Notifications
Unhooked
A little over a month ago I decided I’d had enough. The notifications on my apps - particularly the social media ones - were driving me bananas.
Here’s something you should know about me. If I see a notification, I have to open the app. There’s just something about that little red number that annoys me to the point I have to clear it. Even if I don’t read or click on whatever the notification was sent to tell me, the number has to go away.
I know you might be judging me already because maybe to you this seems like a simple fix, but guess what? Judge not…
Anyway, about a month ago, I had a conversation with myself and decided that it’s okay to miss some things or take my time about viewing them. It was at this point I opened the settings on my phone, ventured into the notifications, and turned off the ones I wanted to check at my leisure. What I realized that led to this shift is that the notifications were making themselves seem so important, and quite often the notifications were about random stuff I couldn’t give two hoots about, particularly in about two of the apps. (Those little red numbers were made for people like me, who can’t resist opening the app simply because a number appeared.) I began to be frustrated, because the notifications weren’t about anything my friends were sharing with me or from pages I followed closely. Ugh!
Now, I know there are a ton of other measures I could’ve taken within the apps to straighten out this notification madness. However, for me, that involved way too many steps, when all I needed to do was toggle off the “master” notification button. So, there you have it. I turned them off, and this is what happened.
I hope you’re not thinking it was something magical or extraordinary, because it wasn’t. Many people discuss how significantly their lives changed from dialing out of social media. I didn’t exactly dial out; I still checked my apps but at my leisure and not because of some number I couldn’t resist.
What did happen was:
I became less engaged with and more surprised by what I was seeing and reading. Between work, caregiving, and other life things, I’m already more stimulated than I should be, and social media adds to that.
It solidified that the apps are out to get me [to open them that is]. Each time I open the apps and go to my notifications, there’s this little reminder that I’m not getting these “all important” dings to my phone and a request to turn them back on, so I can once again be bothered by the numbers that don’t want to tell me anything of importance.
I have more meaningful conversations with people I care about. Not the way you might think, though. So, now when a friend asks, “Girl, you haven’t seen or heard about…it’s been all over social media.” I can say no in earnest and have them tell me all about it without having to open these dreaded apps while absorbing everything else that comes along with that. These conversations are the lead-ins to catching up on other life happenings with my friends, which is way better than what’s going on in these apps in the lives of folks I don’t even know.
I’m beginning to manage my life a little differently now, and it started with the notifications. It makes me feel unbothered about turning off or turning down the noise of other things in my life. I’m also starting to be okay with the quiet that comes along with it.
I don’t know what your “notifications” are, but I encourage you to turn them off, make the slightest adjustments, and take notice of what happens. Don’t do it expecting a major life shift but to experience how changing the smallest thing can shift your perspective on this life in so many little ways.
Have the best day!
Love 💛🤎,
Parthenia
Sip of the day: El Café Duran Tradicional
As always, your comments, thoughts, and experiences are welcome here.