Correspondence Regarding Focus Mode Loophole
A notification filter configured to allow only urgent contacts has been gradually expanded to include most contacts.
Correspondence: Focus Mode Configuration Review April 2022
To: The Settings Panel
From: The Subject
Re: Current State of the Allowed Contacts List
I am writing to document the evolution of the Focus Mode configuration over the past four months.
When Focus Mode was enabled in December, the allowed list contained two contacts: one family member and one colleague designated as the emergency point of contact at work. The premise was straightforward. Urgent contacts would reach me. All others would be held until the focus period ended.
This was the intended configuration.
The First Exception
In January, the project manager was added to the allowed list. The project manager sends messages that are not always urgent but are sometimes time-sensitive. The distinction between urgent and time-sensitive was not encoded in the system. The project manager was added.
The Second Exception
In February, a family member whose messages are not emergencies but whose silence would also cause concern was added. The logic was that the emotional cost of not knowing was comparable to the disruption of knowing.
The Third Through Ninth Exceptions
Between February and April, seven additional contacts were added. The additions were made after each contact sent a message during a focus period that, upon review, seemed like something that should have been seen sooner.
Current State
The allowed list now contains eleven contacts. This represents the majority of people who message the subject with any regularity.
The filter now allows notifications from everyone the subject knows, which is a different configuration than the one originally intended.
Observation
The focus period continues to be scheduled. Notifications arrive during it.
The subject reports that the focus periods are less focused than the December configuration produced. The subject also reports that they feel less anxious during them.
I am unsure how to characterize this as success or failure and am forwarding the question to you.
Regards,
The Subject
Settings Panel has read this message.