Before upgrading to the iPhone 6 plus, my iPad was my "personal device". No work. I left it at home, packed it full of movies, apps, a few games and all of the news, sports, and social notifications it could throw at me. 

It was great. When I got home, I could pull out my iPad and get quasi caught up with the world...

The larger 6 plus suits my media consumption needs so well that I put my iPad away. 

Since consolidating to one device, which I use throughout the work day, I soon found out I had some difficult choices to make about which notifications were worth my attention through precious working hours. 

Knowing that it can take up to 20 minutes to regain your concentration from a distraction, I needed to make these decisions fast!  

Working within the bounds of the iOS notification configurations, I identified three major decisions for each application/notification.  

1. Allowing the notification
2. Location of the notification
3. Type of notification

In making these decisions, a few patterns emerged. 

With back-to-back meetings, conference calls, and ad-hoc "sit downs" with Betty from Accounting, the workplace has enough distractions. At the end of this series you will have the tools to "control a controllable", and manage the distractions from your smartphone.  You are on your own with Betty… :)

Up next... "Allow notifications? - A small decision with large consequences"