Team Cognitive Health playbook/Module 4 · Focus & deep work

Day 34 / 100 · Focus & deep work · Notification hygiene

Make urgent rare and loud.

Tools make every ping feel urgent. Most aren't. Clean notifications make the truly urgent ones stand out.

Kill

Turn Off The Noise

  • Non-essential app alerts off
  • Mute busy channels by default

Batch

Check On Purpose

  • Email and chat at set times
  • Not a constant background drip

Route

Urgent Gets Its Own Path

  • Incidents go to pager or phone
  • Not the same channel as “FYI”

Signal

Show Your State

  • Focus status visible to all
  • People know when to wait

Make urgent rare and loud.

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