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December 30, 2008 / Filed under: Social Networking

Most social network users will claim, from time to time, that their use of these services helps keep them more involved, inspired, and "in the know." Yet, it's quite hard to get any real work done with constant notifications and alerts coming in. It may seem easy (and even effective!) to juggle social networking with real work (your day job, perhaps), but what you're really doing is limiting your ability to truly focus on something - to completely absorb yourself in a task. For it is in that "zone" where you find true enlightenment.

For that reason, no one should deny the ability to completely turn off social network alerts for certain periods of time - either by temporarily specifying that you don't want alerts sent to you, or by simply avoiding your mobile device or related websites.

Those who haven't tried it are truly missing out on something special. As much as I can relate to always wanting to connect with people, I also force myself to refrain from it during certain parts of my day. This may not come easy to those first attempting it, but with practice, it gets better.

Typically I'll try to shut off all notifications during work hours - 9 AM to 5 PM. Also, I try to do the same at night - I'll shut off notifications and put my phone away approximately an hour before bed. This gives me time to completely unwind and let my thoughts "sort themselves out." I can only handle so much stimulus on a given day before my brain goes on overload.

Ignorance is bliss

The true pleasure of turning off notifications is simply not knowing what's going on. Many would say, "Isn't knowing better than not knowing?" It's kind of a backwards way of thinking, but a lot of times, not knowing is better than knowing. Ignorance is bliss.

The anticipation is the worst

With notifications turned on, the failure to focus deeply on something else results from not only from the incoming updates themselves, but from the anticipation of updates coming in. You end up waiting for that next update to chime in, and that in itself is a distraction.

There's nothing worse than having notifications on, and nothing coming in. You start to wonder, "Is everyone OK? Perhaps something is wrong. Why is no one updating? Where did [insert favorite social network user] go? Are they asleep? Are they just busy?"

This kind of thinking is ridiculously distracting and a complete waste of energy.

Mind games

Having notifications off prohibits your mind from settling on such nonsense. Since your mind knows notifications are off, it can't possibly expect incoming updates. Since it can't expect updates, it chooses to focus on other things. Sure, it may cause a bit of longing to occur, because you may start to miss the updates, and knowing what everyone is doing, but that's a better feeling than anticipation.

Think of it this way: absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Unfortunately, we have to play such mind games with ourselves in order to keep our lives balanced.