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Ask HN: Notification Overload

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Re: Ask HN: Notification Overload

#71

Post by mattbrewsbytes »

You asked for tools/methods.

> I've spent hours and hours unsubscribing, deleting, uninstalling, toggling settings,but then I find myself reinstalling, resubscribing

You already know the tools and methods. This is more of a psychology issue rather than technology. You need some sort of dopamine detox. I'm not a professional, there are probably professionals out there that can help but here's some random thoughts of what that might look like:

* Take a week off work and turn off all notifications. Tell work you are unavailable.

* Write anything important down on paper that happens in the next two weeks: birthdays, events, appointments, etc. so you don't miss them. A paper calendar planner works.

* Turn off the phone if you can. If you need it for travel - uninstall everything unnecessary and keep all the notifications off. Phone, maps, airline, Uber, SMS, web browser are really all you need. You could ditch the airline app and just get paper boarding passes.

* Do something, anything, that doesn't involve computers/phone and notifications.

Re: Ask HN: Notification Overload

#72

Post by bix6 »

radicality wrote: post #51
bix6 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber Eats is a plague. If you leave notifications on they constantly trigger one to make you open the app and clear it.

There’s a way somewhere deep in settings to disable those. I still have UberEats notifications for food arrival, but was able to disable all other ones while digging through all the settings

If you remember how please let me know because I could not figure it out last time I tried.

Re: Ask HN: Notification Overload

#73

Post by item007 »

I feel this. One thing that helped me is separating “notifications” into 2 buckets: (1) interrupts (things that must break my focus) vs (2) queues (things I can review on my own schedule). Most apps only offer more interrupts. What I actually want is a daily/weekly review queue that surfaces the few items that map to active priorities.

Curious: what are the top 2–3 categories you never want to miss (people, deadlines, bills, health, etc.)? And where do they originate (email, calendar, Slack, SMS)?

Re: Ask HN: Notification Overload

#74

Post by Zak »

stevage wrote: post #68
Zak wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using it for messaging is different. I took "the mobile app" to mean the Facebook app with the timeline, groups, etc... (com.facebook.katana on Android), which also doesn't let you access messages. They really seem to want to promote their Messenger app as a distinct product. I'm not sure messaging can work well in a mobile browser because notifications would not be timely, but maybe you're using it for a purpose tha…

The app I use is actually "Facebook Lite" and it does include Messenger. >maybe you're using it for a purpose that doesn't require instant notifications. Yeah, generally if I'm messaging in Facebook, it's someone I don't know well - often kind of temporary connection through a community group, like arranging a time to exchange a second hand thing. I'm happy to manually check when needed. (That is, back when I used to…

I was aware of Facebook Lite and had it installed at some point when I was more willing to use Facebook. I (probably wrongly) remember it not having messaging, because there is or was a separate Messenger Lite application.

Re: Ask HN: Notification Overload

#75

Post by impendia »

throwup238 wrote: post #23

Leave your phone on silent permanently, setup your emergency contacts like partner and kids to ring on silent, and turn off all notifications except email and SMS/WhatsApp. That’s the key to a simple life. You won’t miss anything important and that realization is the most freeing. And yes to your PPPS. My plan is to live out my favorite childhood book The Alchemist in New Zealand while retracing the LOTR filming site…

Agreed. On my phone I turned off most of my notifications, and on my computer I turned off all of them.

I couldn't find any way to actually turn off notifications in MacOS. But you can set "quiet hours" to be from 2:00 AM until 1:59 AM.

Re: Ask HN: Notification Overload

#77

Post by muzani »

rkagerer wrote: post #33

Apps on my smartphone have a strict "one strike and you're out" policy. As soon as they raise an unwanted notification, the sledgehammer comes out and their privileges get permanently revoked. Developers: I don't care how important you think your news is, uninvited notifications are a red line for me. The software industry used to have a much more humane baseline in terms of the unwritten rules for how we treat our a…

Unfortunately banking apps are the biggest violators of this. The notifications are necessary because "click this to approve your credit card purchase". But they also come with "SPEND $5 WITH YOUR CARD AND WIN A FREE GOLD BAR" notifications.

Re: Ask HN: Notification Overload

#79

Post by stevage »

Zak wrote: post #74
stevage wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The app I use is actually "Facebook Lite" and it does include Messenger. >maybe you're using it for a purpose that doesn't require instant notifications. Yeah, generally if I'm messaging in Facebook, it's someone I don't know well - often kind of temporary connection through a community group, like arranging a time to exchange a second hand thing. I'm happy to manually check when needed. (That is, back when I used to…

I was aware of Facebook Lite and had it installed at some point when I was more willing to use Facebook. I (probably wrongly) remember it not having messaging, because there is or was a separate Messenger Lite application.

Yeah, I used to have Messenger Lite, but they discontinued that.

I should probably consider switching to full Messenger, and not browsing FB at all on my phone.

Re: Ask HN: Notification Overload

#80

Post by stevage »

NicuCalcea wrote: post #61
stevage wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Delete all social media apps, use the phone browser for it. This doesn't really work with Facebook - it tells you to get the mobile app instead.

I use Android's private space for social media and banking apps. Accessible when I need them, but not running by default. https://support.google.com/android/answer/15341885?hl=en

Interesting, had no idea that existed - thanks.
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