Whether we're using a phone, a computer or even just watching television, it seems like we’re constantly and continually being notified. Badges appear when a news story has been published, a friend likes a community you could be interested in, you’ve received an email or you’re about to lose your Duolingo streak.
We’re constantly being notified of what we could be missing out on. Whilst some notifications can feel at best unnecessary, and at worst annoying, they’re relatively easy to clear. And after all, notifications are there to help us…right?
Why tech companies love notifications
Notifications do exist to help us...find our way back onto the apps that we’re not currently using. For apps, our attention is the currency, and most applications will do whatever they can in order to shift our focus back to social media, email, news or whatever new game we’re procrastinating with.
Apps will use noises, badges, banners and alerts to remind us to stop what we're doing, and pick up our devices. Whether we actually need the reminder is irrelevant, because once we’ve opened the application, we’re in; we’re using their services, and looking at their adverts. And when you have numerous apps, that means you have numerous notifications competing for your attention.
The more that we’re using an application, the more of our attention it is generating, and the more likely we’ll click an advert or make a purchase. In this sense, notifications aren’t working for us, they’re working for the apps and tech companies themselves.
Get your notifications sorted
If you find yourself sick of all the notifications, there are a couple of options. One is to turn notifications off for everything; no badges, no banners, no noises, and no distractions. However, does that mean you’re likely to compulsively check your email? Will you be continually opening WhatsApp, just in case? If so, you might need another solution.
When it comes to sorting out your notifications, consider these two questions:
- What do I need to be notified about?
- When do I need to notified?
If you’re at work, notifications about meetings, or emails coming in might be essential. But what about a person you might know on Instagram? Or a video you’ve been sent on TikTok? Those notifications can probably wait. Once you’ve figured out which apps you need to be reminded to open, you can turn all of those other notifications off.
Then, you can think about when you want those notifications to happen. If you’re in the middle of a task and you get an email, is that notification a help or a hindrance? How close to that work meeting do you need to be reminded; is it the day before, or five minutes before?
The vast majority of apps allow you to change their notification settings, so that you can customise the kind of things you receive alerts for, as well as when you receive those alerts. You can also set up the ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature on both Apple and Android devices, so that your mobile blocks certain notifications temporarily.
Ready to say goodbye to notifications?
Keeping on top of your notifications in this way might feel like a huge task. However, focusing your attention on the things that matter, and ignoring the things that don’t is likely to save you time and energy in the long term. With a little extra effort, you can stop notifications working for big tech, and make them start working for you.
