pushpull draft 1

docs/posts/pushpull.md

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+---
+date: 2024-06-05
+unlisted: true
+---
+
+# Notifications: from Push to Pull
+
+After reading [Amolith's post on notifications](TODO), I thought I'd reflect on my personal experience turning off my phone's notifications.
+
+## Why push notifications are bad
+
+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.