1---
2title: "Pull vs push: intentional notifications"
3date: 2023-03-16T17:20:32-04:00
4draft: true
5toc: true
6---
7
8Some kind of intro here
9
10## Pushed-based
11
12Modern internet services heavily rely on push-based systems. YouTubers used to
13say "smash like and subscribe!" at the end of videos because they wanted you to
14get a _push_ notification when they publish a new video. When YouTube stopped
15sending notifications for subscriptions and added the bell, YouTubers started
16saying "smash like, subscribe, and hit that bell!" instead. Free Android games
17often ask for permission to send notifications because they want to periodically
18remind you that "hey!! you downloaded me! don't forget about me! come play me,
19run out of energy, get annoyed, then buy some extra energy with your hard-earned
20money! also, pay a bit more and remove the ads while you're at it! 😃"
21
22E-commerce platforms often ask you to subscribe to their newsletter in exchange
23for a small discount on your next purchase because they want to _push_ their
24marketing to your inbox. Some news websites serve massive popups asking you to
25subscribe to their newsletters so they can, again, _push_ their new content in
26front of your face. In some cases, this tactic may be perfectly benign; there
27are some individuals and companies with newsletters that might be genuinely
28interesting and they just want to let you know that the newsletter exists in
29case you want to subscribe. But they still result in content being _pushed_ in
30front of their subscriber's faces.
31
32Similarly, instant messaging is all about push notifications. It's in the name:
33_instant_. When someone sends you a message, you usually want to know
34immediately; maybe it's a family emergency, maybe your food delivery person just
35arrived, maybe the sky is falling, etc. Those are all situations where you
36genuinely do want notifications pushed in front of your face. But think about
37while you're at work. Do you really need to know that there's no more coffee in
38the lounge when you're waist-deep in a big code refactor and having to mentally
39juggle variables and signatures and business logic and overarching structu— look
40at this funny meme!
41
42Ah shit. Where was `x` set again? _Does_ this function duplicate the logic of
43that other function 83 lines above? You've lost your train of thought and it's
44going to take you about 30 minutes to get it back.[^1]
45
46Maybe you're spending time with your family but that new hire keeps asking for
47help with this snippet of code they can't figure out. You genuinely want to help
48them, but time with family is incredibly valuable. It can wait until tomorrow.
49
50There's a time and place for push notifications. Intentionally setting
51boundaries and being thoughtful with your time is important.
52
53## Pull-based
54
55
56
57## Some suggestions
58
59Make heavy and extensive use of Do Not Disturb rules on as many platforms as
60possible; on mobile devices, it's often possible to automatically enable DND
61during calendar events as well as enable it while you sleep. Mark yourself as
62unavailable in Slack (or Teams or XMPP or \_\_\_\_) outside of work hours.
63Disable push notifications for YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, etc. Maybe consider
64using alternative clients for those services that are more user-respecting in
65general.
66
67Religiously unsubscribe from everything that clutters up your inbox. If you
68don't actively want to see it, unsubscribe from it or write a rule that marks it
69as reads and immediately shoves it in your archive. Inboxes are for pertinent,
70important information; the latest shoe sale at your preferred big-box store is
71neither.
72
73Get an [RSS reader!][rssr] Please!
74
75[rssr]: https://wikipedia.org/wiki/News_aggregator
76
77They allow you to subscribe to multiple sources of information — like news
78websites, YouTube channels, blogs, etc. — and aggregate that content into one
79place. You can read what you want when you want without having anything thrust
80in your face by The Algorithm™. Depending on the reader, you can sort sources
81into categories or folders that allow you to focus on one thing at a time rather
82than being treated to a firehose of the internet.
83
84If you're looking for a service, check out [Feedbin,][fb] [NewsBlur,][nb]
85[Feeder,][feeder] [Feedly,][fdly] and [Inoreader.][ino] Be thoughtful about
86enabling notifications though.
87
88[fb]: https://feedbin.com
89[nb]: https://newsblur.com
90[feeder]: https://feeder.co
91[fdly]: https://feedly.com
92[ino]: https://www.inoreader.com
93
94If you're into self-hosting, I highly recommend [yarr.][yarr] At the time of
95writing, I've been using yarr for 6 months and don't see myself switching any
96time soon. I only wish it had a maximum content width so reading was more
97pleasant on wide screens and that [the theme would switch based on your system
98theme.][yarr-theme]
99
100[yarr]: https://github.com/nkanaev/yarr/
101[yarr-theme]: https://github.com/nkanaev/yarr/issues/46#issuecomment-798896310
102
103If you do adopt RSS, I strongly recommend migrating your _important_ newsletter
104subscriptions to [_Kill the Newsletter!_][ktn] It generates an email, you
105subscribe to the newsletter with that email address, and it appends each email
106to a unique RSS feed generated just for you. At the time of writing, I receive 7
107newsletters as RSS feeds and it's a pleasant experience.
108
109[ktn]: https://kill-the-newsletter.com
110
111[^1]:
112 I've seen and heard 30 minutes cited many times from sources I remember
113 trusting, but I can't remember exactly which sources they were. After a
114 quick search, The Muse says [_It Takes Nearly 30 Minutes to Refocus After
115 You Get
116 Distracted._](https://www.themuse.com/advice/this-is-nuts-it-takes-nearly-30-minutes-to-refocus-after-you-get-distracted)