If you are like me, you have trouble focusing on a single task. Something that should take 30 minutes ends up taking an hour because of all the distrations and context switching. I don’t blame you.

As devices are more connected and services more integrated, we find ourselves living out Ryan’s idea from The Office. A single text message causes my phone to buzz, my watch to ding, and my Mac to show a notification. It is impossible to stay focused in such an environment.

The WUPHF episode of the Office originally aired in 2010 but here we are 7 years later actually living it out. Just a single text message, email, slack message, can lead to unmanageable productivity loss. There are several solutions to this problem. Permenantly silencing notifications from unimportant services is a great start. Any push notification you get which is not important toward your goals, get rid of it.

Managing notifications has become as important as managing your work email inbox. The logic is simple, less distractions leads to less context switching which leads to more productivity. Many devices have built in, all at once, notification silencers. The iPhone and Mac both have do not disturb mode.

When you are ready to commit to a task and make progress on a goal, create an environment which sets you up for success. Cut all notifications and distractions out while you focus on this task. Personally, tracking my own tasks, I have seen close to 40% productivity increases when I cut out notifications and context switches.

The best way to keep true to your goals is to use a timer. Using a timer while focusing on a task is like making a promise to yourself. I will spend x amount of time focusing on this task and nothing else. This has worked so well for me that I implemented a Focus Timer in Handle.

After I make the plan of To-dos I want to accomplish for the day, I start knocking them out one by one using the focus timer. I setup my iPhone on a cradle, swipe left on a To-do and set a 25 minute timer. Once the timer starts, I have an active reminder of what my goal isfor the next 25 minutes. This stops me from “quickly” answering an email or responding to a notification.

To sum it all up:

Silence as many notifications as possible

Set a timer to focus on a task, avoid any and every distraction during that time

You can start following those two simple points today. You will notice productivity increases which will make you feel super human. You will end the day feeling better than you have felt in a long time.