I use the iOS "Focus Modes" pretty heavily. All of them are set up in the "whitelisting" mode. The "Personal" focus allows call and message notifications only

I use the iOS "Focus Modes" pretty heavily. All of them are set up in the "whitelisting" mode. The "Personal" focus allows call and message notifications only from a set list of contacts and apps which are mostly OS-level (alarms, calendar, etc) and the chat app I use to talk to my wife and a couple important friends. The "Work" focus allows call and message notifications from anyone, and the above app list plus some work-related apps (e.g., Slack). From time to time if I'm waiting on a notification (e.g., the teleheath app to start an appointment) I'll just turn focus mode off and deal with the firehose until I see the one I need. Doing it this way I can have the apps available so I can easily use the service/product _when I want to_, but it's never forcing itself in front of my face. I really don't know how people use their phones otherwise. There's so. much. noise.