We discuss all about Apple's Do Not Disturb function and Focus modes to help increase your productivity.
Mobile phones have become so integral to our day to day functioning. You can: keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues; make payments; book your next Uber; check out the train times; or basically, find out whatever information you may need. Useful, right? Well… not so much for the less disciplined among us. For some, there seems to exist this magnetic pull between the screen and their eyes. As soon as a message or social media notification pops through, it is fast-tracked to the top of the priority list. Wham! Phone unlocked, notification read - cue mindless scrolling? Despite best efforts, even if you put your phone on mute to block out the distractions, when a notification comes through, a warm enticing glow will emanate from your phone. What do they say? Ah yes, like a moth to a flame! To be honest, many regularly check their phone even if a notification hasn’t come through. It has become habitual. The screen time stats can be both horrifying and impressive!
However, there are instances in life where these distractions and loss of concentration can prove quite detrimental! The student prepping for an exam can’t afford to get lost in a rabbit hole of TikTok reels and the employee drafting up a report with an imminent deadline does not have the time to be shopping for the latest deals!
Well Apple have created an incredibly handy feature on their devices called Do Not Disturb.
When the Do Not Disturb mode is switched on, it will silence all the notifications and calls on your iPhone and will prevent your screen from lighting up. It is absolutely worth mentioning that you won’t lose any of the notifications that get blocked while the Do Not Disturb mode is on. You can catch up on all of them later. So without further ado, let’s learn how to use it.
How to turn Do Not Disturb on and off on iPhone
To switch on Do Not Disturb mode:
- Open the Control Centre by swiping down on your Home Screen.
- Press and hold the Focus button (which features a crescent moon).
- Select ‘Do Not Disturb’ from the list - the word ‘on’ will appear to confirm this is done. In addition, the crescent moon icon should appear at the top of your screen in the Status Bar indicating you are in Do Not Disturb mode.
To switch off Do Not Disturb mode:
- Open the Control Centre by swiping down on your Home Screen.
- Press the Focus button to switch off ‘Do Not Disturb.’
Alternatively, you can ask Siri to “turn on/off ‘Do Not Disturb’.”
Please note that when you switch on the Do Not Disturb function on your phone, any other device that is signed in with the same Apple ID will also be put into this mode.
How to turn Do Not Disturb on and off on your Mac
To switch on Do Not Disturb mode:
- Drag cursor to Mac Menu Bar.
- Hit the ‘Control Center’ icon (2 vertically stacked toggles - one is on and the other is off).
- Click ‘Do Not Disturb’ (features a crescent moon).
- Select time frame: For 1 hour, Until This Evening, Until Tomorrow or Always On. The crescent moon icon should now appear in the menu bar indicating you are in Do Not Disturb mode.
- Click anywhere on your desktop to exit the Control Center.
To switch off Do Not Disturb mode:
- Drag cursor to Mac Menu Bar.
- Click the Do Not Disturb icon (crescent moon).
- Deselect the time.
- Click anywhere on your desktop to exit.
Focus Modes
Apple later expanded on the Do Not Disturb function by introducing Focus modes. Apple provides 3 preset Focus modes - Work, Personal and Sleep. Focus modes will silence or filter your notifications and calls to complement the task you are doing. If the presets don’t quite work for you, you can customise them or create an entirely new one from scratch. So let’s dive in and learn how to set up or customise a Focus mode.
How to set up a new focus mode on your iPhone
- Go to Settings > Focus
Note: on this screen if you scroll down there is the option to switch on:
- Share Across Devices - what this does is when you go into a particular Focus mode, all of your Apple devices signed in with the same Apple ID will automatically go into that Focus mode too.
- Focus Status - if selected - and the app has permission - the app can share that you have notifications silenced when you are in a Focus mode. How courteous!
- Press the + button in the top right hand corner.
- Select Custom or one of the preset focuses which you can tweak to suit you.
You can then personalise the Focus mode in various ways: determine which apps (plus content within certain apps) and contacts you would like to receive notifications from; customise your screen and declutter your apps; and automate the activation and deactivation of a Focus mode.
People
You can choose certain people from your contacts list that you want to receive notifications and calls from. This is a handy feature! Irrespective of how busy you are or focussed you need to be, you still want to be informed of any emergencies. A prime example is a parent at work receiving an urgent notification or call from their child’s school.
How to filter notifications:
- Tap People
- You can either ‘Silence Notifications From’ or ‘Allow Notifications From’ and then make the list accordingly.
- Press ‘Add People’
- Select the relevant contacts you want to add to your list.
- Hit ‘Done’ when you are happy with your list.
How to filter calls:
- Tap people > Allow Calls From
- Select from the following: Everybody, Allowed People Only, Favourites or Contacts Only. Allowed People Only is the list you just curated so will likely make the most sense.
Any other calls you receive will go to voicemail.
Apps
As well as people, you can also decide what apps you want to receive notifications from. Again, this is a really useful feature; you can quieten your phone but still receive the all important notifications. For instance, notifications from apps that provide critical work updates or health related apps that prompt you to take medication.
- Press Apps
- You can either ‘Silence Notifications From’ or ‘Allow Notifications From’ and then make the list accordingly.
- Hit ‘Add Apps’
- Select the relevant apps.
- Hit ‘Done’ when you are happy with your list.
As we mentioned before with the Do Not Disturb mode, any notifications sent through whilst a Focus mode is in play are not lost. They will go to the Notification centre as soon as you exit the Focus mode. Although, any notifications in these apps from the people you added to the ‘Allowed People’ list will be sent through as normal.
Customise Screens
This isn’t an absolute necessity but you can customise your lock screen to reflect the vibe of the Focus mode you're in. If you are a visual person, it can act as a quick reminder of where your attention should be if you get distracted!
For Lock Screen:
- Press ‘Choose’ under the Lock Screen icon.
- Select one of your own lock screens or a new one from the gallery.
- Hit ‘Done’ when you are happy with your choice.
You can also customise your Home Page by decluttering your apps so that only the relevant ones to the Focus mode appear, removing any temptation.
For Home Screen:
- Press ‘Choose’ under the Home Screen icon.
- Choose one of your existing home screen pages or create a new one with a curated list of apps applicable to your Focus.
- Again hit ‘Done’ when you are happy with your choice.
Set a schedule
With each Focus mode you can set it to automatically switch on according to time, location or even when a particular app is in use. For example, when it gets to your bedtime, Sleep Focus can kick in, or as soon as you walk through the door at work, your Work Focus can start. For the preset Focus modes, Apple provides a suggested option list or you have the opportunity to craft your own.
- Click ‘Add Schedule.’
- Fill in the relevant details.
Focus Filter
With a Focus Filter, you can get even more specific with what content you want to receive from some of Apple’s core apps: Calendar, Mail, Messages and Safari. Anything you haven’t selected will be hidden whilst in Focus mode.
- Press + Add Filter.
- Select the app you would like to filter content from: Calendar, Mail, Messages and Safari.
- Calendar - filter which calendar’s items you would like to see. If you are in a Personal Focus mode, you can filter out events from your work diary, allowing you to properly switch off. And vice versa.
- Mail - select which Mail accounts you would like to receive correspondence from that are relevant to your Focus.
- Messages - choose which contacts you would like to receive SMS messages from.
- Safari - specify which Tab Group you would like to automatically open when you are in a particular Focus.
- System Filters - customise system settings to Dark Mode or Light Mode and even Low Power Mode when a Focus is switched on. Example: it would make sense to activate Dark Mode when Sleep Focus is on.