This is why you should turn off your notifications now

© Pexels/Edmond Dantès

We already know that screens and their omnipresence are harmful to the mental health of users, especially the youngest. Smartphones, computers, tablets… They are everywhere! Like an extension of the hand, today it is difficult to imagine ourselves without a phone. So much so that for many people, the day begins and ends in front of a screen.

Untimely notifications don't help us wean ourselves off. Quite the contrary! These little alerts fuel an illusory feeling of urgency. A real scourge, notifications and other digital interruptions make us lose a lot of concentration time.

Hinders productivity

Professional or personal, notifications resonate several times every day. Which makes it almost impossible to put your smartphone far away for very long. The problem is that notifications eat into our ability to concentrate. Every day, employees lose 1.5 hours due to notifications and other interruptions related to work emails. As a result, their workload increases, as does their feeling of frustration and exhaustion. Note that it takes on average more than a minute to return to work after consulting your email inbox. The same goes for students, who are too often distracted by the sounds emitted by smartphones.

Notifications exert constant pressure and stimulate our brain, making it believe that we are facing urgent situations. This is not the case, but our brain falls for it. This is why the notification color dot is red. The feeling of urgency is there, we cannot resist it…

As The Conversation explains, our cognitive system really likes to make predictions about future events to adjust our actions. Notifications thus disrupt our brain since they interrupt us. Something that our brain had not anticipated. This demobilizes our concentration and can even create stress. To compensate for this interruption, our brain must redouble its efforts to implement adaptation strategies.

If technology makes our daily lives easier in many aspects, we should not let ourselves be consumed by the latter. Thus, it is essential to find a balance to fully benefit from the advantages of technology without suffering the harmful consequences.

Currently, digital detox is “in fashion” and applications such as smartphone manufacturers offer solutions to this hyperconnection. It is possible to opt for modes dedicated to concentration and digital well-being, which will block applications that are too distracting. You also have the option of switching your phone to black and white and completely muting notifications to soothe your cognitive system.

< li>Untimely notifications disrupt our cognitive system
• They generate stress, frustration, fatigue and waste time
• We must find a balance between the benefits of technology and their harmful consequences

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