1---
2title: "Pull vs push: intentional notifications"
3date: 2023-03-20T12:15:00-04:00
4draft: false
5toc: true
6categories: ["Technology"]
7tags:
8 - Health
9 - Internet
10 - Mindfulness
11 - Productivity
12 - Web
13---
14
15I've recently noticed that many of my peers are sometimes overwhelmed by the
16internet; they feel as if they're stretched too thin and that their attention is
17constantly shifting between too many different platforms. I think a _portion_ of
18that feeling comes from systems that bombard them with push notifications. In
19games, this introduces a sense of urgency because you want make the most of your
20time and use your "lives" or "energy" or whatever efficiently. With social
21media, these reminders tend to incite a fear of missing out (FOMO), making you
22feel like you need to open the app to connect with friends and avoid missing
23out. With news apps, the notifications are usually click-bait headlines
24specifically selected to make you open the app so you can see what's going on.
25
26But most of that isn't _really_ necessary. If something on social media is
27genuinely that urgent, it should be a call or an instant message. Social media
28can be checked at the end of the day. The same goes for news; if a headline is
29really that important, it'll still be there in a couple hours. If a game needs
30to remind its players that it exists, it's probably not particularly fun or
31memorable.
32
33On Android, when users first open an app, they're often asked to give that app
34permission to send notifications. They hit `Allow` without thinking because they
35just want to use the app, exactly like what happens when asked to agree to a
36privacy policy and terms of service. Most of these apps would be able to fill
37their purpose just as well _without_ sending notifications, but we're more
38concerned with _using_ the app so we just don't think about it.
39
40On their phones, my peers usually have a list of notifications a mile long, full
41of new emails and YouTube videos and Slack messages and "your lives are
42restored!" messages from mobile games and so much more. I think reducing that
43barrage — on all systems, not just phones — is a great way to start building a
44healthier relationship with technology.
45
46## Pushed-based
47
48Modern internet services heavily rely on push-based systems. YouTubers used to
49say "smash like and subscribe!" at the end of videos because they wanted you to
50get a _push_ notification when they publish a new video. When YouTube stopped
51sending notifications for subscriptions and added the bell, YouTubers started
52saying "smash like, subscribe, and hit that bell!" instead. Free Android games
53often ask for permission to send notifications because they want to periodically
54remind you that "hey!! you downloaded me! don't forget about me! come play me,
55run out of energy, get annoyed, then buy some extra energy with your hard-earned
56money! also, pay a bit more and remove the ads while you're at it! 😃"
57
58E-commerce platforms often ask you to subscribe to their newsletter in exchange
59for a small discount on your next purchase because they want to _push_ their
60marketing to your inbox. Some news websites serve massive popups asking you to
61subscribe to their newsletters so they can, again, _push_ their new content in
62front of your face. In some cases, this tactic may be perfectly benign; there
63are some individuals and companies with newsletters that might be genuinely
64interesting and they just want to let you know that the newsletter exists in
65case you want to subscribe. But they still result in content being _pushed_ in
66front of their subscriber's faces.
67
68Similarly, instant messaging is all about push notifications. It's in the name:
69_instant_. When someone sends you a message, you usually want to know
70immediately; maybe it's a family emergency, maybe your food delivery person just
71arrived, maybe the sky is falling, etc. Those are all situations where you
72genuinely do want notifications pushed in front of your face. But think about
73while you're at work. Do you really need to know that there's no more coffee in
74the lounge when you're waist-deep in a big code refactor and having to mentally
75juggle variables and signatures and business logic and overarching structu— look
76at this funny meme!
77
78Ah shit. Where was `x` set again? _Does_ this function duplicate the logic of
79that other function 83 lines above? You've lost your train of thought and it's
80going to take you about 30 minutes to get it back.[^1]
81
82Maybe you're spending time with your family, but that new hire keeps asking for
83help with this snippet of code they can't figure out. You genuinely want to help
84them, but time with family is incredibly valuable. It can wait until tomorrow.
85
86There's a time and place for push notifications. Intentionally setting
87boundaries and being thoughtful with your time is important.
88
89## Pull-based
90
91With a push-based system, you receive notifications on others' schedules, which
92might not line up well with your own. In a pull-based system, you receive
93"notifications" on _your_ schedule. You see what happened on social media when
94you log in, you receive emails when you explicitly fetch them, you see chat
95messages when you open the app, and so on. This allows you to decide when you're
96ready to interact with that system, whether "ready" is every ten minutes, once
97you're in the office, or during breakfast.
98
99## Some suggestions
100
101Make heavy and extensive use of Do Not Disturb rules on as many platforms as
102possible. On mobile devices, it's often possible to automatically enable DND
103during calendar events as well as enable it while you sleep. Mark yourself as
104unavailable in Slack (or Teams or XMPP or \_\_\_\_) outside of work hours. On
105Android, you can sometimes long-press notifications you don't want to see and
106completely disable that category; this allows you to continue receiving push
107notifications from other categories but silences the one(s) you don't need.
108Disable push notifications for YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, etc. Maybe consider
109using alternative clients for those services that are more user-respecting in
110general.
111
112Religiously unsubscribe from everything that clutters your inbox. If you don't
113actively want to see it, unsubscribe from it or write a rule that marks it as
114read and immediately shoves it in, for example, a Marketing folder. Inboxes are
115for pertinent, important information; the latest shoe sale at your preferred
116big-box store is neither.
117
118Get a [feed reader!][rssr] Please!
119
120[rssr]: https://wikipedia.org/wiki/News_aggregator
121
122They allow you to subscribe to multiple sources of information — like news
123websites, YouTube channels, blogs, etc. — and aggregate that content into one
124place. You can read what you want when you want without having anything thrust
125in your face. Depending on which feed reader you select, you can also sort
126sources into categories or folders that allow you to focus on one thing at a
127time, rather than being treated to a firehose of the internet.
128
129If you're looking for a service, check out [Feedbin,][fb] [NewsBlur,][nb]
130[Feeder,][feeder] [Feedly,][fdly] and [Inoreader.][ino] Changelog, a
131developer-focused podcast, [interviewed the creator of Feedbin][cif] and I quite
132enjoyed the episode. Be thoughtful when enabling push notifications in readers
133that support it.
134
135[fb]: https://feedbin.com
136[nb]: https://newsblur.com
137[feeder]: https://feeder.co
138[fdly]: https://feedly.com
139[ino]: https://www.inoreader.com
140[cif]: https://changelog.com/podcast/240
141
142[vore] is another one to look at, but it may be rather off-putting for some. It
143has a questionable name, but it's cute, _extremely_ simple, minimal, and, in my
144opinion, quite pleasant.
145
146[vore]: https://vore.website
147
148If you're into self-hosting, I highly recommend [yarr.][yarr] At the time of
149writing, I've been using yarr for 6 months and don't see myself switching any
150time soon. I only wish it had a maximum content width so reading was more
151pleasant on wide screens and that [the theme would switch based on your system
152theme.][yarr-theme] Also worth a look are [miniflux] and [Tiny Tiny RSS.][ttrss]
153
154[yarr]: https://github.com/nkanaev/yarr/
155[yarr-theme]: https://github.com/nkanaev/yarr/issues/46#issuecomment-798896310
156[miniflux]: https://miniflux.app
157[ttrss]: https://tt-rss.org
158
159There are also desktop feed readers. These do come with a disadvantage though;
160some extremely active feeds, such as Slashdot, only retain the most recent
161entries. If you open your desktop feed reader once a day, you might end up
162missing some entries. Most blogs preserve entries for a _lot_ longer, though. It
163depends on what feeds you're interested in. If you want to go with a desktop
164reader, consider [GNOME Feeds] (Linux, GNOME), [Akregator] (Linux, KDE),
165[Newsboat] (Linux, TUI), and possibly [RSS Guard] (All). I've only named a few
166options; there are many more across all platforms.
167
168[GNOME Feeds]: https://gfeeds.gabmus.org/
169[Akregator]: https://apps.kde.org/akregator/
170[Newsboat]: https://newsboat.org/
171[RSS Guard]: https://github.com/martinrotter/rssguard
172
173If you do adopt a feed reader, whichever it is, I strongly recommend migrating
174your _important_ newsletter subscriptions to [_Kill the Newsletter!_][ktn] This
175free service generates an email address, you subscribe to the newsletter with
176that email address, and it appends each email to a unique feed generated just
177for you. At the time of writing, I receive 7 newsletters as feeds and it's a
178wonderful experience.
179
180## In a nutshell
181
182Be thoughtful and intentional with your time and attention; they're incredibly
183valuable, both to you, to other people, and to companies.
184
185[ktn]: https://kill-the-newsletter.com
186
187[^1]:
188 I've seen and heard 30 minutes cited many times from sources I remember
189 trusting, but I can't remember exactly which sources they were. After a
190 quick search, The Muse says [_It Takes Nearly 30 Minutes to Refocus After
191 You Get
192 Distracted._](https://www.themuse.com/advice/this-is-nuts-it-takes-nearly-30-minutes-to-refocus-after-you-get-distracted)