+++
title = "Distraction free"
author = ["Colin"]
date = 2019-11-27T09:48:00-05:00
tags = ["notifications", "intention"]
categories = ["thoughts"]
draft = false
+++

I try to keep notifications in my life to a bare minimum. I get tips from
friends or co-workers about making sure notifications on my phone are disabled
while I sleep. I disable them all the time. The one thing I allow are text
messages to vibrate my Garmin watch, and I'm on the fence as to whether this is
truly necessary.

There are people who's professions wont allow this. I get that. But I also know
that most people build narratives about getting a late night text about the
health of a loved one to justify always getting pinged when Facebook needs your
attention, or a new email comes in.  These are largely untrue, or at least
building a process into your life for events that may never happen.

Instead I've made distractions I encounter my own fault. I can't blame Facebook
for pinging me in the middle of focused work. I took control of what I could and
my responsibility now is to check for messages when I need to. I check slack
quite often, after each chunk of work, emails a few times a day, and social
media rarely.

Have you ever thought about the value of all the different notifications in your
life? If it not, it may be worthwile to audit all the things that vie for your
time. It is your time after all, and with ownership comes responsibility.
