🫣DND IS A LOVE LANGUAGE

For God’s sake, where did that ‘ping’ come even from ?!I don’t know when it happened exactly , but one day I realized my life had turned into a never- ending game of whack-a - mole  _ except the moles where email alerts, Teams IMs, Slack messages, calendar reminders, group chats , and dings from apps I even forgot I had .Every few minutes ,a buzz or chirp yanked my  attention away , and the worst part?  Most of them weren’t even important . Just someone saying ‘ lol’ or a ‘hot new deal’  on socks I didn’t ask for .Meanwhile , my to-do list is glared at me with mounting judgement.So, I did what any modern adult having a tech -induced meltdown would do : I googled  ‘how to stop  distractions so I can actually get things done’ . Here’s what I’ve figured out so far .🔕 Turn off(almost all) Notifications ‘Focus mode’ makes it super easy to silence the mobile chaos with a just a few taps - no email or social media bings or buzzes. Only texts from my ‘ favorites’  and calendar reminders survived the cuts 🗓️ Set ‘Focus Zones’I block chunks on my calendar labeled ‘Focus-DND SELF’, and then cue up instrumental jazz , and put my phone in another room. It’s not perfect but it’s better than living in a digital pinball machine .📧 Check the email like it’s 1999Someone told me in 1999, they didn’t stay logged on all day - it was dial up , for crying out loud! So I adopted the concept . I now check emails twice a day  : morning and after launch . If someone actually needs me, they’d call or text . And honestly, most things really can wait .😶 Mute the group chats I love my people , but the non-stop banter was throwing my focus all outta whack . Now, I just mute the chatter and check in when I’ve time .  Turns out I’m still in the group even if I don’t respond to every meme instantly - imagine that .🏪 I’m Not a 7- Eleven Nobody is paying me to be ‘on’  24/7, so why do I feel like I need to be ? Instead , I now ask myself ‘is this urgent ? or am I just avoiding my actual work ? ‘  Nine times out of ten - it’s the latter . Set boundaries and redirect .As it turns out, multitasking is not a badge of honor . While I certainly haven’t mastered the art of being tuned in , I’m less frazzled , more focused , and finally finishing things .So , go ahead and hit DND - those socks will still be there in a few hours .

Other insights from Mwambo Kate