Your phone buzzes, Slack lights up, and an email banner slides across the screen. None of it is urgent, yet the report you sat down to write is still half empty. If that sounds familiar, the problem is rarely willpower. It is usually a set of notification defaults you never had time to change.
This guide shows you how to cut alerts down to what truly matters, set up your phone and work apps to protect focused time, and agree simple rules with your team. The technical setup takes about 30 minutes.
Quick summary
- The problem: constant alerts break concentration, and getting back to the task takes longer than most people expect.
- The fix: audit your alerts, sort them into three tiers, use Focus or Do Not Disturb schedules, and set shared team rules.
- Time needed: about 30 minutes to set up, then a five-minute review each week.
- Best for: anyone whose work needs sustained thinking, such as writing, analysis, coding, design, or planning.
Why notifications hurt deep work
Deep work means focused effort on a demanding task with no distractions. It is hard to reach that state when something pulls at your attention every few minutes.
The number most often quoted comes from Gloria Mark, a researcher at the University of California, Irvine. Her workplace fieldwork found that people took an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to return to a task after being interrupted. That figure needs some care. It comes from a small field study, and the time includes other work people did before going back. A related peer-reviewed paper from 2005 reports a slightly different average of about 25 minutes. So treat it as a sign of direction, not a law of nature.
Mark has also said that roughly half of all interruptions are self-inflicted. People check their inbox or chat window without any alert at all. That matters for the fix: silencing notifications helps, but so does changing the habit of looking.
Step 1: Audit your notifications for one day
Before you change settings, find out what is actually interrupting you. For one workday, make a note each time an alert pulls you away. Write down the app and whether it needed action.
Tools built into your phone can help. Screen Time on iPhone and Digital Wellbeing on Android show which apps send the most alerts, though menu names vary by device and software version. By the end of the day you will likely see a short list of apps responsible for most of the noise.
Step 2: Sort every alert into three tiers
Not every notification deserves the same treatment. Use these three tiers:
- Interrupt me now: calls from family, on-call or system outage alerts, security codes, and a short list of people such as your manager or a key client.
- Check on a schedule: team chat, email, comments in project tools, calendar changes, and @mentions that can wait a few hours.
- Never: promotions, social media likes, news badges, "we miss you" nudges, and app suggestions.
Most people find that the middle tier is the largest. That is where the biggest gain sits, because those messages feel urgent but rarely are.
Step 3: Set up Focus or Do Not Disturb on your phone
iPhone and iPad
Apple's Focus feature lets you choose which people and apps can reach you while it is active. Go to Settings > Focus, pick a Focus such as Work, and set the allowed people and apps. You can also schedule it by time or location, and add Focus Filters so apps like Calendar, Mail, and Messages show only relevant content. If your device supports Apple Intelligence, a Reduce Interruptions Focus is available that lets through only notifications judged important.
Android
On a Google Pixel, open Settings > Sound & vibration > Do Not Disturb. There you can choose which people and apps may interrupt, and whether alarms and calendar reminders come through. Under Schedules you can run Do Not Disturb at set times or during events on your Google Calendar. On Samsung phones, the equivalent is usually under Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb. Many Android phones can also let repeat callers through, which is a useful safety net if someone really needs to reach you.
Step 4: Quiet your work apps
Your phone settings only cover part of the problem. Work tools have their own controls, and they are worth setting up separately.
| Tool | What to set | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Slack | Click your profile picture, then Pause notifications. Choose a duration or set a recurring notification schedule. | Colleagues see a Do Not Disturb icon, and a sender can override it once per day for an urgent direct message. Keep your time zone correct so the schedule runs properly. |
| Microsoft Teams | On mobile, go to Notifications, then Block notifications, then During quiet time. Set quiet hours and quiet days. | Quiet time is aimed at mobile alerts from Teams and Outlook. For desktop focus time, use your Teams status as well. Organizations can also set quiet time policies through IT. |
| Turn off banners, sounds, and badge counts. Allow alerts only for a VIP or priority sender list if your app supports it. | Features differ by app, so check your own settings page. | |
| Project tools | Switch from "every update" to a daily digest or to mentions and assignments only. | Digests are usually the quickest win in the middle tier. |
Settings can change as vendors update their apps, so confirm the menu names in your own version before rolling them out to a team.
Step 5: Replace random checking with set check times
Once alerts are quiet, you still need a way to stay responsive. Pick a few fixed times to open chat and email. For many people, three or four windows a day work well, for example mid-morning, after lunch, and late afternoon. Anyone who needs an answer faster than that should have another way to reach you, such as a phone call.
Close the inbox tab between check times. This tackles the self-interruption habit that alerts alone cannot fix.
Step 6: Block and defend your deep work time
- Schedule it. Put a 60 to 90 minute block on your calendar and mark it as busy.
- Turn on your tools. Start Focus or Do Not Disturb on your phone and pause notifications in Slack before the block begins.
- Signal it. Add a short status message such as "Focus time until 11:00. For urgent matters, call me."
- Remove the temptation. Keep your phone face down or in another room.
- Start small. If you are not used to long blocks, begin with 45 minutes and extend it as it gets easier.
Step 7: Agree on team rules
Personal settings work much better when colleagues know about them. A short written agreement is enough. Cover these points:
- Which channel to use for what. For example: a phone call for urgent issues, chat for same-day questions, email for anything that can wait a day.
- Expected response times for each channel.
- When it is fine to send late messages, and whether to use scheduled send instead.
- How to flag a truly urgent request without pinging everyone.
Managers set the tone here. If a manager replies to chat at 11 p.m., the team will assume they should too.
A note for teams in the Gulf region
Two points tend to matter for teams working across the Gulf or with partners abroad. First, work weeks and hours differ between countries and companies, so set notification schedules by day as well as by hour, and share your time zone in your profile. Second, many businesses in the region handle client and supplier contact over WhatsApp, which blends personal and work messages. Consider keeping work chats in a separate work profile or the WhatsApp Business app, then using Focus or Do Not Disturb filters by app so work alerts can be silenced without muting family.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Turning everything off on day one. You miss something important, panic, and switch it all back on. Move in stages instead.
- Silencing the phone but not the laptop. Desktop banners and badge counts can be just as disruptive.
- Letting every app claim to be urgent. Some apps mark all their alerts as time-sensitive. Review which ones you allow to break through.
- Not telling colleagues. If people do not know why you are quiet, they will assume you are unreachable and ping you again.
- Skipping the weekly review. New apps and updates bring new alerts. A five-minute check every Friday keeps things clean.
Frequently asked questions
How do I stop getting so many notifications?
Start by auditing which apps interrupt you, then turn off everything in the "never" tier. Move chat, email, and project alerts to scheduled check times or daily digests. Finally, set a Focus or Do Not Disturb schedule on your phone and a notification schedule in your work apps.
How long does it take to refocus after an interruption?
A frequently cited study by Gloria Mark found an average of about 23 minutes before people returned to an interrupted task. That figure includes time spent on other work in between, and it comes from one field study, so the real cost varies by person and task. What is clear is that frequent interruptions make sustained thinking harder.
Is it bad to turn off all notifications?
Turning off everything can backfire if your job includes urgent requests. A better approach is to keep a small "interrupt me now" list, such as key contacts and critical system alerts, and silence the rest during focus time.
How many hours of deep work can I realistically do in a day?
Most productivity writers suggest that one to four hours is realistic, and that newer practitioners should begin with shorter blocks. The right amount depends on your role and energy. Aim for one protected block per day first, then build from there.
What is the difference between Do Not Disturb and Focus mode?
Do Not Disturb is the simpler option and silences most alerts, with a few exceptions you can choose. Focus modes, such as Apple's Focus, go further. They let you create separate setups for work, sleep, or personal time, each with its own allowed people, allowed apps, and schedule.
Next step
You do not need to fix everything at once. Choose one 90-minute block for tomorrow morning, set a Focus or Do Not Disturb schedule for it today, and pause Slack when it starts. After a few days, extend the same approach to the rest of your week and share your rules with your team.
Settings and menu names checked against vendor help pages and guides on October 23, 2026. Features can change with app and system updates.
Sources
- Fast Company: interview with Gloria Mark on interruptions and task switching
- Silicon Canals: what the 23-minute interruption figure does and does not measure
- Apple Support: set up a Focus on Mac (Focus filters, allowed notifications)
- Google Pixel Help: limit interruptions with Do Not Disturb
- Slack Help: pause notifications and set a notification schedule
- Slack Help: set up Slack for work hours
- University of Worcester IT: configure quiet time for Outlook and Teams mobile
- Asurion: set up Do Not Disturb on Android