I turned my notifications on my phone off for three months and here are my observations.

I thought that turning my notifications off for social media would help my mental health. Each time a notification popped up -and it wasn't the one I wanted -I grew more and more anxious (because I mean, really, when you are waiting for someone to answer you it SUCKS to see someone else's name to pop up on the screen).

I noticed that I wasn't checking my phone every single time a notification popped up or clearing it every three seconds. It forced me to be more present -BUT I did find that I was checking the apps more frequently to see if I had missed anything.

Turning notifications off meant that instant conversation wasn't happening anymore, and I found myself saying "if you really need anything from me, call my cell phone number". For some, the idea of having to call someone is daunting. For me, I prefer phone calls to texts. It's nice to hear someone's voice and a lot of the time its easier to explain with a phone call rather than a series of texts.

I've lost every single Snapchat streak I've ever had. Not that it really matters that much to me, but boy, did I upset some people.

Turning off my notifications brought some positive aspects to my life, as well as some more negative ones. Overall, I don't think turning my notifications off helped much with my mental health -but who said social media was healthy, anyway?