This Is Why Turning Off Your WhatsApp Notification Is Sooo Liberating, an Expert Explains

In the past months that we have been staying in our houses to help flatten the curve, we have witnessed how life has exponentially slowed down. However, that doesn’t mean that our virtual lives died down, too – in fact, the opposite has happened as our eyes are more glued to our gadgets more than ever.

There’s no denying in this: just observe how you have been taking more Zoom calls for meetings or reading tons of e-mails either on your phone or laptop. However, if you let this happen longer, it could drown and eventually drain you.

Twenty-four-year-old social media consultant Sade Taiwo has found that receiving notifications from oh-so many groups she had on various apps was overwhelming. However, it was particularly the Whatsapp push icon that’s really haunting her and forcing her to respond to the messages – what with the bright red color that’s absolutely hard to miss.

Sade felt the pressure to address those notifications and soon, it became draining to her. It revolved into a daily task that needed to be ticked off the list. Being accessible for every hour of a day proved to be problematic as she felt she didn’t have any time left for herself.

Learned Helplessness

Flamingo Images/Shutterstock — Turning off notification can improve focus

Apparently, this experience is called ‘learned helplessness,’ according to psychologist Anna Mandeville. This happens when we feel bombarded by the things coming to us, such as the message notifications that seem to be endless. In fact, these reminders could affect our performance, focus, and sleep.

After realizing that these had been taking control of her focus and were generally distracting, Sade decided to turn off her Whatsapp notifications and the improvement was immediately noticeable. She began feeling better and did not feel the pressure to respond to random messages.

BigTunaOnline/Shutterstock — Sade finds the red notification of WhatsApp jarring

In fact, she responded with intentional messages rather than when she used to see loads of alerts, where she usually ends up not replying at all. Because of the relief, Sade then turned off notifications for other apps such as Twitter and Instagram, which was why she regained her control.

This newfound freedom initially made her uncomfortable since she was used to checking her phone all the time but eventually, she learned not to worry because she realized that if something is really important, people would rather call her.

For Self-Efficacy

The psychologist further added that doing this can instantly improve your self-efficacy. She likened turning off your Whatsapp notification to inviting people into your house instead of guests constantly knocking on your door.

Jacob Lund/Shutterstock — The psychologist likened it to having uninvited guests over your house

Another thing is that you wouldn’t really let strangers in your abode, so making sure you invite people over makes you feel in control. This is all the more important nowadays since we’ve become heavily reliant on our gadgets to accomplish tasks. If things have become too much to bear, now may be the right time to turn your notifications off.