I get it, cell phones are great.
So many benefits come with them.
But...is being available 24/7 one of them?
Here comes a clear 'hell fucking noooo' from my side!
Exploring a new city and being able to google map your way around town...freaking awesome!
No more need to take a bulky camera with you - cause you got this on your phone.
Same goes for music - no more of carrying around a mp3-player with you.
Or now grasp and let that sink in: a walk-man! Oh, the super young folks won't even know what that is 🙈 Kiddo, if that is you - then ask ChatGPT or Claude or Google: "WTF is a walk-man?!"
Ok, let's get back to our notifications!
Turning those off on your phone is one of the best productivity-hacks ever IMHO - and keeping the damn cell phone in silent mode. Unless you are a physician saving lives - then there are other rules for your phone!
But for us normal non-saving life folks: I only have my phone in normal (not silent) mode when waiting for a call, otherwise not.
No notifications ever - which results in checking my phone whenever I wanna check it - and not when some annoying beepy noise tells me to check.
I still spend too much time on my phone though - but turning off notifications and silent mode make it super easy for me to focus on tasks without getting distracted and that's a big benefit!
So, what about you? Are you a slave to your phone notifications or have you figured out a way to get less distracted? Hit reply and let me know!
xo-Phyllis
P.S. this was my latest newsletter. If you enjoyed reading, you can subscribe right here!
https://phyllistulaszewski.kit.com/1fa54ee96d