With so many of us working from home over the past 18 months, it looks like a hybrid model of working is set to become the “new normal”. So, it’s no surprise that many of us are struggling to separate our work and home lives, as we sit in front of a screen for most of the day with our phones are glued to our face. Apple has designed a new feature to overcome this challenge, with the launch of the new iOS 15 software update Focus Mode.
Using Focus Mode, you can set an activity that you’re doing, be it work, exercise or reading (just to name a few) and block out the notifications that are unrelated to those tasks. There are a number of pre-set Focus modes, but you can also create a custom focus mode, enabling you to select a name, icon, and colour for that specific focus.
Whilst you’re in an activated Focus mode you can choose which of your contacts, you’d like to be able to message you when that Focus mode is activated and decide whether or not they will see a notice if you’re in an active Focus mode and their messages are muted.
This new software has cross device functionality, meaning once you’ve activated a Focus on one device, it will activate across all of your devices that you’re logged into with your Apple ID so you can be rest assured that you won’t be disrupted if you switch to using a different Apple device.
You can select which apps you want to allow to send notifications when that Focus mode is on, so if you’re in work mode you may only opt to receive notifications from your work email or collaborative tools like Trello and you can even hide apps, so you don’t get distracted and tempted to scroll through social media throughout the working day.
With the launch of Focus Mode, gone are the days where you’ve previously been distracted by work emails whilst you’re trying to unwind from the busy working day and hello to the new and improved you, relaxed and focused on living in the now or staying focused on the working day ahead.
Written by Tahlia Klein, Edited by Theo Ruby
