Why Turning Off Notifications Improved My Focus and Energy

Productivity Tip

And why you should do it too

I have a confession. About three years ago, I turned off all notifications on my cell phone. Yep, no email, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Pinterest. Oh my.

I did still accept calls and texts, but nothing else. Yep, nada.

And let me tell you — my world did not stop just because I wasn’t up-to-date.

And let me tell you — it is (is, because I still have the notifications turned off) wonderful.

I think my stress level decreased the first day that I was notification free.

Why did I take such a drastic step? Because I felt like I was a slave to the notification system, I think. Every time I heard a ping, I thought there was something (else) that I must take care of right then.

Now, my phone has never been an extra appendage. Often, I would fail to check it when I was at home, especially on the weekends.

I know some of you are thinking, “I could never go a whole weekend without looking at my phone.” It sounds strange even to me when I read that sentence aloud.

But really, I would do just that. Often, I would look for my phone on Sunday night when I was preparing for work the next day.

Although I have never been wedded to my phone, as so many are these days, I still felt like the ping from an email or Facebook had taken over my life.

I watch my colleagues sometimes when we are in a meeting. Many of them are constantly picking up their phones to check notifications and messages. But how many of them are truly urgent?

How did we get to this point any way? Honestly, before Facebook, we didn’t have less full lives because we didn’t know that our friend had checked into Red Lobster.

Related posts:

An important point made in Mesch’s article is that the Internet has become a culture where people are opening up and expressing themselves freely online. The online community share their values and…

Writing code can be challenging. I think that’s one reason many people are attracted to the profession. It’s fun to put on your thinking cap each day and solve real-world problems with software. It’s…

The pasture on a rainy spring day, poetry by A. Christine Myers