The Impact of Notifications and Interruptions on Cognitive Lead
- Lanna Wei
- Jun 9
- 3 min read
It’s 10:32pm, and you have a 20-page lab report due by midnight. You’re stressed; sheets of reference papers held in your hands as you continue staring at a blank document page. You try to snap yourself into the productive mindset, to lock in and grind out this paper. However, with your gaze shifting to the phone sitting on the corner of your desk, its persistent ringing and beeping is only becoming more and more alluring…
Many individuals find it difficult to pry themselves away checking a notification that pops up on their device, cannot prevent the curiosity that builds up within. As the usage of mobile devices have become more popular and standardized within society, individuals have also noticed an increase in their difficulty in concentration and the constant urge to check for a notification. Of course, a notification could mean anything. An email saying you got hired, an Instagram DM, a reminder to continue your daily streak in a game, or an assignment on Canvas. It’s often difficult for people to pull themselves from the curiosity which is- What new message/alert did I receive?
Switching between focusing on a task and checking notifications on a phone can be extremely exhausting, as taking your mind off your task for that quick bit of screen time is distracting, and it hinders deep thinking. This lack of focus and concentration therefore results in a lack of productivity, making it even more difficult for people to accomplish tasks, which throws them into an even greater spiral of stress and procrastination. In fact, a study from the site of the Santa Maria College revealed that the beeping sound from a notification alert can erase the last 90 seconds of a person’s learning, which demonstrates how great of a problem it truly poses. The time taken to check notifications and updates on one’s phone ultimately becomes a “cognitive burden”, limiting all the cognitive factors (focus, memory, ability to multitask). The buildup of notifications can also be overwhelming for people and lead to higher rates of anxiety levels. This ultimately pushes many people into a never-ending cycle of receiving more notifications and becoming more stressed and unfocused.
Instead, muting notifications has been found in research to be much more beneficial, and oppositely, it allows for individuals to focus on their tasks and maintain productivity. Without having the constant beeping and alerts of receiving notifications, there’s much less disruptions while someone is conducting a task and therefore provides them with much better work ethic and then lessened stress/anxiety. Although at first, people might feel a strong sense of “FOMO” (fear of missing out) due to not immediately receiving an alert on their phone, ultimately muting notifications can leave individuals in a much more productive and relaxed mindset. Some other ways of silencing notifications include turning on Do Not Disturb mode, using quiet hours, or set up a custom setting to allow for notification alerts from certain individuals/platforms etc .
Overall, it’s important to understand the negative effects that having notifications on may impact one’s cognitive learning, and how this distraction will also negatively affect their work ethic on tasks. It’s essential to find a balance, or form a plan, between muting notifications and still being able to see important alerts which may be needed, for example, for school or work.
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