Are you overwhelmed by notifications? If you’re like most people, your phone is constantly buzzing, beeping, and lighting up with alerts from apps, websites, and services. It’s exhausting, and it’s designed to be that way.

The attention economy

Nowadays most apps want to send you notifications, even individual websites want to do this too. Your attention is on high demand because it is worth money to advertisers.

Every notification is a bid for your attention. Social media platforms, news sites, shopping apps, and even productivity tools are all competing for your time. They’ve hired teams of psychologists and designers to make their notifications as compelling as possible.

The problem is that your attention is finite. Every time you check a notification, you’re giving away a piece of your focus. And once your attention is fragmented, it takes time and effort to get it back.

The two-question filter

In order to protect your precious time and attention, ask yourself the following questions:

Do I need to know about this immediately? Do I need to know about this at all?

These two simple questions can transform how you interact with your devices. Most notifications fail both tests.

You will find that most of the time you absolutely do not need the instant notifications to distract you. That email from work? It can wait until you check your inbox. That social media post? It will still be there later. That sale notification? You probably don’t need to buy anything right now.

What you actually need

Calls and messages from family are fine, notifications about social media posts or group chats can most likely wait until you check. Most other notifications you probably don’t need to see them at all.

Here’s what you might actually need immediate notifications for:

• Phone calls from important contacts
• Text messages from family and close friends
• Calendar reminders for critical appointments
• Security alerts (like login attempts)
• Emergency notifications

Everything else can wait. And most things can be eliminated entirely.

The cost of constant interruptions

Every notification has a hidden cost. Research shows that it takes an average of 23 minutes to get back to your original task after an interruption. That means if you check your phone 10 times during a work session, you’ve lost almost 4 hours of productive time.

Notifications also create a constant state of low-level anxiety. Your brain is always on alert, waiting for the next interruption. This makes it harder to focus, harder to relax, and harder to be present in the moment.

They train you to be reactive instead of proactive. Instead of deciding what’s important and focusing on it, you’re constantly responding to whatever happens to grab your attention.

How to take control

Explore the settings on your device and set it up so that you only get what you do need. This is easier than you might think.

Start with your phone:

• Find your notification settings (usually in Settings or System Preferences)
• Turn off notifications for apps you don’t need
• Look for options to make important notifications less intrusive
• Use Do Not Disturb or Focus modes during work hours

For your computer:

• Turn off desktop notifications for most apps
• Close email and social media tabs when you’re working
• Use focus mode or airplane mode when you need to concentrate

For specific apps:

• Turn off push notifications for social media
• Disable email notifications on your phone
• Turn off shopping and promotional notifications
• Disable news alerts unless they’re truly urgent

The FOMO trap

Be mindful of every notification you receive from now on, resist FOMO and disable them if you don’t actually need them. Protect your time and attention.

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a powerful force. We worry that if we don’t check our notifications immediately, we’ll miss something important. But here’s the truth: if something is truly important, you’ll find out about it eventually.

Most of what we’re afraid of missing isn’t actually important. It’s just designed to feel urgent. Social media posts, group chat messages, promotional emails - these things aren’t going anywhere. They’ll still be there when you choose to check them.

The benefits of notification control

When you take control of your notifications, you’ll notice immediate improvements:

Better focus: You can work for longer periods without interruption Reduced stress: Your brain isn’t constantly on alert More presence: You can be fully engaged in conversations and activities Better sleep: No more checking your phone in the middle of the night Increased productivity: You can actually finish what you start

You’ll also discover that you don’t miss much. The things that are truly important have a way of reaching you. And the things that don’t reach you probably weren’t that important anyway.

Practical steps to get started

Start with a notification audit. Go through your phone and computer and ask the two questions for every app that sends notifications.

Turn off notifications for:

• Social media apps
• Shopping and promotional apps
• News apps (unless you’re a journalist)
• Games
• Most productivity apps (they can wait)

Keep notifications for:

• Phone calls
• Text messages from important contacts
• Calendar reminders
• Security alerts
• Emergency notifications

Set up Do Not Disturb mode during your most productive hours. Most phones allow you to set up schedules and allow certain contacts to break through.

Use focus modes on your devices. Both iOS and Android have features that help you limit distractions during specific activities.

The philosophical perspective

“No man is free who is not master of himself.” - Epictetus

This quote perfectly captures what we’re talking about. If you’re constantly responding to notifications, you’re not in control of your own attention. You’re being controlled by the apps and services that want your time.

True freedom comes from being able to choose where you direct your attention. When you control your notifications, you’re taking back that choice. You’re deciding what’s important to you, not letting others decide for you.

It’s about intentionality. Instead of letting your day be controlled by whatever happens to grab your attention, you’re choosing to focus on what matters most to you.

The bottom line

Your attention is your most valuable resource. It’s more valuable than money because you can always make more money, but you can never make more time.

Notifications are designed to steal your attention. They’re created by companies that profit from your time and focus. You don’t owe them anything.

Take control of your devices. Use the two-question filter to decide what notifications you actually need. Turn off everything else.

Protect your time and attention. They’re the only things you can’t get back once they’re gone.

Start today. Pick up your phone right now and turn off notifications for one app that doesn’t need them. Notice how it feels to have one less thing competing for your attention.

You’ll be amazed at how much calmer and more focused you feel. And you’ll wonder why you didn’t do this sooner.