Silence nonessential notifications
Not ratedADHD evidence
Turn off alerts you don't need, so your next task starts quieter.
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 An editorial priority for the general list, weighted by certainty. It does not predict 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.