Notifications began as a simple way to notify you about the important stuff you should know. The only problem is the “important stuff you should know” has been redefined to be as many things as possible. As app creators jockey for more ways to prop up metrics like weekly active users, we’re forced to consider how to tame this growing notifications party. Left unchecked, notifications interrupt our flow and dictate our next thoughts.

While we might think of notifications as a problem we experience as consumers (breaking news! new likes! check out this post!), the reality is notifications have invaded our work lives, too. From group chat to project management software, notifications have become the bearer of false urgency. The invasion started on smartphones, but it’s spread to our desktops.

How did we get here? Notifications run on the false premise of free. They’re free for developers to use and seemingly free for users to receive. Enabling notifications doesn’t affect our phone bills. But the true cost of notifications is something priceless: it’s our attention. We have a finite amount of focus and flow, and it’s all being targeted by what interjects onto our screens.

So what if we removed free from this equation? What if we assigned a cost to each notification we received? What if it’s a $1 for to read each one? How much are you willing to spend in a day?