Take control of your alerts

0:03 Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is to take control of the alerts you receive from texts, email, social media, Slack, and all those other sources. There are some interruptions you can't control. But when you can control things, you should. Today's tip comes from thought leadership expert Peter Winnick, who was a guest on this podcast a few months ago. Peter noted that people today feel constantly intruded on by alerts. We live in the age of ding, ding, ding, he said. But he argued that we don't have to accept all that dinging. Many of the alerts we receive aren't particularly important or or

1:03 even actionable. Even those that are may not require immediate attention. Rather than accepting the constant notifications, he advised, you need to take control of what you want to get alerted to and when and why. He said, you control more of this than you realize. So the first step, turn off what you don't need to see You can take a few minutes right now to do this. This might mean turning off audio and visual alerts for email, social media, and the various other apps that provide alerts like Venmo, OpenTable, Ring, and so forth. You may want to turn off alerts for texts, too. If you have a text chain with family or friends where messages are going back and forth constantly, you may decide to turn off notifications and read the

2:03 text just a few times per day. You really don't need to know immediately that Aunt Nancy tapped back a heart on your mom's photo of her cat. Now, you may want to keep some alerts on, like perhaps Slack if your workplace expects it. In addition, you may want to be notified of your partner's and kids' messages, even if you are in Do Not Disturb mode. But you get to choose, which is an empowering realization. You may not be able to stop your chatty colleague from sticking her head in your office every time she walks by.

2:41 You may not be able to curb your boss's habit of telling you every idea he has the moment it comes into his head. But there are a lot of interruptions that you can control. You do not necessarily need to know about that hot new restaurant that's opening this weekend. or that there is a new version of a game you play available. Turn those alerts off. When you do, you can reduce the noise. You feel more in charge because you decide when to process communication rather than allowing your apps to decide for you. Now, there's one thing I would add here. After you turn alerts off, don't let your own curiosity or restlessness lead you to interrupt yourself.

3:33 Don't proactively check for texts or emails or app notifications. When you are feeling stuck on a demanding project or bored with a tedious one, it can be tempting to check if there is anything interesting going on in your various inboxes. But don't do it. If you need a brain break or an energy boost, go for a quick walk.

3:58 Do some stretches. Talk with a colleague about your project. All of this could be helpful. Reading messages and scrolling, well, not so much. So if you'd like to be less distracted and more productive, take control of your alerts. Turn off those you don't need and avoid interrupting yourself by checking for messages habitually. This can help you give space and pay attention to to what is most important. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening. And here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at laura at lauravandercam.com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeart Media. For more podcasts from

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