Focus Mode — A new way of using your iPhone, iPad and Macs
Distraction is the enemy of Attention…
Notifications and multitasking are destroying our attention spans and making us far less productive
Have you recently found yourself confused, hours after clicking a Facebook/Twitter/iMessage/Email or other notification, ending up in the Wikipedia Rabbit-hole, perhaps browsing a few of your friends cute dog pictures and suddenly it’s nearly 4pm and you have hardly got anything done?
Do you find it difficult to focus through the length of the average movie, or even a longer television show?
Are you able to watch said movie or TV show without obsessively checking your phone? Or are you being pinged every 5–15 minutes by a group chat, a talkative friend or a torrent of work and other related notifications?
I have an answer.
With a few preparations, you can improve on Apple’s “Do Not Disturb” functionality and bring it forward into another mode — that promotes focus — over distraction and multitasking.
I use this myself now for…
• Working
• Reading an eBook on a device, watching content on-device or other screens and stages, studying
• Sleeping
• Working out
• Meditation or other similar practices
The most important first step, is to make sure you have a good list of Favourite People in your Contacts — these people are able to “break through” Do Not Disturb mode — I have set mine up with family members and friends that may need me in an emergency, and they are aware that they have this privilege. Their iMessages will not disturb your Focus Session, but calls and FaceTime will.
If you Force Touch-press the Phone App icon on your iPhone, you can quickly reach them as well; and they will be in your Widgets area too if you desire.
If you don’t setup your favourites properly, you might miss an emergency call, this step should not be skipped.
The core of “Focus Mode” is just one switch…
