Introduction
If there is one source of interruption that is everywhere in modern work, it's notifications, both on your computer and on your phone.
On a smartphone, people receive dozens of notifications per day on average. That means an app, a service, or a person grabs your attention every few minutes, often for information with no real importance.
These repeated interruptions fragment attention and make deep focus almost impossible, as explained by Carlson's law.
Why notifications are a problem
Notifications don't create new information.
They simply spread information across the day, forcing their own rhythm on you.
Instead of deciding when you check email, messages, or news, apps decide for you. You become reactive: constantly interrupted, rarely fully focused.
Ideally, information should be consumed in batches, at chosen moments. For example, handling email during a dedicated block gives you the exact same result, without getting interrupted ten times between two sentences.
These interruptions don't only hurt effectiveness. They also degrade the quality of interactions with people around you, whether coworkers, friends, or family.
Do notifications really serve your interests
Notifications are not designed for your well-being or your focus.
They primarily serve the interests of app designers, whose business model often depends on capturing as much attention time as possible.
Each notification is an attempt to bring you back into an app, make you click, read, or react. In most cases, they are neither urgent nor important.
Keeping them on by default means accepting that others decide when your attention should be pulled.
The most profitable exercise of your life
Turning off notifications is probably the simplest, highest-ROI action you can take to improve focus.
It's not about tweaking every app one by one. Operating systems offer centralized screens that let you disable notifications in a few moments, both on phone and computer.
The ideal approach is to turn everything off, except for the rare notifications that are truly indispensable, like the ones related to an ongoing trip or a one-off service.
It takes one minute. The benefits last a lifetime.
The fear of missing important information
Many people hesitate to turn notifications off because they fear missing something important.
In practice, information doesn't disappear. Emails stay in your inbox. Messages are still there. Content can be checked when you decide.
Some apps, like instant messaging, will be checked naturally anyway. Nobody wakes up after years without ever opening an app they use daily.
Like any habit, the transition can feel strange at first. Then it quickly becomes normal, and people rarely go back.
Reduce interruptions beyond notifications
Turning off notifications is an essential first step, but it's not the only one.
Other interruptions are self-generated, like the urge to spontaneously check messages or social media.
There are also interruptions tied to your environment, coworkers, or work organization, which sometimes require explicit rules or temporary isolation, as explained in create your focus bubble.
Declutter your attention long term
Beyond notifications, it helps to reduce all unnecessary pings.
Unsubscribe from newsletters you never read, install an ad blocker, or automate cookie popups to reduce micro-interruptions that tire attention without you even noticing.
Protected attention is the condition for deeper, smoother, more satisfying work.
Now that machine interruptions are under control, the next step is understanding how to resist temptations that come from yourself.
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