A friend and I agreed that we both get great ideas but often forget them. One thing that wipes a good idea from the mind is something important that comes up. The doorbell rings and it is a buddy you haven't seen for months! No, it's flowers to show you are appreciated. Whatever comes up, it erases that good idea from your mind, the one you were going to put on the grocery list. No, it was the to-do list. Darn! What was that idea?
Smartphones are often set to make a sound when a text message comes in and a different sound when someone is making a telephone call to you. Weather warnings can be given their sound and your timer can tell you the soup is done. You may get a sound from a friend who wants to play Word Scape with you.
There are many articles online about unplugging, letting go of the stream and the urgent messages of sales, and causes, and invitations to this gathering, that lecture and that very important march. Smartphones, tablets and computers can be turned off. They can be muted so that no alerting noises come from them. Some people have chosen alerting signals that sound like a police siren, bless 'em.
I spend several hours a day at the computer so when I want to get away, it is nice not to have my iPad around. If I do, I can quickly mute it so that it doesn't bother me or anyone else. We get too many robocalls and we try to not answer if we don't know who is calling. I don't mind a small banner beside some tablet apps indicating the number of calls or messages I have received that have not been opened.
