After reading [Amolith's post on notifications](https://secluded.site/pull-vs-push-intentional-notifications/), I thought I'd reflect on my personal experience turning off my phone's notifications.
They are distracting, and divert you from what you should really be doing.
I'm pretty sure that anybody with ADHD can relate to getting distracted by an email or a notification and spending time watching a video instead of doing the dishes.
What time is it again ? Oh right, 45 minutes just passed by. Welp.
Even for people without ADHD, the human brain is notoriously bad at switching tasks efficiently.
It's a lot more efficient to allocate working time to the beginning of the day, only to wind down and watch videos on the evening.
> (do as I say, not as I do)
## What are notifiations anyway ?
There are, generally, 2 types of notifications: push notifications and pull notifications.
### Push notifications
When you think of notifications, this is most likely the first thing that comes to your mind.
They are notifications that shows up on your phone when a new Youtube video is posted, when a post is popular on Reddit or when a friend sends you a message.
<!-- Under the hood, your phone connects to a remote server and -->
> Here I'm not trying to indiscriminately bash on push notifications. There are legitimate uses for them, but most of them aren't actually that important or useful.
### Pull notifications
This type of notifications are more intentional. You, the user, have to manually open the application and get updates from the server.
## Switching off
For me, because I bought a Google Pixel 7 and switched to GrapheneOS in December of 2023, I prtty much didn't have a choice; this Android distribution comes without the `Google Services Framework` by default, which is a necessary component for receiving push notifications.
Nontheless, before I bought this new phone, I clearly realized that notifications were bad for my focus: there's always somehing interesting to watch on Youtube or Reddit, the chores can wait just a bit longer...
If you (understandably) don't want to buy a new phone to get rid of notifications, you can still mute specific apps' notifications.
## The sound of silence
I quickly noticed that the lack of distractions did have an impact on my focus; my phone doesn't randomly go off in my pocket, or when I'm developing or writing.
Instead of hearing about new Youtube videos as they go online, I instead take 5 minutes each day to open NewPipe, pull down updates from the Youtube and Peertube channels I subscribe to, download the videos to watch the videos when I'm able to.
For my podcasts and RSS feeds, I use AntennaPod to get new episodes each day or so, and like with NewPipe, I download them for later consumption.
I take some time every few days to read everything on the Fediverse, Secure Scuttlebutt and my emails.
I don't get sucked into a conversation with someone online anymore. I spend time on entertainment when I want to.
Of course, that won't subtitute for good discipline when it comes to when to open said entertainment apps.
> (do as I say, ...)
That even got to a point where I couldn't handle my mom's phone that's absolutely filled with notifications-as-a-disservice and that goes off every 30 seconds on average.
<!-- insert phone commusnist propaganda -->
## Another h2 to make readers wait for the conclusion (that they can figure out themselves anyway), aka conclusion
Here's your homework:
- Turn off the notifications for all of your games and social medias for a month or two! You can always turn them back on as needed.
- Write about it on your journal (If you don't have one yet, [make one already!]()). Write about it each 3 to 7 days.
- Contact me one you're done and talk to me about your experience, or send me your journal. I might put your feedback on this page for others to read.
