58 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: You might be wrong, but most of us pick up 59 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: our phones every thirty minutes or so. Anyway, The goal 60 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: is to get to the end of those thirty minutes 61 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: without having distracted yourself for anything that is not worth 62 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: distracting yourself for now. I know that many of us 63 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: wind up distracting ourselves in various ways, and we need 64 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: to work on that too, But limiting the inputs can 65 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: help a lot. We can't get rid of all of them, 66 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: but we can definitely get rid of some of them. 67 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,360 Speaker 1: What you don't know can't distract you, and in the 68 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: war for attention, every little victory matters. In the meantime. 69 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 70 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to 71 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 72 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,280 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook 73 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:57,599 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b the number 74 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:02,040 Speaker 1: four then breakfast po. You can also shoot me an 75 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:06,359 Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That 76 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks 77 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch. 78 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 79 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 80 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:31,679 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.