The single best way to make your smartphone less stressful

Our smartphones have become battlegrounds. On one side, UX designers constantly devise alluring distractions to capture our attention. On the other, we fight back with mutes, blocks, and filters, desperately trying to escape the relentless onslaught of notifications.

This war plays out on multiple fronts: the Battle of the Ear (designers craft unique sounds, countered by users muting their devices); the Invasion of the Home Screen (push notifications are the enemy here); the Eyeball Offensive (dark mode is our defense); and the Siege of IGTV (deletion is often the only solution).

While some companies acknowledge our phone fatigue (Facebook Messenger's simplification, Gmail's Smart Compose), our pocket-sized devices generally increase stress. Even children aren't immune, with countless children's games secretly laden with ads.

But there's a simple solution: disable notification badges.

These small red circles, displaying the number of unread notifications (Apple patent 8,396,463 B2), relentlessly demand our attention, even subconsciously. Often overlooked, they might be our last line of defense.

For Apple users, navigate to the Settings app (gray gear icon), then Notifications, select the app, and disable the "Badges" option. This is similar to disabling other notification types (lock screen, notification center, banners).

Android users follow a similar process: Settings app, Apps/Notifications, select the app, access its notifications panel, and disable the "notification dot."

I haven't disabled badges for all apps. I still track calls and Skype messages. However, disabling them for email and Slack has brought unexpected peace. Previously, I'd mute apps or disable banner notifications, but badges persisted, goading me. Now, I can enjoy the illusion of an empty inbox—until tomorrow morning.

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