I strongly recommend Quiet Hours at workplaces and here are the 3 ways in which I benefitted

When I first heard about the concept of ‘Quiet Hours’, it seemed kind of impossible to me. Imagine, sitting in a room, be it office or home, for an hour without receiving any notifications for messages, emails, and no phone calls. Only you and some dim lights.

It seemed little bizarre to me as in today’s tech age, where you get work mail notifications every second on your smartphone, it is quiet hard to ignore them, or imagine your friends are Whatsapping you and you don’t know about it because notifications have been turned off.

But, I challenged myself as I wanted a technology sabbatical too and this was the easiest. Easiest because, it is better to remain without smartphones for an hour than for a day.

So Quiet Hour works like this-You switch yourself off from any distractions, this means no phone calls, no meeting reminders, no pop-ups on laptops, and there is a Do Not Disturb board outside your room. You do this every day for an hour and introspect and concentrate on what you are going to do in the following day, set goals and work on them.

I did this at home before leaving for office. I will not say it was easy and there were many challenges but I gained a lot from it. And now I recommend it to everyone.

Here’s how I benefitted from the Quiet Hours

1. Productivity: Quiet Hours are recommended for productivity. You sit in silence for an hour and concentrate on things you are going to do in the day. If you follow this for a week, you will be able to plan better, make you more productive at work and ideas come automatically to you.

2. Focus: Your focus sharpens and you stay away from gossip, unnecessary bickering at office. You are more inclined towards your work and focus on your aim.

3. Confidence: While sitting and introspecting, you know your mistakes and accept them. You learn to move forward and are confident in your approach. Quiet Hours before meetings are beneficial as you are confident and more focussed.

(Image: Thinkstock)