I reclaimed my attention span by allowing Android to hide my alerts for hours at a time

After a long Canadian winter, the summer comes along, the birds are chirping, and the new scenery is welcoming, but that also means everything becomes 10 times more distracting.

It is on days like these that my focus and attention feel the most fractured.

Every buzz or ding, and even a new notification card pop-up, can break my focus.

Plus, it's already hard when I want to be done with work, be outside, and enjoy the warm summer breeze after a long day.

Sadly, my smartphone, the device I work with, doesn't help when every notification is a trigger — one that can be enough to disrupt my workflow, making me work longer than I planned.

Thankfully, your phone doesn't have to be a distraction; you can keep your alerts off for most of your workday (or school day) without worrying about missing out.

So whether you're using a top-performing Samsung phone or a Google Pixel device, you can mute your notifications for hours at a time without feeling guilty. Here's the ultimate key to doing that.

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Stay in control of your notifications

Posts By  Jon Gilbert

Snooze your notifications instead of dismissing them

Alerts don't need to disappear completely

Yes, I sometimes guiltily tap the clear or clear all option when I see my notifications pile up in my panel, separate from quick settings.

That's because it stresses me out when I have to scroll to the bottom or when I see small icons appear at the top of my phone.

I need to check them, but if I always did that, I would never get my work done.

Snoozing your notifications is exactly what it sounds like — it is similar to an alarm clock: the snooze feature lets you temporarily dismiss your alert and have it reappear later.

But this isn't something you do for a full day or your entire work shift, since the reprieve is meant to last only 15 minutes to an hour or two.

I like doing it for about an hour, since I tend to work in four-hour increments and then pause for a break. But I find the first and last hours the most difficult to stay focused.

So, instead of getting stuck in a check-through-notifications-from-the-same-app loop, I use the snooze notifications option, so I can't be interrupted in my workflow.

The distraction-free hour is perfect for me; two hours is fine, but any less won't be effective, since it won't match my schedule.

To start using the snooze notifications feature, go to the Notifications menu in your Android settings.

Samsung phones require enabling the Snooze button via Notifications > Advanced settings > Show snooze button.

When enabled, open your notifications panel, tap the down arrow next to the notifications card, and select the Bell icon below it.

Repeat this for each notification card you want snoozed. You don't need to do this for all of them — for me, I will keep my Google Messages and work emails open.

Still, I'll try to hide notifications from different Discord servers and those discussing in-app sales (Steam summer sales are always too tempting to look through).

All in all, the snooze option is enough of a reprieve without having to ignore every notification or preemptively clear them.

Tailor your Do Not Disturb status

Hide notifications for a full work day if needed

The Do Not Disturb status should be your best friend if you absolutely cannot afford any interruptions, even during a meal break.

There have been times when I needed a full, uninterrupted five-hour writing block and could not afford to lose a single minute.

That's when I turned on Do Not Disturb, then tinkered with my Do Not Disturb notification settings to hide the ones I wanted, and then stuck to a strict routine.

To set it up, I created a schedule in the Do Not Disturb menu.

From there, I scroll down to the Allowed during Do not disturb section. I normally keep it so that I get calls and messages from certain contacts (mainly my emergency ones or family members).

I also select None allowed in App notifications, including those from my email and Slack (I place Slack on my computer tab if need be).

If I want to tweak my notifications further during this mode, I tap the Hide notifications menu.

So I won't see any visual indicators of received notifications, including icon badges and entries in the notifications panel.

That's a must if I want to keep my focus.

I do not use this setting every day, since it is more heavy-duty than snooze notifications, which I push to a later time so I can get back to them. This one is designed to last my full working day.

But since it's summer and my office is set up next to a patio door with transparent window panels, staying focused on the task at hand can be challenging.

That's where Do Not Disturb is fantastic and can be a real game-changer on days when I have tighter deadlines.

Prioritize your app notifications if you must

Still, it is worth taking the time to declutter your Android phone of all the notifications that distract you.

Whether that is through disabling specific notifications, using notification groups, or tinkering with the priority notification feature (Galaxy AI), the extra time you spend becomes worthwhile.

I get very overwhelmed by notifications that show up, and it puts me on edge to go through every one, which is why I am afraid of missing too many alerts.

But sadly, that's the trap that grabs my attention — either I nuke them into oblivion or spend too much time checking.

So it becomes worth organizing your notifications beforehand. That way, your notifications don't go completely out of control, destroying your attention span in the process.