Tag: disconnection

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Turn Off My Notifications!? Yes,Disconnection Is A Superpower In 2016

We all connect too much

Who can’t reach you these days?

I don’t know a single person that doesn’t have at least 3 different ways to contact them at any given time. Whether its your Blackberry, Slack, Twitter, or your iPhone, everyone can reach anyone.

We lose our edge because of it. We get trapped in a world of availability, so the boundaries that used to serve us don’t exist any more.

It’s hard to turn away, but I would posit to you that you miss out on your best work because of it. So, to get some of that space back, I recommend something really simple.

Turn off your notifications.

It took me some time to understand this concept of “denotifiying”, and it started from something you wouldn’t expect – decluttering my apartment.

Losing my keys for the last time.

I had enough. I lived in a one bedroom apartment, and it took me almost 20 minutes to find my keys. After flipping over the foot massager and the ‘other’ winter jacket, I came to the realization that I had way to much stuff.

I decided, right then and there, that I needed to get rid of the stuff, and I needed to do it permanently. A clean up wouldn’t do, I needed space.

So I decided to take all my stuff, and do a full audit. Everything I had been accounted for, down to the last sock. I realized that I didn’t use 80% of the stuff I owned, so I got some boxes together and just put them away.

Freedom

I didn’t notice much change at first – the biggest change was cleaning my apartment now took minutes instead of an hour.

Stemming from that change – I’ve started to see fluff, and realizing that its easier to toss fluff then think about it. I didn’t miss my concert tee-shirt nor did I miss that damned foot massager.

I took away instead of adding, and I got a huge boost in my life. It planted the seeds of disconnection to me.

How did we get there?

So, I lived this clutter free life physically. Keeping my apartment clean became easy. I never lost my keys again. Getting dressed in the morning was quick. Washing dishes is a ton easier when you don’t have 10 plates.

It then occurred to me, if my physical life is so clear, why can’t my digital one be as well?

For a place I spend so much time in, (I had three cell phones,Twitter,Slack,Facebook, and all the other ding apps) I constantly got distracted. It was the mental equal to losing my keys, every time I looked at my phone.

So I cut my notifications off

Bam. Done. Someone just dropped their phone as they read this. I did it as a test. I put my phone in my pocket, and after a few tempting pocket grabs, I settled.

The first day I did this, I didn’t notice any change, and then a few more went by. I soon realized I didn’t miss anything.

I still got to my email,Facebook,Twitter, and all things Adam in plenty of time. No one even knew, and I am better people still don’t know until they read this, that I have done it for months.

How did it help?

I’ve made the best decisions I’ve made in my life over the last few months. I listen more intently. I walk around more present.  Its been a superpower for me over the last few months because I don’t feel that attachment to notifications I used to have.

Think about it? If you were able to not look at your cell phone, how many blog posts could you do, deep work you could do, LinkedIn Pulse posts you could make?

I’ve blogged consistently ever since I made that decision, and my personal network and blog have both been at personal peaks.

No one is saying go into the woods

Although it’s an option. I’ve experimented with the idea of leaving my phone at home all day, cutting it off for an hour, and hiding it in a drawer. All these things work, and improved my output. Don’t be afraid of it.

We have too much connection sometimes. It’s great that I have a cell phone and look up who my next network connection is, but a lot of time, we spend time looking over, waiting for, and ultimately wasting away out time.

Spend some time trying turning off the notifications on your phone, and notice a change. It’s the opportunity to have a superpower in 2016.

This is a post I created over at LinkedIn. I write these, every Wednesday. Let’s connect – Find it and other posts here. 

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Dedicating Some Time To Think

Dedicating time to think is critical

We live in a world where we are constantly connected.

There is no time where we don’t hear  the sound of a click, ding , or whistle. It feeds us a nice measure of dopamine. We keep it around.  It sounds good to always be there, to be connected. It keeps us “busy”.

But the thing that allows us to grow is a dedicated time to think, a time to sit back, unpack,  and understand. We can’t just keep making, it is necessary to sit and think.

Take some time when you can and get away. To capture this effectively, its imperative you sit down away from the action to reflect. Don’t be afraid to turn everything off.

So, just try it.

Turn off your phone, leave it in your dresser, and drive or walk to a local coffee shop or park.

Just bring a pen and a pad. Sit there, and just start writing down everything.

No, dedicate the time

 

Take the time to put this in your calendar, and make the effort to follow it. Everything in your being won’t like it. For people who make stuff happen, or just trying to mellow out, it won’t feel natural.

But take the time, and I know that all sorts of interesting experiments will come out the other end. We live in a world that is far to concerned with the idea of connecting and being in the know, when we have a great resource sitting between our heads.

The next great ideas are in you. Trust that they are and take the time to find them out. It isn’t going to turn over into a paycheck, and there is no ROI that is apparent, but getting closer to yourself by dedicating time to think is something that separates us from the drones.

I wrote about something like this over at LinkedIn, take a look

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You Should Disconnect – If You Want To Be Better Than Before

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Disconnection is a bad word to most people. To even suggest it is offensive to some. We are so connected with all of our tools and gadgets that the idea of being out of reach seems foreign to most people. With our connection to our cell phones, constant internet access, and social media – everyone has turned into a 24/7 machine. We beckon to the blink of the notification. In my experience instead of being connected with the world, we find ourselves scattered. Each blink buzz or ring takes us away from what we are doing and keeps us in a state of constant distraction. By learning how to single task and how to set boundaries, our disconnection becomes a real strength that allows us to recharge and gain some control back into our lives.

Life is overwhelming. The lines have blurred with respect to work and life, and now you can find yourself answering emails during a baseball game or doing grocery shopping at the office. Sorry to break it to you but you can’t multi-task. Instead of getting things done ,you lose out on the magic game or the depth of the project for the sake of “efficiency”. This is what we are taught, but the science is clear that this only hampers and doesn’t help. To multi-task is to give in, and to give in is to miss the chance to focus on your work completely. The real power in any task is a real connection and focus on what you do.

Boundaries are scary. Generally, when we are given access to a network and no one says anything, we expect the connection 24/7. Without boundaries though, you are at the whim to the reaction, and not the response. Boundaries allow real detachment, and create focus by creating restriction. If you know that you leave out of the office by 5, then you know that you will need to prioritize instead of being at the whim of the world around you. By setting those boundaries and being forced to prioritize, you now get some control with your actions and you are able to respond to emergencies in kind. For those who think that the work they do forces reaction 24/7 – unless you are a doctor or a fire-fighter I highly doubt it. That spreadsheet is not going to save a life or even the company. With most things, unless you marked the day to ship could use another day to get sharper, and your mind is often better for it.

Life comes fast if we let it.That is why it is important to learn how to disconnect and set boundaries. By disconnecting, you learn the power of no and by setting boundaries you make sure you protect your focus. Everyone wants your attention and with that phone blinking, it can come at any time. Although multitasking is something people rely on, it only hampers and takes your skill away. By bringing yourself clarity through focus and setting good boundaries, you set yourself up for success, and high performance. One of the highest forms of growth comes through disconnection allowing you to rebuild and retain. But you can only get that through focus and through focus, you can become a high performer.

 

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