These notifications were designed to keep up us in touch with our online accounts. However, as I learned from one of my superiors in Saudi, these notifications make us counterproductive. Picture yourself working on a report. A few minutes into creating the report, you get a Facebook alert that you have been tagged in a photo. What happens? You stop whatever you are doing and open your account. Before long, you browse through the whole album containing the one tagged photo. Since you are already in Facebook, you think you may as well check other status updates and comments. The result? An hour or more lost. Even your momentum getting back to the report needs warming up.
You have the option to switch off those notifications. Switch them off. This way, you consciously find free time to do more important tasks. I check and reply to emails twice a day. Once in the morning and again in the evening as I end my day. In between, since I am not distracted by those pings, I get to focus on the most important task at hand.
If someone has an important point to take up with you, they will not simply send an email, FB message or even a text. They will pick up their phone and give you a call. This gets your full and undivided attention.
Do not let meaningless notifications rule your life. Keep these pesky notifications turned off and you will have better focus on completing your more important tasks.