I Finally Found the Best “Do Not Disturb” Setup for Windows

A single distraction can spiral into hours of procrastination. Fortunately, I've found the best do-not-disturb settings Windows offers, and they're easy to set up.

Receive Important Notifications Only

While turning on Do Not Disturb mode is useful when you don't want to see any notifications, it assumes that every app it mutes is a distraction. Some apps genuinely keep me informed, while others remind me of important tasks. So, I ensure the notifications of those apps still come through, even when I turn on Do Not Disturb.

After enabling Do Not Disturb mode, press Win + I to open the Settings app. Then, go to System > Notifications > Set priority notifications and click Add apps.

In the pop-up, select the app whose notifications you want to prioritize. Once you do, it will appear in the list of priority apps. Do this for every app you don't want to be muted.

Use of Focus Sessions

Focus sessions allow you to use the Pomodoro Technique directly in Windows. This handy productivity technique has you concentrate on a single task for 25 minutes. Once the time is up, you then take a five-minute break before moving on to the next task.

By default, the timer in Windows is set to 20 minutes with five minutes of rest and then another five minutes of focus time. You can customize these intervals to fit you better, though, so don't be afraid to play around.

To start a Focus Session, press Win + I to open the Settings app, head to System > Focus, and click Start Focus Session. Alternatively, you can click the clock on the taskbar and then press the Focus button under the Calendar.

In addition to setting the timers, Focus Mode also enables Do Not Disturb, hides badges on Taskbar apps, and hides flashing Taskbar apps.

Hide the Taskbar

While I don't want to remove the apps I have pinned to the Taskbar, I also don't want temptations to open them when I don't need to. The simplest solution here is to hide the Taskbar.

To do that, right-click the Taskbar and select Taskbar settings. Expand the Taskbar behaviors section and check Automatically hide the taskbar.

Windows will now hide the Taskbar when you're not actively using it. You can make it reappear by pressing the Windows key or moving the mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen.

Hide Desktop Icons

Just like icons in the Taskbar can be a distraction, the ones on the desktop can be, too. To fix this, I hide them to avoid opening apps like Netflix or Fallout Shelter during focus time. This can also reduce the visual clutter on the desktop, especially if your is messy like mine.

To hide these icons, right-click an empty part of the desktop and select View > Show desktop icons.

Use PowerToy's Awake Utility

Sometimes, I need to run a time-consuming task and would rather the computer not go to sleep and interrupt it. I usually don't want to mess with the power settings too much, so I turn to one of the best Windows tool suites, PowerToys. One particular tool here, Awake, helps keep your system awake whenever you don't want it to go to sleep.

To quickly enable it, launch PowerToys, select Awake in the left-side menu, and toggle Enable Awake. Afterward, click the Mode dropdown and select Keep Awake Indefinitely.

Spend Less Time on Distracting Websites

Even when I have a Focus Session going, I might want to catch up on social media updates during my break. However, it's easy to ignore the timer if I start doomscrolling. I need something to snap me out of it, and that's where the LeechBlock NG extension comes in.

You can use this extension to block or unblock websites in various ways. I use it to unblock websites like Facebook or YouTube for five minutes every hour.

First, nstall LeechBlock NG from the Chrome Web Store. Then, click the extension in the toolbar at the top and select Options.

In the Block Set 1 tab, enter the websites you want blocked in the Enter the domain names of the sites to block box under What to Block. Enter one website per line, and don't include any URL prefixes like http:// or file://.

In the When to Block section, enter 0900-1700 in the Enter the time periods within which to block these sites text box to block these websites between 9 AM and 5 PM. Then, under Enter a time limit after which to block these sites, enter 5 in the text box and select hour (60 minutes) in the dropdown so that the sites are blocked for five minutes every hour.

In the How to Block section, check Immediately block pages on these sites once blocking conditions are met.

Scroll to the bottom and click Save Options and Close.

The extension will now ensure that you spend less time on the sites you entered. It will also display a message to inform you when they will be unblocked.

You can configure this however you want, so don't be afraid to experiment and find what works for you.

The final piece of the puzzle is your phone. Make sure to enable and customize Do Not Disturb on your Android or iOS devices, too. The last thing you want is for your phone to be what ruins your Do Not Disturb setup on Windows.