Staying productive and focused in the notification era
The notification era
The notifications era
Notifications = instant gratifications
Notifications = retention weapons
❝ The thought process that went into building these applications was ‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?' ❞
— Sean Parker
First president of Facebook
Notifications = interruptions
25 minutes to resume a task when interrupted
One uninterrupted 2 hours session per day
Dealing with notifications
Passive vs active checks
Passive = apps are in control
Active = you are in control
Phone
Disable useless notifications
Disable useless background refreshes
Lower mail updates
Use dot not disturb
Browser and desktop
Open space interruptions
Meetings
Slack config: notifications
Slack config: sidebar noise
Slack config: stay up to date
Slack tips
Leave channels you don't need
Leave #help-channel you no more need
Ignore FOMO
Use reminders to delay
Use shortcuts
Slack shortcuts
CMD + K = autocomplete
CMD + [ = Cycle back channel history
CMD + ] = Cycle forward channel history
Lots of /commands
Email tips
Aim at inbox 0
Use filters everywhere
Don't use your inbox as a TODO
Use shortcuts
Email shortcuts: Gmail
j/k navigate through messages
x select messages
e archive messages
l add label messages
SHIFT + i mark as read
g, l go to label
g, u go to previous screen
SHIFT + ? Show shortcuts
GitHub tips
Aim Inbox 0
Unwatch repositories
Watch only relevant repositories
Use Octobox
Use GitHub search
Use refined GitHub extension
GitHub notifications
GitHub notifications: Octobox
Todo applications
Todo applications: Things
Still having a bad day?
Takeaways
Takeaways
Be aware how apps are trying to control you
Disable all non essential notifications
Move from passive to active checks
Use Octobox
Be wary of your time
Be wary of others time
Learn all the shortcuts
Iterate
Thanks
Questions
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