Life without Notifications
Every week my phone would return a notification saying I have used the phone for over 3 hours on an average per day. I realized I was spending too much time on my phone. I had to do something, those three hours staring on phone, browsing instagram and repliying to text messages was too much. I decided to reduce the time from 3 to 2.5 hours and I needed a way to do so.
What did I do ?
First I deleted the apps I would hardly use, this made the phone perform better, then I decided to switch off notification for the apps I use the most. I started with instagram and moved on to WhatsApp, an app per day, in a matter of week, I had switched off all notifications except calls.
What difference did it make?
The time I spent in a week gradually decreased from 3 hours to 2.5 hours. After a month without notifications, it not only help reduce the time I spent on mobile but I could concentrate more on my work, I spent more time reading as I never saw the notification lights blinking or the mobile alerting me with notification sounds.
Does it affect relationships ?
The reason I was first hesitant to switch off notifications was because I was afraid not replying to texts immediately would make my friends wonder what happened, once I switched off the notification is when I realized, it didn’t really matter, my fear was misplaced, friends and near ones are patient enough to wait for my replies.
Can you try this ?
If you are someone who always looks at your mobile and it affects your concentration levels, why not try, you can try one app at a time and see for yourselves the changes it brings.
I even go for runs without taking the mobile with me, I use a Coros Pace 2 fitness watch that tracks my activity and I sync it later, I wouldn’t have done this unless I hadn’t switched off the notifcations.
Life without notifications is possible, all you need to do is to go to settings and try one app at a time.