A two-week notification-free experiment by five Wave reporters
Have you ever counted how many smartphone notifications you get in a day? Five of our reporters did, and the average was 120. For two weeks, we decided to turn off every notification except calls and texts.
The Anxious First Three Days
The first three days were not easy. Even with no alerts coming in, we lit up our screens out of habit and worried we had missed something important. From the fourth day on, though, the number of times we reached for our phones dropped noticeably.
Once the notifications were off, I realized I wasn’t using my phone. My phone had been summoning me.
Reporter in the experiment
Results After Two Weeks
- Daily screen time fell by an average of 1 hour 20 minutes
- Replied to messages in batches, three times a day
- Not a single important message was missed
- Four of the five chose to keep going
Technology makes our days easier, but there is no need to let it take over as master of the day. Open your settings today and keep only the notifications you truly need.
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