Kill The Buzz(ing)

One of the best life decisions I’ve made in the last few years? Limiting my phone and computer’s notifications to calls, texts and calendar reminders. No @’s, likes, pushed emails, etc., unless I choose to go looking for them. Maintaining a relatively inactive lock screen is an incredibly beautiful—and liberating—thing.

“Allowing an app to send you push notifications is like allowing a store clerk to grab you by the ear and drag you into their store,” David Pierce wrote recently for Wired. “You’re letting someone insert a commercial into your life anytime they want. Time to turn it off.”

Do it, I dare you. Flip the switches and give the no-notification lifestyle a couple weeks to become the new (err, old) normal. You’ll reclaim moments of your life back you weren’t even aware had gone missing.

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A version of this post first appeared in the morning shakeout, my weekly email newsletter covering running, writing, media and other topics that interest me. If you’d like for it to land in your inbox first thing on Tuesday mornings, subscribe here.