I recently received a replacement phone and have been systematically going through and disabling every single notification that vibrates or makes a sound.
It makes me feel like I’m clawing back some control over the interruptions that divert my attention. And sure it might only last for a second, but I come back to my mental bandwidth thinking: we only have so much time per day to think and communicate. An interruption that pulls me away from what I’m focusing on is the same as someone calling me. It takes a while to get back into the thought I was having. And I’d like my thoughts to be higher quality than interrupt driven “A friend of your’s in San Francisco checked into a place you don’t even know”.
And still they keep coming… just when I think I’ve found all apps that interrupt me there’s a new one.
I’ve also been taming Facebook: friend’s from pre-primary school are now unfollowed. “Friends” are unfollowed. Friends are followed. And that feels good.
Should Anyone Ask 