I'm not interested in then I just click the unfollow button. It's not too terribly difficult because you can unfollow a thread directly from the thread notification drop down, but I also don't have a full friends list either. So maybe it's just too many threads for you. Max I ever have notifications for after a day off from CB is 10-15 new notifications. But I do tend to check the board everyday so they don't get a chance to really pile up and drain my time.