I Have a Toxic Relationship With Notifications

Why those little bubbles with numbers have power over me

Photo by Prateek Katyal on Unsplash

There are two types of people in the world: those with hundreds of unread notifications, and those who can’t relax until their notifications are cleared out. I am painfully the second one.

When people look at my dumb phone and my zero inbox, they marvel at my digital cleanliness. I personally think it’s a little toxic. Why can’t I live life without worrying about what the world wants from me?

The Inbox Zero mentality is about constant vigilance, about never letting the digital tide wash over you. It’s about being a lifeguard, constantly scanning the horizon for rogue emails. — Joe Pinsker, Inbox Zero vs. Inbox 5,000: A Unified Theory

I know, logically, that there’s nothing earth-shattering waiting on the other side of that click. No career-defining opportunity, no viral article that will rewrite my life story, no declaration of eternal love. Just a mundane update, a forwarded joke, a reminder that the hamster wheel of life keeps spinning, even when I st…