Always checking the phone ?

How to stop constantly checking your phone 

Leadership Tip of week#105

adapted from HBR

It can be hard to focus with all that beeping and buzzing from your phone. I know, it can really create distractions and reduce effectiveness.

Fortunately, there are simple ways to reduce distractions.

1. Start by turning off push notifications.
2. If that doesn’t help, use airplane mode to limit interruptions when you’re trying to focus.
3. If the idea of being out of touch gives you anxiety, you can always make exceptions for specific numbers, such as those of loved ones or important business colleagues.
4. Try to check email, instant messages, social media, and text messages in batches, rather than sporadically throughout the day. “Just quickly checking” anything, even for one-tenth of a second, can add up to major productivity losses — it can take an average of 23 minutes to get back in the zone after task switching.
5. It’s OK to not respond immediately to a message. Aside from the benefit of giving you more uninterrupted focus time, delaying can lead to better decision-making by giving you more time to think about your response.

This tip is adapted from “10 Quick Tips for Avoiding Distractions at Work,” by Steve Glaveski