Notifications on smartphones interfere with our lives, but why don't scientists advise turning them off?

According to scientists, on average, people's smartphonesevery day comes 60-80 notifications. Most of them turn out to be completely unimportant: applications continually try to draw our attention to new likes, subscriptions, discounts, and so on. Therefore, it is not surprising that notifications on a smartphone often get on our nerves - they distract us from work and leisure, and literally ruin our lives. To be calm, some people try to keep their smartphone on do not disturb mode and this seems to be the best solution. However, scientists believe that completely turning off notifications is not worth it - there is a better solution that can reduce anxiety to nothing.

Smartphone notifications can cause depression and anxiety, but there is a way out

Smartphone notifications - good or bad?

At a glance, new message notificationsand events is a useful feature of smartphones. Thanks to the sound, vibration and flashing of the indicator, we always answer calls and messages on time. However, social networks and even non-communication applications use this feature too aggressively. Most often, instead of important calls and messages, we receive disturbing news (which still needs to be able to check for veracity) and collections of funny pictures.

Notifications have long been an integral part ofour lives - they constantly divert our attention from work and leisure. Scientists have been studying the possible consequences of distraction due to smartphones for a long time and almost always share disappointing conclusions. For example, in 2019, frequent smartphone notifications were associated with depression and anxiety (read about anxiety disorder here).

Scientists have proven many times that smartphones can cause depression

According to the human behavior specialistKostadina Kushleva, a smartphone often distracts people from everyday tasks, and returning to work each time requires a lot of self-control and strength. Due to the regular distraction of the smartphone, people at the end of the day feel more tired than if they were concentrated, without viewing notifications.

Frequent breaks on the smartphone loadhuman brain. Humans have limited mental abilities, and the extra effort required to switch between tasks can tire us out. Therefore, notifications can lead to a slowdown in work and a decrease in its quality, the authors of Discover Magazine summed up.

Your opinion on the impact of notifications onpeople shared and behavioral economics researcher Mosi Rosenboim. According to him, when a person is distracted by a smartphone, the passage of time seems to him too fast. Also, a person concentrates heavily on the present time - according to spiritual gurus, “being here and now” is good, but without thinking about the future, people can suffer from overeating and other unhealthy behavior.

Smartphone notifications affect our lives too much

So smartphone notifications take people awaytime and effort, and can also influence behavior. Does this mean that this feature should be completely disabled? A scientific experiment has shown that it is better not to do this - there is a more reasonable solution.

Related article: How does the Internet and social networks affect the brain?

How to stop being distracted by your smartphone

Kostadin Kushlev, mentioned above, believes thatinstead of turning off all notifications, it's better to make them come three times a day. The ideal schedule looks like this: 7 am (approximate wake up time), 12 noon (lunch) and 5 pm (end of the day). So a person can stay up to date with calls and messages, and will be the least distracted by unnecessary notifications. The effectiveness of this approach has been proven in a scientific experiment.

In 2022, scientists gathered 237 volunteers anddivided them into several groups. One group received notifications on their smartphone three times a day, the second received every hour, and the third did not receive at all. At the same time, the participants of the experiment answered various questions in the questionnaire, a lot of time was given for this. As expected, the frequent number of notifications reduced the speed of completing the questionnaire. Volunteers who received no notification at all experienced inconvenience due to fear of missing an important call or message. But people who received notifications three times a day remained calm and felt more focused in their classes.

Scientists believe that the abundance of smartphone notifications heavily burdens the brain, and a person gets tired faster

Based on this, we can conclude that it is best not to turn off notifications completely. Instead, you need to set your smartphone to receive notifications on a strict schedule: morning, afternoon, and evening. So a person is less worried about missing something important. In case of something urgent, a person can simply be called - call notifications always come. During the study of Kostadin Kushlev, it wasthe Daywise application for Android is developed - if you are interested, you can try it. Similar apps can be found on Google Play by searching for "notification blocker".

On iOS, this feature is available without apps: you need to go to Settings > Notifications > Scheduled Delivery, and then turn on the Scheduled Delivery feature. Here is the official instruction.

Summary of notifications in iOS

In general, it would be good if social networks themselvessend fewer notifications. But in order to make money, most services need to constantly attract the attention of users, and we are unlikely to see such an initiative in the near future.

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What do you say - does it happen thatnotifications interfere with your work and leisure. Are you just resigned to it, or are you on do not disturb mode? Share your opinion in the comments or in our Telegram chat.