Page 15 - J2TEAM-Community-RescueTime-Focus-Guide

So while it might be difficult to adjust to, try turning off email
notifications and setting just a few specific times aside for checking
your inbox. Put your entire inbox on pause, if you need to. You might
find you feel better overall, even if the immediate change is tough.

■ MAKE REWARDS LESS VARIABLE ■
Since our addiction to our phones and social media tends to be a
result of the variable nature of the rewards we get, making those
rewards more predictable can help us cut down on our obsessive
behaviors.

For any service that offers a daily digest of updates rather than
immediate notifications, try turning that on. You’ll get a predictable
daily roundup of everything that’s new, so you’ll stay in the loop
without checking several times a day for a new reward.

For instance, Google Groups offer various email notification options
to choose from, depending on how quickly you want to be updated
about new posts. You can choose to receive an email about every new
post, a digest after every 25 new posts, or just a single daily digest of
new activity.

For services that don’t offer this feature built-in, you can use Zapier’s
Digest feature to create your own. For any of Zapier’s 750+ connected
apps, you can use Digest to create a daily roundup of updates you care
about. You can even decide where to have your digest sent, so if email
isn’t your thing you could use a Slack channel instead, for instance.

If you’re struggling with notification overload or addiction to your
phone, rest assured you’re not alone. Not only is this a common
problem, but it’s a tough one to solve because many product designers
want to keep us in this state.

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