Notifications as action prompts

In my recent, semi-regular review of my notifications settings, I was extra ruthless. As usual, notifications are off for the vast majority of apps. Just a handful are allowed into a twice daily summary and messages from family are immediate.

I used to rely on notifications for ambient awareness of what’s happening. Now I’m mostly only allowing action oriented notifications, like habit reminders in Streaks or moments in Waking Up. More importantly, given the limited number of notifications that appear, I now almost immediately do whatever the notification is about. This has made them much more relevant and is helping me build the habits that I claim to prioritize.

Turns out the best notification strategy isn’t about staying informed, it’s about staying intentional.