What happens when you turn-off your Mobile Notifications?

2071st BLOG POST

We often see memes these days about how we are excited about our weekends but end up spending the whole time at our home without doing anything at all. The main reason of this has been people becoming so lazy and procrastinating that even for our own fun, we feel tired to even stand up, get ready and move out of our home. Someone like me don’t even pick up the phone and call the people I love talking to. Most of us find it very convenient in just scrolling short videos one after another and finding our comfort and peace in it. Unfortunately, people have started calling such indulgent moments as Me-time. Disappointingly, this isn’t me-time at all as we aren’t giving ourselves any kind of time by busying our brain in watching small acts or monologues of someone we don’t even know.

 

I remember when the real disruption happened with Mobile in our hands when WhatsApp was launched around 2010. This was the day since we started getting crazy about the Notification feature which further got bettered when Android phones started coming into the market. But did we realize during this point of time that this is turning into a bad addiction? And the generation which were born after the mobile became a regular thing will never be able to live a simpler life due to the Notification feature?

 

Now, we install more than 100+ applications in our mobile most of which keep on sending Notifications to us even when there’s actually nothing to notify us. We are addicted so much to it that if there’s no notification for 5 minutes, we end up checking our Mobile if everything is fine. And because we start feeling ignored, we end up watching short videos or just give our reaction to someone’s short-time status/story purposely so that they’ll reply back and we will get some notification soon. How cheesy, isn’t it?

 

Since last few years, we have started getting an instant option in the Notification itself to turn it off forever. Clicking that option makes us feel that our world will fall apart and we might miss something very important. We just don’t wish to click it and we never even do that. Recently, I was going through some crazy times when I was feeling every external noise as irritation. Well, I am still going through this phase. I thought of giving a chance to this and finally turned off Notification for all the Apps. I just turned it on for important Emails and Whatsapp- where, anyway, no one talks to me anymore.

 

I must tell you that the number of things that have got balanced and nuanced in my life and routine after this is inspiring. First of all, my mobile has stopped blinking every now and then which has gradually shifted my focus away from it. Secondly, even if I pick it up to check something, there’s no useless notifications which could end up prompting me to click them and get diluted in the world of senseless and endless content. Thirdly, I have stopped getting attracted towards products or things I never wanted to purchase just because the Notification screamed about some limited deal or offer. There are no impulsive purchases anymore.

 

Now, whenever my mobile blinks or vibrates, I know that there’s actually something which needs my attention. I wanted to better this experience hence I removed all the Social Media applications from my Home screen to stop feeding my mind that the mobile is meant only for accessing them. Now, I have all the Utility, e-learning and Professional apps which are either meant to help us (Maps, Mumbai local time-table, Dictionary, Calculator, Calendar, To-Do lists, Reminders, Notes etc.) or teach us to grow personally/professionally (Udemy, Linkedin Learning, Goodreads, Kindle). Even the Music app is not on the screen. I know that I listen music only when I start my day while getting ready for office and just before sleeping to avoid overthinking on any topic. Let’s not create a pattern where we feel listening to music whenever we pick up the phone.

 

Now that I have finally created a pattern for my mind which no more needs any attention from Mobile phone, I have started seeking it from better things. I am running ahead with my book reading target. I am doing Courses online and achieving Certificates week after week. I am able to learn many skills otherwise by going through important useful videos and other online articles. I am able to meditate and exercise daily. I am able to read the whole newspaper and few pages of Bhagavad Geeta before sleeping. Please realize that all of these are happening along with a full-time job which requires 3.5 to 4 hours of traveling every day. Now, I charge my mobile once and it supports me for more than 1.5 days.

 

This has also been one of the reasons why I never purchased a Smart-watch because I know how much distracting it can be to keep getting notified not only on the phone but on your watch too. I still believe in possessing a simple watch which tells time. Similarly, I have started using mobile for what it is made for- making or receiving calls from someone during emergencies or essential co-ordinations. My friends know from more than a decade that I don’t always pick up the calls because I don’t wish getting distracted if I am already indulged in something. I always ask everyone to send me a WhatsApp message before calling so that I can let them know when we can have a good conversation. Everyone knows that I love chatting as I have communicated that in case of any urgent responses, rather than calling me, please send me a text to which I will reply as soon as I check my mobile even if I am at my workplace or between something.

 

Well, the reason for this post was not to show-off about how important I consider myself to be. It was to make everyone of you know about my experience that we lose nothing after switching off all the notifications from our phone and scheduling few Apps to send us notifications only in case of urgent events. You will start loving yourself more after finding yourself away from the clutches of this useless device called Mobile. The world was running even before it’s invention and your world can run even after this. Your phone is a Smartphone only if you use it smartly otherwise as televisions are called as Idiot-box, mobiles are nothing but Dumb-box. Yes, it is making you one. Time to wake up and start living with yourself even in idleness rather than picking it up and getting lost in it for hours. Try it!

 

Thanks..

 

WRITING BUDDHA