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