De-cluttering your devices may make you less anxious, survey reveals

The average person can’t go a full day without receiving a notification on their device, and this may be causing more harm than good.

It’s hard to have a quiet day when TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, and various social messaging apps compete for your attention.

The average user could receive almost 18 notifications per day, and at any given time, social media users could have 17 unread notifications on their devices.

Experts at All About Cookies asked 1,000 Americans about “digital clutter,” and most people said that unread notifications piling up on their devices negatively affect their mental health.

Roughly three-quarters of people surveyed said digital clutter, such as unread emails, notifications, or text messages, negatively impacts them.

Twenty-eight percent of people said that digital clutter increases their stress levels, while 22% of people said that unread notifications give them increased anxiety.

Only one in five people go a full day without receiving social media notifications. This may leave those other four people with notification fatigue, a feeling of exhaustion caused by being bombarded with text messages, emails, and other notifications.

All About Cookies found that the average person has 12 unread text messages, over 1,000 unread emails, 17 unread social media notifications, 15 open browser tabs, and 11 unread social media messages.

Along with diminishing a person's mental health, the majority of people said that digital clutter hurts device performance and reduces their productivity.

Regularly clear your cookies to keep your device clean and tidy, as these can slow down your browser.

All About Cookies recommends users unsubscribe to unwanted emails or spam to help reduce the amount of unwanted and unread mail in their inbox.