How Apps Are Being Efficient Yet Distracting
Whether working remotely, on-site, or hybrid, I think most of us agree that the increase in apps to manage our work and home lives have added efficiencies in some areas but a distraction in others.
I can personally attest that I get dizzy trying to keep up with notifications from my work calendar, Gmail calendar, MS Teams, LinkedIn, P3’s Applicant Tracking System, Vendor Management Systems, text messages, and the numerous apps used by our kids’ schools and sports teams. I’m not an engineer, so I can only imagine the overload for technologists!
Given that the average worker toggles between apps 1,200 times per day, we are consuming 4 hours per week or 5 working weeks a year just hitting Alt-Tab. Here a couple of tactics I’ve tried to reduce this inundation from zapping my productivity:
Manually turn off notifications to non-essential apps.
Regularly take inventory and delete unused apps.
Reserve time over breaks/lunch to review and respond as necessary to non-urgent notifications, rather than trying to manage all notifications in real-time.
Eliminate email clutter – use email as a task list, deleting or filing anything that has already been addressed.
I’d love to hear what you are doing personally, or what your organization is doing to address app overload! Connect with me on LinkedIn to share your feedback!