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Why We’re Addicted To

Notifications

How many times have you read about people turning all the notifications
off on their phone, or tried yourself, only to find that it never seems to
stick long-term? While we try this with good intentions, most of us end
up right back on the notification train again at some point.

Why is so hard to turn off—and keep off—notifications? Why can’t we
stop picking up our phones and checking social media, even when we
know there’s nothing new to see?

And what can we do to make a toned-down approach stick?

We’re addicted to our phones

As our phones become smarter and more powerful, our dependency on
them only increases. In fact, when completing interviews for her book
The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships
in the Digital Age, author Catherine Steiner-Adair found many
people shared experiences that showed symptoms of psychological
dependency. For instance, many of the interviewees said they couldn’t
leave the house without their phones or go to the bathroom without
them, and they felt anxious when separated from their phones.

Other research has found, similarly, that we tend to feel more
uncomfortable and anxious without our phones, or when we can’t
access social media.

Just to prove how little we know about what’s good for us, research
shows that people who rely on their phones most, and feel anxious
without them, don’t actually feel better when they do have their

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