Phones are pretty great. They entertain us, they keep us connected to the world, they capture and keep our memories for us, and so much more. They do so much for us that smartphones have become our 5th limb. When was the last time you left the house without your phone? How long after you woke up this morning did you look at your phone? How long did you look at your phone for in bed before going to sleep? No matter how hard we’re focusing on a task, no matter what we’re doing, that harmless, little notification ding specifically designed to catch your attention, will pull you straight out of your concentration zone so you can’t help but look at your phone. Whether you know it or not, this happens, but there is a way to minimise this.

Put your phone on do not disturb. It will help you keep your attention and stop that actually not so harmless ding from ruining your focus. Do not disturb will allow you to check your phone notifications when you want to and when you have the time to give your focus to it, rather than when the sender of the notification says you should focus on it, allowing space and time for you to give all of your attention to the task at hand. You’ll also be surprised how much this technique will help your happiness, as suggested by David Gelles in his book ‘Mindful Work’ saying: “Digital distraction is a recipe for unhappiness.”

As well as do not disturb stopping notifications coming through, it can stop you thinking about the potential notifications that might come through. With your phone always on, you’re constantly waiting for the next notification to distract you, always living a few moments in the future, expecting a notification any second, taking you away from the present and away from the current activity. Do not disturb will let you check your notifications in your own time, bringing you back to the present moment and allowing you to focus and be more mindful.

Taking this one step further would be to take a little time out of your day physically away from your phone. Go to the shops without it, go for a walk without it, have it in a different room while you work. At first it’ll probably be very strange not to have your phone in your pocket, as it was for me when I started doing this, but after a while you will get more and more used to it and you’ll start to feel more and more relaxed and present.

It’s not easy to turn these tips into a habit. It took me a while to get used to not looking at my phone, and honestly it actually got worse before it got better. Having my phone on do not disturb all the time meant that technically there always could be a notification there, kind of like some sort of twisted schrodinger’s cat, which actually made me check my phone more. However, the more I practised it, the more I got used to being away from my phone, and eventually started to become much more relaxed and focused throughout the day.

There are different settings you can choose, for example you can block out calls except from certain people, etc. Also if someone calls you twice within 3 minutes, the second call will not be silenced so that someone can get in contact with you in an emergency. My friends and family are aware of this so if they need to get in contact with me urgently, they will call twice in a row. If not, they know that I look at my phone every couple of hours or so, so I’ll get back to them within an hour or two.

This technique has genuinely really helped me concentrate throughout the day and has helped me become more mindful, relaxed and focused so I really recommend you try it.

Books Mentioned:

• Mindful Work - David Gelles