[whalesalad]

Here is how you can have a smartphone and enjoy it:

- Disable notifications from all applications that are not vital to your life. I enjoy instagram, but notifications are hard-off for me. I check it on my time.

- Turn off all sounds, period, only do vibrations

- Shift from being pushed information to pulling it. Only check apps, SMS, etc... when you want to check them, not when your phone buzzes or blinks at you.

- For loved ones, emergency access, most phones will allow you to define people that bypass this and will ring you.

That's it. Now you can still enjoy your awesome smartphone but on your own time, under your own intention, instead of someone else.

My phone only rings if my wife or family calls, and it only vibrates when I get an email. I keep it face down on another desk in my office, out of view, or sometimes in another room.

[Wowfunhappy]

> - Shift from being pushed information to pulling it. Only check apps, SMS, etc... when you want to check them, not when your phone buzzes or blinks at you.

Do you ever find this sometimes makes things worse? I've tried it with specific apps, and I often find myself checking those apps more to make sure I haven't missed anything! With notifications, I feel comfortable that if I haven't been notified, there's nothing else to see.

[whalesalad]

That just means you have identified a weakness to strengthen through meditation! You are reaching for those apps for a dopamine hit.

[_worf]

I read it more as they were worried they were missing something.

[rajlego]

I had this issue too and what I found made all the difference: try this for a week. Just a week. Do whatever you want afterwards but that week will teach you a lot about how much you really need or don't need your phone.

[tata71]

Which is a common excuse, but makes no sense, because nobody's Instagram feed is reading "come to hospital, your mum's dying".

[Wowfunhappy]

I will say that when I wrote that, I was largely thinking of Slack in particular due to a recent experience.

I started graduate school this fall, and went down to part-time at my job. I'd originally planned to keep Slack notifications turned off on days I was focused on school. Everyone was aware I wasn't working on those days, and the rest of the team is perfectly competent and able to handle themselves. In the event of a true emergency, Slack gives colleagues the option to override snoozed notifications, and some people also had my phone number and instructions to send a text.

I kept checking Slack anyway. I never saw anything that couldn't have waited—there were no "oh my god, I'm so glad I saw this" moments—but I kept doing it. I finally gave up and decided to leave the notifications on, and now I check the app less.

So, am I worried about missing something important, or is it just dopamine? I really don't know!

[suyula]

Worried about missing something important that your competent coworkers could have told you about through a number of different avenues?

Definitely sounds more like (no offense intended) a rat frantically pressing a lever, waiting for one of the presses to yield a piece of cheese.

[ronenlh]

Nice to read a solution through self reflection and meditation. This should be the default for anything.

[diebeforei485]

You can set an app to only notify you silently. This means it won't buzz or beep, but when you pick up your phone it will be on the lock screen. Android has similar (and more) customizability options.

[whalesalad]

Notifications are still cognitive asteroids. I use my phone predominantly as a clock so a clean lock screen means nothing to worry about.

[diebeforei485]

There is also the option to bypass the lock screen and only go to the Notification Center. On iOS this is called "deliver quietly".

[vmoore]

> Turn off all sounds, period, only do vibrations

I hate vibrations. I used to get PVS[0] a lot when I was naive and had all the default options turned on.

I still get it, just not as bad. Like, the smallest little rumble on my thigh and I think I've received a message/notification.

I agree with you on disabling notifications though. It's something many people don't consider. Notifications are more consistent with a 'nag' than a notification.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_vibration_syndrome

[ssss11]

Oh my god that’s exactly what I do. Additionally: turn all iCloud syncing off, turn off Siri and the Siri settings for each app.

[pkdpic]

This has been my general approach after doing a very long brick phone break and it seems to work.