In the last month, I began turning off notifications on my phone.
Last year, it started with WhatsApp groups. If I didn’t, it would’ve killed my battery way earlier in the day.
I’ve had no choice to go this route because as a freelance professional, I find myself taking care of work stuff from my phone quite often. When I have free time, I unmute the groups.
I don’t know why it took me this long, but in the last month, I turned off Instagram (despite only having had them turned on for people I follow) Facebook, and a bunch of other social networking apps (tbh don’t know why I’m still on some of them). It got so bad that while I was busy with work related stuff on my phone, I had to wait for notification banners to go away before I could carry on with the important stuff I was doing.
Most of all, it made me realise:
1) close friends & family are more important than strangers online
2) therefore strangers don’t deserve the same priority
3) I am now spending less time on these networks, which is a good thing
4) I know I’m saving on some battery life
5) Same can be said for data (most noticeable when travelling)
6) I check my phone less often now (never thought I’d get there)
7) It’s great to not be disturbed all the time with notifications. What life is that?
8) I don’t think I’ll be able to turn off Twitter notifications (I don’t want to)
Better to be in control of who can reach you rather than let everyone. For anything important, there’s always picking up the phone and making a call.
Oh, when I’m not in the mood to deal with anything, I just put my phone on airplane mode 😀
Nafisa Akabor
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Recharged is an independent site that focuses on technology, electric vehicles, and the digital life by Nafisa Akabor. Drawing from her 16-year tech journalism career, expect news, reviews, how-tos, comparisons, and practical uses of tech that are easy to digest. info@recharged.co.za