The Buzzes & The Beeps, a Disruption That?Creeps

Manager: “Why are you in a hurry? It doesn’t look good.”

Employee: “I didn’t get?”

Manager: “Why do you always look at your watch?”

Employee: “Oh! I just see notifications. I got my new Apple watch.”

I have been in both positions.

And let me tell you, it is disgusting to be in the manager’s position.

Of course, with all the benefits of smart devices, it is bound to have cons.

One of them is notifications.

How Notifications Impact Negatively?

Is there a feeling of FOMO when we see zero notifications on our phone?

This is called “Notification Anxiety.”

Most of us are impacted by it. Not only this, there are more.

Let me explain.

3. FOMO, Jealousy, Social Comparison

When we see any information, news, or updates about people we know, as human beings, we are bound to experience -

FOMO, Jealousy, Social comparison.

FOMO.

Assume your colleagues met impromptu and posted on social media. You got the notification, which you clicked.

The feeling you will have while seeing the image and reading the text (subtitle) is called FOMO.

It is a dangerous place to be in.

Jealousy.

Now assume your friend got a promotion and he or she posted on LinkedIn. You saw the notification, and the thoughts you had would be -

“Why haven’t I achieved something like that?”

“Their success makes mine seem insignificant.”

Social Comparison.

Now that same friend will go on a luxurious vacation and holiday with her wife or husband.

You again saw the notification of him checking in at a place which currently you can’t afford.

The thoughts will be -

“I wish I could afford such vacations.”

“My life seems dull compared to theirs.”

All these three instances are something we face in our day-to-day life.

I wrote it in a little funny way or rather a lighter way.

But these emotions are something that is much more negative than it looks like.

2. Anxiety & Stress

Anxiety & stress happen when we see negative news about someone famous or unknown.

A few months back, I deleted my news app.

Reason?—?Negative news.

Someone dies of a heart attack, someone’s wife ran away because the husband was too busy with work, a man dies eating momos, and many such heart-wrenching news.

All this negative sentiment makes money for the app maker but takes a toll on the user of that app. WE.

Mood totally changes with these kinds of news. If we are in a good or jolly mood, then we feel the world is suffering and we are enjoying.

And if we are already not feeling good, we go into a rabbit hole of negative emotions.

This had a huge impact on our mental well-being. It makes us vulnerable to attract all negative energy.

1. Productivity

The Apple ecosystem is a well-known concept.

If a call comes, it will ring on all devices, from your iPhone to the watch to iPad to Mac.

It sounds amazing, but practically it is very disturbing while doing work, especially on Mac.

The deep work capability of humans is deteriorating.

We see a notification and cannot resist checking in real-time. This not only breaks our work rhythm but also makes us vulnerable to see or spend more time on the app from which a notification came.

It is a rabbit hole. We see one offer and open the app. We are then flooded with information and just waste our time.

This makes us feel fatigued.

It happens multiple times a day, and with the compounding effect coming into play, we easily lose hours of our productive time.

What To?Do?

1. Switch off all notifications except the important ones like calls, calendars, alarms.
2. Delete apps?—?Which you use not even once a month, all social media apps (unless your work is related to social media), and all other apps that bring negative sentiments to your mind.
3. Use ‘Do Not Disturb’ or ‘Focus modes’ while doing deep work sessions. Try using the Pomodoro timer also.
4. Schedule Notification check timing. Do it twice or thrice a day, taking out ten or fifteen minutes each to read and check all notifications.
5. Free apps are bait. Don’t download apps if they are free & trending. Try using paid apps only.

I do all these five things, and I am at peace.