Early on when Eric and I owned our gym in Boston, like around 2012, I shut off all notifications on my phone, except for email.

We used to have to wake up at 4am to teach classes and train clients at 6am and I remember that I was struggling to SHUT IT DOWN.

To turn off work…

wind down…

and go to bed.

As long as the notifications were on my phone, I would react to every message or notification that popped up.

This thwarted any efforts for me to detach from work, turn off my brain, relax for a few hours in the evening, and get a good night’s sleep.

As soon as I shut off the notifications and set boundaries between me and technology, I wasn’t tempted to check my phone or react to any and all incoming notifications.

Then recently, I took the final step to achieving peace of mind and to GETTING MY BRAIN BACK…

Before I did this, I found myself checking my email every time I received a notification about a new email…

Not only did this turn into a time suck, because checking the email would distract me from my current task and lead to something else that would take time…

my days have been so much more tranquil

my meditations more focused, 

Recently I polled people on both Instagram and Facebook about two things,

1. What is their biggest struggle with productivity? AND
2. Do they look at their phone first thing in the morning when they wake up and check their messages, emails, and notifications?
   

The answer from over 95% of the people who responded, and A LOT of people responded by the way, was that Managing Distractions was the NUMBER ONE productivity struggle that people have.

PLUS, pretty much EVERYONE, except for like 2 or 3 people, checked their phones first thing in the morning and read all the messages, emails, and social media notifications!!

What surprised me even more was that the people who looked at their phones first thing in the morning felt compelled to follow up their answer with a justification as to why they look at their phones first thing in the morning.

It was as if on some level they new that they should NOT be looking at their phones right when they wake up and instead take the first hour of their day to get their mind right with,

• Meditation
• Journaling
• Positive affirmations and
• To map out THEIR top priorities that are going to help them move the needle towards achieving their goals.

If you’re struggling to have structure to your day and constantly feel like your time is actually everyone else’s because your endlessly reacting to notifications and messages that come at you from the start to the finish of your day, THEN I CHALLENGE YOU TO,

1. SHUT OFF all notifications on your phone
2. STOP looking at your phone first thing in the morning when you wake up and for the first hour that you are awake.

When you wake up in the morning and look at your phone right away and check emails, messages, and social media, then you immediately make other people’s priorities YOUR top priority.

THEN, if you continue to react to notifications on your phone all day long, your time is never yours and you never make time for YOUR priorities that are going to help you to move the needle towards accomplishing your goals. 

If you want to,

• feel like you have structure to your morning
• feel like you have structure to your day
• overcome procrastination
• be productive
• feel like you’re getting stuff done and that you’re not just like reacting to everything all the time and putting out fires…

THEN YOU MUST MANAGE DISTRACTIONS.

If you have really big goals and you want to have a successful business then you need to make your priorities your number one priority by managing distractions and shutting off notifications to your phone.

I’m sure you’re thinking of a million excuses as to why you shouldn’t do this, but TRUST ME…

The messages can wait!

You will feel SO LIBERATED when you break the ADDICTION to your phone and notifications. 

And YES, it IS an addiction. 

If you need help implementing “Starter Rituals” that will help you to enforce habit change to,

• Break your technology addicted habit that causes you to put you and your priorities LAST on your list
• Overcome procrastination
• Increase productivity
• OWN YOUR MORNINGS
• Be THE BOSS of your time and your schedule

I CAN HELP YOU with my 1:1 Coaching Intensive from “Overwhelmed to Productive” which is 60% off through November 30!

You can sign up for this special 1:1 coaching offer ⇒ HERE ⇐ 

OR you can apply for 1:1 Coaching with me ⇒ HERE ⇐ 

Sending Vibes of Positivity & Abundance,

Artemis

Artemis Scantalides
Founder & Owner
EmpowerU Online Coaching
I Am Not Afraid To Lift® Workshops
Follow me on Instagram @Artemis_Scantalides