I turned off my notifications

I think out loud

I develop my thoughts as I say them. I always have, even from a young age. Both my parents do it, so maybe that explains it? It helps me reason about complicated things. I generally come up with a better plan when I think through thoughts out loud.

If I’m:

• coding

• brainstorming

• planning

I’m probabblllyy talking to myself.

My brain is plugged directly into a speaker that’s always turned on.

Recently, at 25 years old, I realized I’m super annoying to other people when I do this. I guess I thought everyone else was interested in what I was thinking? (stupid, I know)

My loving fiancée helped me realize others can’t focus while I’m ruminating over details of a project or planning out what my next week is going to look like, all audibly.

This should have been obvious, right?

Except it’s not - not to most of us. A few of us live with someone like me; someone who continually talks out loud and says things you probably aren’t that interested in. But all of us carry something with us that does the same thing - our phones.

I turned off my Gmail notifications

I just turned off unread badges for gmail and I’ve never felt more calm. Happy Monday. pic.twitter.com/YcSWgAPXHH — Drew Bredvick (@DBredvick) November 25, 2019

I thought it was going to be a big deal.

I thought I was going to miss something important.

I thought wrong.

Ignore your notifications

Turn off your phones this holiday season and spend time with the ones you love, and don’t worry about the notifications that pile up.

After all, I’m reasonably sure that no one’s “I’m thankful for” list contains email notifications.