Silence nonessential notifications
Turn off the alerts you don't need, so your next task starts quieter.
Not ratedADHD evidence
Start with the time you have
1 minute
Pick one type of notification that can safely wait until your next break.
5 minutes
Turn off one optional app's sounds, vibrations and banners.
15 minutes
Try one quiet task period, then check whether important contacts still reach you.
A plan
Keep the useful alerts
- Remove one frequent optional interruption.
- Test urgent-contact exceptions.
- Keep the settings that help your actual tasks.
How sure the science is
Not rated, ADHD evidence
No pooled trials to rate. This rests on single studies, expert consensus or clinical practice. Measured in people with ADHD.
ADHD-specific NHS guidance recommends it; the only measured effect is a brief general student laboratory experiment; no formal certainty rating.
The number, drawn
Turn off notifications during a task
Why it matters
In a short lab experiment with general students, phone notifications alone disrupted an attention task, even when people didn't pick up the phone. It wasn't an ADHD treatment trial and didn't measure long-term effects. NHS ADHD guidance recommends turning notifications off during a task, and NHS information lists being easily distracted as a common adult ADHD sign, so silencing optional alerts is a reasonable experiment.
How to do it
- Pick one task that needs uninterrupted attention.
- Mute optional sounds, vibrations and pop-ups while you do it.
- Keep an agreed way for essential or urgent contacts to reach you.
- Check messages at a chosen stopping point and see whether you finished more easily.
Putting it into practice
In real life
- Mute shopping and news alerts while you finish a form.
- Keep calls from a dependent's carer available while optional apps stay quiet.
Watch out for
- Common mistakeSilent mode still buzzes on the desk. Check vibration and banner settings too.
- Common mistakeYou miss someone you needed to hear from. Set exceptions for essential contacts before you start.
Trusted guides
How we rated it
- Evidence grade
- C Small or mixed studies, expert consensus or clinical practice. Worth knowing, not worth betting on.
- The number
- Turn off notifications during a task (Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, 2025)
- Benefit
- 43/100 The benefit score is an editorial prioritization for the general list, weighted by certainty. It is not a prediction of what will happen for you.
- Effort
- Quick win
Sources
- Tier 1 guidelineDisconnectionOxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, 2025
- Tier 2 studyThe attentional cost of receiving a cell phone notificationJournal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2015
- Tier 1 guidelineADHD in adultsNHS, 2025
General information about ADHD, not a diagnosis or an individual treatment plan. Tailoring changes the order of suggestions; it does not assess you. Medication decisions belong with you and a qualified clinician.