After a while, it became overwhelming. The phone would buzz throughout the day and continue into the night. My wife would wake up in the morning and sarcastically shake in an attempt to show me what it was like to try and sleep while it was going off. She also started to shout "alert" each time my phone would buzz.
Me, being the thick headed person, didn't really 'get' what she was trying to tell me.
Then I read an article from Zen Habits and how the author, Leo Labauda, doesn't carry a cell phone with him.
It got me to thinking. If he has an amazingly successful blog, 6 kids, and no cell phone, why do I feel as though I need one, and have it buzz whenever anything happens?!
No, I didn't throw away my phone, or put it on eBay to sell, but I did do some looking around and found some articles on how to silence everything except what's important.
For me, the most important stuff is text messages and phone calls. I only talk/text with a few people so I don't get a lot of 'buzzes" for either one of them. My wife is the main person I talk with.
My amazing mother-in-law will call every so often (every other do or so), then my mom and dad will call every other week. I also have 2 brothers and a sister, who are strictly texters and send a message once or twice a month.
To say the least, quieting everything down has made sleep better, days calmer, and I haven't missed out on anything. In fact, I feel like the day is longer and I get more done.
To quiet things done on your iPhone go to Settigs --> Notifications --> Then go through your list of apps one at a time to change their settings. It may take a minute or so for each app, and you may have a fairly long list of apps, but it's worth the time.
As an example, select your mail app. Turn Notification Center to Off, the Alert Style to None, Badge App Icon Off, Show Preview Off, and View in Lock Screen Off.
Turning all of these off ensures that the only time you see emails are when you open the application.
Turning all of these off ensures that the only time you see emails are when you open the application.
Repeat this for the rest of your apps. However, if you're like me and want to be notified of phone calls, text messages, and calendar events, leave all of their settings to On and select the Alert Style you like best (mine are set to Alerts, which show up in the middle of the phone's screen instead of a slender bar at the top).
Changing or setting up your phone with these settings may take some time to get use to. You may or may not like it this way, so consider these changes as suggestions and not rules. If you want to experiment with settings give it a try.
The idea is to have a phone that makes life easier, not more hectic. My wife and I enjoy our time together much more now that my phone doesn't buzz every few minutes. There are no more unnecessary interruptions or interrupted sleep.
