A typical working day delivers alerts from several directions at once: chat apps, email, project trackers, calendars, a phone, and sometimes a wearable. Each one is small. Together they can make it hard to hold a single thought for long. This article is a practical guide to notification overload at work: why even ignored alerts cost you something, how to sort notifications into tiers, and how to configure common tools so that only the items that deserve an interruption get one.
Why a notification costs more than the second it takes to read
It is natural to assume that an alert you ignore does no harm. Research suggests otherwise. In a 2015 study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Cary Stothart, Ainsley Mitchum and Courtney Yehnert tested people on an attention-demanding task while sending notifications to their phones. They found that receiving a notification alone, without picking up the phone, significantly disrupted performance, and that the size of the effect was comparable to effects reported in earlier research where people actually used a phone. The authors proposed that a brief notification can prompt task-irrelevant thoughts, or mind wandering, which harms performance.
A second line of research looks at what happens when you switch tasks. Sophie Leroy introduced the term "attention residue" in a 2009 paper in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, describing how people find it hard to disengage from a task they have left unfinished, and how that hurts the next task. Each time a notification pulls you into a conversation and back, some of your attention may stay behind.
These studies were run under controlled conditions, and a real office is messier. They do not tell you exactly how much time you lose in a given day. But they support a simple conclusion: the number of times your tools can interrupt you is worth managing on purpose.
Step 1: List where interruptions come from
Before changing any settings, spend one working day noting every alert source. A simple tally works: each time something pulls your attention, write down the app and the type of alert. Common sources include:
- team chat (direct messages, channel messages, mentions)
- project and task tools
- calendar reminders
- phone apps unrelated to work
- browser notifications from websites you have visited
You may find that a few sources create most of the interruptions, and that some alerts come from apps you never chose to hear from.
Step 2: Sort notifications into three tiers
Once you have the list, decide what each alert deserves. A three-tier model is easy to remember.
Tier 1: interrupt me now. Things where waiting would cause real harm: a direct message from your manager during an incident, a system alert you are responsible for, a call from a client you are expecting. Keep this tier very small.
Tier 2: tell me at the next break. Messages that matter but can wait an hour or two: mentions in busy channels, task assignments, replies to threads you started. These should be visible when you check, but should not make a sound.
Tier 3: I will look when I choose to. Most newsletters, general channels, social apps, "someone liked your comment" alerts and routine automated reports. Turn these off or send them to a place you visit on a schedule.
If you cannot decide which tier an alert belongs to, ask what would actually happen if you saw it two hours later. For most alerts the honest answer is "nothing."
Step 3: Configure your tools
The exact menus vary by app and change over time, so check each product's current help pages. The following options exist in widely used tools.
Chat apps
Slack's help documentation describes several relevant settings. You can choose what to be notified about, with options that include everything, or only mentions and direct messages. If you choose mentions and direct messages, you can set exceptions so that specific channels or conversations still notify you about everything. You can also set keywords, so that you get alerts about specific topics, and Slack's page also mentions a notification schedule for limiting notifications to certain hours or days. Moving from "everything" to "mentions and direct messages" is one first change worth trying in a busy workspace. If your team uses a different chat tool, look for the same set of features: mention-only mode, per-channel overrides, keyword alerts and schedules.
Phone
Phones let you control which apps may interrupt you and when. Apple's iPhone user guide, for example, includes a Focus feature, with help topics on setting up a Focus and on allowing or silencing notifications for it. A work-hours profile that silences everything except a short list of people and apps matches the Tier 1 idea directly. Consult your phone maker's current guide for the exact steps on your device and software version.
Email is usually a Tier 2 or Tier 3 source. Turn off the sound and the pop-up banner, and check it at set times instead. If you use a calendar to protect focus time, our guide to time blocking shows how to reserve slots for email as well as deep work.
Project and task tools
Many trackers send an email or push notification for every comment and status change. Switch these to a daily digest where the tool allows, or limit alerts to items assigned to you. If you are still choosing a tool, notification controls are worth checking before you commit; our overview of project management software selection lists features to compare.
Step 4: Agree on norms with your team
Settings only work if your colleagues know how to reach you when it matters. Consider agreeing on a few simple rules:
- Use a phone call or a clearly marked urgent message for real emergencies, and chat for everything else.
- State expected response times, such as "within a few hours" for chat, so no one feels they must reply at once.
- Put a short note in your status when you are in a focus block, and mention how to reach you if something is truly urgent.
- Avoid sending messages at hours when the recipient is off, or use scheduled send if your tool offers it.
Shared expectations also mean nobody has to guess how quickly others will react.
Step 5: Review after two weeks
After a couple of weeks, check what happened. Did you miss anything important? If so, move that source up a tier. Did you find yourself checking apps compulsively? That may mean you silenced too much too fast, or that checking has become a habit. Adjust the settings and the schedule, not your willpower. For wider strategies on staying focused during the day, see our guide on overcoming digital distractions and our overview of modern productivity strategies.
A short starting checklist
- Tally your alert sources for one day.
- Assign each source to Tier 1, 2 or 3.
- Switch chat to mentions and direct messages, and add a schedule.
- Create a phone Focus profile for work hours with a short allow-list.
- Turn off email banners and sounds, and check at set times.
- Tell your team how to reach you for urgent matters.
- Review the results after two weeks and adjust.
Sources
- Stothart, C., Mitchum, A., & Yehnert, C. (2015). "The Attentional Cost of Receiving a Cell Phone Notification." Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 41(4), 893-897. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000100
- Association for Psychological Science summary of the study: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/motr/youre-distracted-even-when-you-ignore-that-text.html
- Leroy, S. (2009). "Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109(2), 168-181. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.04.002
- University of Washington Bothell, "An ongoing study on the success of staying focused" (describes Leroy as having termed "attention residue"): https://www.uwb.edu/news/2024/05/17/an-ongoing-study-on-the-success-of-staying-focused
- Slack Help Center, "Configure your Slack notifications": https://slack.com/help/articles/201355156-Configure-your-Slack-notifications
- Apple Support, iPhone User Guide, "Set up a Focus": https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/set-up-a-focus-iphd6288a67f/ios
- Apple Support, iPhone User Guide, "Allow or silence notifications for a Focus": https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/allow-or-silence-notifications-for-a-focus-iph21d43af5b/ios