Having access to your course materials on your computer is great! But, for some of us, that means that we are accessing our course materials on the biggest source of distraction we own.

Today’s blog post is here to highlight some of the different features built into Windows that may help reduce some of those distractions.

Minimize Visual Distractions in Windows

1. Turn off background images, animations and more by personalizing your Windows display
2. Personalize your toolbar – remove unnecessary and distracting apps
3. Turn off “Live Tiles” (a feature that shows you personalized updates for what’s happening in your world – aka a feature that shows you possible distractions)
4. Use “Focus Assist” to personalize which notifications pop-up on your screen and create periods of time with little to no distractions
5. Use the tools in Immersive Reader to reduce visual distractions and help you focus on what you’re reading

Note: how to access each of these features changes whether you are using Windows 10 or Windows 11. Please check out the following link for details on these features and how to access them.
Make it easier to focus on tasks – Microsoft Support

Bonus suggestion: if your computer is used for both school and personal, it might be a good idea for you to create two separate profiles on your computer. Create one account for you, and an account for school. In your school account, do not save your passwords for any distracting sites (social media, online shopping, etc…). For those of us who can’t remember our passwords and depend on them being saved or stored (in a secure way), this extra step we’d have to take can sometimes stop us from visiting those distracting sites.
Add or remove accounts on your PC – Microsoft Support