Lord of the pings: how I turned off my phone notifications, and got my life back | Georgina Lawton

From WhatsApp to Instagram to texts and email, I was spending my life frantically picking up my phone. It had to stop

It officially started during that strange and mystical stretch of time now known as the first lockdown, when negative news notifications were at an all-time high and the only way to have a drink with your mates was through the Houseparty app, which would be inexplicably gatecrashed by strangers.

I was inundated with infection stats, digital book club invites, viral memes that no one would have found at all funny at any other time, and work emails postponing just about everything. I wanted an off switch for the world - but I settled instead for switching off my notifications.

Georgina Lawton is the author of Raceless: In Search of Family, Identity, and the Truth About Where I Belong