Silence Your Notifications

Quick Win

All those dings, chirps and beeps can steal your attention. Take back your time — and focus — by turning them off.

Try This Today

• Start with apps. Go to the Settings menu on your phone or tablet and select Notifications. For iPhones, click on each app and switch the “allow notifications” function to the “off” position. Android phones have an option that lets you quash them in one swoop: Under “lock screen,” choose “don’t show notifications.” (Steps will vary depending on what version phone you have.) 
• Customize. Some apps let you turn off sound alerts but keep visual notifications. That lets you see what came in without the distraction of those annoying beeps. For sound notifications you choose to keep, you may be able to control whether and how often the sound repeats. Android phones have a “snooze” option for notifications.
• Have your “hard no” ready. Downloading a new app? When it asks, “Would you like to display notifications?” just say no.

Why

The cellphones and other devices that keep us connected may be “smart” — but they have no manners. Beeps and buzzes from social media, text messages and other apps can create a false sense of urgency that can break our concentration. Being interrupted by notifications while trying to focus on a task can lead to mistakes and poor performance, according to a study of 166 college students, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance in 2015. Being perpetually on alert may increase stress too. The American Psychological Association’s 2017 “Stress in America” report, which focused on technology, found that 86 percent of Americans check devices “constantly or often” — and that “constant checkers” have higher stress levels than people who aren’t as tethered to their devices.