Stop the noise and stay productive.
If you are one of my clients, have heard me speak, or read prior blog posts, you know that I’m an advocate for shutting off notifications. What do others in the small business arena say? You would think that a Social Media Expert would say to stay connected but Giselle Aguiar of AZ Social Media Wiz suggests shutting off notifications too! Here you can learn three ways to create silence and stop the noise.
Margo Crawford–Productivity Coach
Ding! Brrring! Tada! Whatever noise your mobile device makes when you get a notification can drive you crazy! Even wake you up at night!
Stop the Madness!
Here are three quick fixes to tame the bells & pop-ups:
Shut off notification emails on each of your social media networks. When you set up your accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn – all of them – it defaults to sending you an email every time someone you’re following does something. So & so just followed you! So & so just shared your post! You don’t need to know all this. Go into the “Settings” area of each account and find the “Notifications” to turn them off.
Shut off notifications on your devices. Or at least silence them. On my iPhone, I have it set on “Do Not Disturb” from 9pm – 7am. However, there is a setting that allows calls to come through if they call twice within a few minutes or if the person is in your “favorites”. You can allow the notifications to show a badge or a number on the network’s respective app icon. If you don’t have an iPhone, there should be a place in the settings where you can manage the notifications for each app. I have an Android tablet and I only allow notifications from certain apps and they just come up on the screen silently. Get to know your devices.
At night, turn your phone upside down. My phone sits on my nightstand charging overnight upside down. Every time a notification comes in, it glows. Put it face down or cover it.
We live in a world of technology, mobile devices, and instant communications. It’s OK to shut it all off every so often and take a break. The world won’t end if you don’t respond in 30-seconds.
Giselle Aguiar, founder of AZ Social Media Wiz is a social media, inbound and content marketing strategist & trainer helping business owners learn how to leverage the power of social media marketing, increase traffic to their websites, generate leads, increase brand awareness and establish themselves as experts in their fields. She’s the official Social Media, Newsletter and Blog Manager for Greater Phoenix SCORE and offers Social media classes at the new AZ Social Media Training Center. 602-738-1700. You can connect with Giselle online at LinkedIn or on Google+.
Margo Crawford is a Productivity Coach and Professional Organizer with Wave Productivity. She works with entrepreneurs, small business owners and business professionals to help them get more focused, organized and productive in their workplace. She coaches nationally by phone and in person in Phoenix, Providence and Boston. If you want to get more organized in your office call 602-677-8275 or email [email protected].