Why are the best teams turning off notifications?

The answer seems completely counterintuitive: to slow down in order to move fast.

Let's find out why.

Have any of the following happened to you?

- A Slack notification that broke your chain of thought.

- A 'quick question' that made it harder to get back to what you were working on.

- Feeling like you only get the best work done once everyone has left.

If so, then you are not alone.

Welcome to the world of work or shall I say the world of interruptions? Where work squeezes into the brief moments of calm in between notifications.

Nowadays, we've trained ourselves to live with fractured attention but it's hidden costs quietly compound over time.

The best teams seem to understand this and that's why they try to avoid:

- Constant reactivity - it creates more urgency, not less.

- Rushed decisions - they often have unseen consequences.

- Quick fixes - they need more work later.

- Fast answers - create more questions.

Because in trying to save a few minutes today, these fast actions can lock in hours of corrective work in the future.

The best teams seem to realize that sometimes, slow = fast.

Think about the last complex problem your team solved.

- How many iterations did it take?

- How many back-and-forth messages?

- How many meetings to align everyone?

- How many interruptions to overcome?

Now imagine a different scenario, one with:

- Your team's minds fully engaged.

- No context switching every 5 minutes.

- No fragmented thinking.

- No half-formed solutions.

What might happen then?

- Problems that take weeks get solved in days.

- Solutions that need five revisions get done in two.

- Decisions work because they're thought through.

- Your team build momentum instead of just staying busy.

This is what protected focus unleashes. This is why the best teams are turning off notifications, and becoming faster by embracing the slowness of deep work, daily.

NOW MAKE IT WORK FOR YOUR TEAM:

This is how your team can start,

- Each member gets a daily deep work block.

- Not everyone at once. Not another meeting.

- Just two hours where they can think without interruption.

For urgent matters?

- Create a simple signal for true emergencies.

- You'll be surprised how few things can't wait an hour.

The initial discomfort is worth it because while others stay stuck in reaction mode, your team develops their hidden edge: The power to solve problems at their root.

In a world of endless distraction, sustained thinking is becoming the rarest skill of all.