---
title: "Pull vs push: intentional notifications"
date: 2023-03-20T12:15:00-04:00
draft: false
toc: true
categories: ["Technology"]
tags:
  - Health
  - Internet
  - Mindfulness
  - Productivity
  - Web
---

I've recently noticed that many of my peers are sometimes overwhelmed by the
internet; they feel as if they're stretched too thin and that their attention is
constantly shifting between too many different platforms. I think a _portion_ of
that feeling comes from systems that bombard them with push notifications. In
games, this introduces a sense of urgency because you want make the most of your
time and use your "lives" or "energy" or whatever efficiently. With social
media, these reminders tend to incite a fear of missing out (FOMO), making you
feel like you need to open the app to connect with friends and avoid missing
out. With news apps, the notifications are usually click-bait headlines
specifically selected to make you open the app so you can see what's going on.

But most of that isn't _really_ necessary. If something on social media is
genuinely that urgent, it should be a call or an instant message. Social media
can be checked at the end of the day. The same goes for news; if a headline is
really that important, it'll still be there in a couple hours. If a game needs
to remind its players that it exists, it's probably not particularly fun or
memorable.

On Android, when users first open an app, they're often asked to give that app
permission to send notifications. They hit `Allow` without thinking because they
just want to use the app, exactly like what happens when asked to agree to a
privacy policy and terms of service. Most of these apps would be able to fill
their purpose just as well _without_ sending notifications, but we're more
concerned with _using_ the app so we just don't think about it.

On their phones, my peers usually have a list of notifications a mile long, full
of new emails and YouTube videos and Slack messages and "your lives are
restored!" messages from mobile games and so much more. I think reducing that
barrage — on all systems, not just phones — is a great way to start building a
healthier relationship with technology.

## Pushed-based

Modern internet services heavily rely on push-based systems. YouTubers used to
say "smash like and subscribe!" at the end of videos because they wanted you to
get a _push_ notification when they publish a new video. When YouTube stopped
sending notifications for subscriptions and added the bell, YouTubers started
saying "smash like, subscribe, and hit that bell!" instead. Free Android games
often ask for permission to send notifications because they want to periodically
remind you that "hey!! you downloaded me! don't forget about me! come play me,
run out of energy, get annoyed, then buy some extra energy with your hard-earned
money! also, pay a bit more and remove the ads while you're at it! 😃"

E-commerce platforms often ask you to subscribe to their newsletter in exchange
for a small discount on your next purchase because they want to _push_ their
marketing to your inbox. Some news websites serve massive popups asking you to
subscribe to their newsletters so they can, again, _push_ their new content in
front of your face. In some cases, this tactic may be perfectly benign; there
are some individuals and companies with newsletters that might be genuinely
interesting and they just want to let you know that the newsletter exists in
case you want to subscribe. But they still result in content being _pushed_ in
front of their subscriber's faces.

Similarly, instant messaging is all about push notifications. It's in the name:
_instant_. When someone sends you a message, you usually want to know
immediately; maybe it's a family emergency, maybe your food delivery person just
arrived, maybe the sky is falling, etc. Those are all situations where you
genuinely do want notifications pushed in front of your face. But think about
while you're at work. Do you really need to know that there's no more coffee in
the lounge when you're waist-deep in a big code refactor and having to mentally
juggle variables and signatures and business logic and overarching structu— look
at this funny meme!

Ah shit. Where was `x` set again? _Does_ this function duplicate the logic of
that other function 83 lines above? You've lost your train of thought and it's
going to take you about 30 minutes to get it back.[^1]

Maybe you're spending time with your family, but that new hire keeps asking for
help with this snippet of code they can't figure out. You genuinely want to help
them, but time with family is incredibly valuable. It can wait until tomorrow.

There's a time and place for push notifications. Intentionally setting
boundaries and being thoughtful with your time is important.

## Pull-based

With a push-based system, you receive notifications on others' schedules, which
might not line up well with your own. In a pull-based system, you receive
"notifications" on _your_ schedule. You see what happened on social media when
you log in, you receive emails when you explicitly fetch them, you see chat
messages when you open the app, and so on. This allows you to decide when you're
ready to interact with that system, whether "ready" is every ten minutes, once
you're in the office, or during breakfast.

## Some suggestions

Make heavy and extensive use of Do Not Disturb rules on as many platforms as
possible. On mobile devices, it's often possible to automatically enable DND
during calendar events as well as enable it while you sleep. Mark yourself as
unavailable in Slack (or Teams or XMPP or \_\_\_\_) outside of work hours. On
Android, you can sometimes long-press notifications you don't want to see and
completely disable that category; this allows you to continue receiving push
notifications from other categories but silences the one(s) you don't need.
Disable push notifications for YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, etc. Maybe consider
using alternative clients for those services that are more user-respecting in
general.

Religiously unsubscribe from everything that clutters your inbox. If you don't
actively want to see it, unsubscribe from it or write a rule that marks it as
read and immediately shoves it in, for example, a Marketing folder. Inboxes are
for pertinent, important information; the latest shoe sale at your preferred
big-box store is neither.

Get a [feed reader!][rssr] Please!

[rssr]: https://wikipedia.org/wiki/News_aggregator

They allow you to subscribe to multiple sources of information — like news
websites, YouTube channels, blogs, etc. — and aggregate that content into one
place. You can read what you want when you want without having anything thrust
in your face. Depending on which feed reader you select, you can also sort
sources into categories or folders that allow you to focus on one thing at a
time, rather than being treated to a firehose of the internet.

If you're looking for a service, check out [Feedbin,][fb] [NewsBlur,][nb]
[Feeder,][feeder] [Feedly,][fdly] and [Inoreader.][ino] Changelog, a
developer-focused podcast, [interviewed the creator of Feedbin][cif] and I quite
enjoyed the episode. Be thoughtful when enabling push notifications in readers
that support it.

[fb]: https://feedbin.com
[nb]: https://newsblur.com
[feeder]: https://feeder.co
[fdly]: https://feedly.com
[ino]: https://www.inoreader.com
[cif]: https://changelog.com/podcast/240

[vore] is another one to look at, but it may be rather off-putting for some. It
has a questionable name, but it's cute, _extremely_ simple, minimal, and, in my
opinion, quite pleasant.

[vore]: https://vore.website

If you're into self-hosting, I highly recommend [yarr.][yarr] At the time of
writing, I've been using yarr for 6 months and don't see myself switching any
time soon. I only wish it had a maximum content width so reading was more
pleasant on wide screens and that [the theme would switch based on your system
theme.][yarr-theme] Also worth a look are [miniflux] and [Tiny Tiny RSS.][ttrss]

[yarr]: https://github.com/nkanaev/yarr/
[yarr-theme]: https://github.com/nkanaev/yarr/issues/46#issuecomment-798896310
[miniflux]: https://miniflux.app
[ttrss]: https://tt-rss.org

There are also desktop feed readers. These do come with a disadvantage though;
some extremely active feeds, such as Slashdot, only retain the most recent
entries. If you open your desktop feed reader once a day, you might end up
missing some entries. Most blogs preserve entries for a _lot_ longer, though. It
depends on what feeds you're interested in. If you want to go with a desktop
reader, consider [GNOME Feeds] (Linux, GNOME), [Akregator] (Linux, KDE),
[Newsboat] (Linux, TUI), and possibly [RSS Guard] (All). I've only named a few
options; there are many more across all platforms.

[GNOME Feeds]: https://gfeeds.gabmus.org/
[Akregator]: https://apps.kde.org/akregator/
[Newsboat]: https://newsboat.org/
[RSS Guard]: https://github.com/martinrotter/rssguard

If you do adopt a feed reader, whichever it is, I strongly recommend migrating
your _important_ newsletter subscriptions to [_Kill the Newsletter!_][ktn] This
free service generates an email address, you subscribe to the newsletter with
that email address, and it appends each email to a unique feed generated just
for you. At the time of writing, I receive 7 newsletters as feeds and it's a
wonderful experience.

## In a nutshell

Be thoughtful and intentional with your time and attention; they're incredibly
valuable, both to you, to other people, and to companies.

[ktn]: https://kill-the-newsletter.com

[^1]:
    I've seen and heard 30 minutes cited many times from sources I remember
    trusting, but I can't remember exactly which sources they were. After a
    quick search, The Muse says [_It Takes Nearly 30 Minutes to Refocus After
    You Get
    Distracted._](https://www.themuse.com/advice/this-is-nuts-it-takes-nearly-30-minutes-to-refocus-after-you-get-distracted)