diff --git a/plugins/core/jetbrains-community/src/software/aws/toolkits/jetbrains/core/notifications/NotificationPollingService.kt b/plugins/core/jetbrains-community/src/software/aws/toolkits/jetbrains/core/notifications/NotificationPollingService.kt
index 357cf7e8d99..e813d439318 100644
--- a/plugins/core/jetbrains-community/src/software/aws/toolkits/jetbrains/core/notifications/NotificationPollingService.kt
+++ b/plugins/core/jetbrains-community/src/software/aws/toolkits/jetbrains/core/notifications/NotificationPollingService.kt
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import software.aws.toolkits.core.utils.RemoteResolveParser
 import software.aws.toolkits.core.utils.RemoteResource
 import software.aws.toolkits.core.utils.error
 import software.aws.toolkits.core.utils.getLogger
+import software.aws.toolkits.core.utils.info
 import software.aws.toolkits.core.utils.warn
 import software.aws.toolkits.jetbrains.core.DefaultRemoteResourceResolverProvider
 import software.aws.toolkits.jetbrains.core.RemoteResourceResolverProvider
@@ -77,13 +78,16 @@ internal final class NotificationPollingService : Disposable {
         var lastException: Exception? = null
 
         while (retryCount < MAX_RETRIES) {
+            LOG.info { "Polling for notifications" }
             try {
                 val newETag = getNotificationETag()
                 if (newETag == NotificationEtagState.getInstance().etag) {
                     // for when we need to notify on first poll even when there's no new ETag
                     if (isFirstPoll.compareAndSet(true, false)) {
-                        notifyObservers()
+                        LOG.info { "No new notifications, checking cached notifications on first poll" }
+                        return true
                     }
+                    LOG.info { "No new notifications to fetch" }
                     return false
                 }
                 resourceResolver.get()
@@ -91,6 +95,7 @@ internal final class NotificationPollingService : Disposable {
                     .toCompletableFuture()
                     .get()
                 NotificationEtagState.getInstance().etag = newETag
+                LOG.info { "New notifications fetched" }
                 return true
             } catch (e: Exception) {
                 lastException = e
diff --git a/plugins/core/jetbrains-community/src/software/aws/toolkits/jetbrains/core/notifications/ProcessNotificationsBase.kt b/plugins/core/jetbrains-community/src/software/aws/toolkits/jetbrains/core/notifications/ProcessNotificationsBase.kt
index 5bbf34bba00..e759d9d079f 100644
--- a/plugins/core/jetbrains-community/src/software/aws/toolkits/jetbrains/core/notifications/ProcessNotificationsBase.kt
+++ b/plugins/core/jetbrains-community/src/software/aws/toolkits/jetbrains/core/notifications/ProcessNotificationsBase.kt
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ import com.intellij.openapi.application.PathManager
 import com.intellij.openapi.components.Service
 import com.intellij.openapi.components.service
 import com.intellij.openapi.project.Project
+import software.aws.toolkits.core.utils.getLogger
+import software.aws.toolkits.core.utils.info
 import software.aws.toolkits.core.utils.inputStream
 import software.aws.toolkits.jetbrains.utils.notifyStickyWithData
 import java.nio.file.Paths
@@ -45,6 +47,7 @@ class ProcessNotificationsBase(
 
     fun retrieveStartupAndEmergencyNotifications() {
         val isStartupPoll = isStartup.compareAndSet(true, false)
+        LOG.info { "Retrieving notifications for processing. StartUp notifications included: $isStartupPoll" }
         val notifications = getNotificationsFromFile()
         notifications?.let { notificationsList ->
             val activeNotifications = notificationsList.notifications
@@ -61,11 +64,13 @@ class ProcessNotificationsBase(
 
             activeNotifications.forEach { processNotification(project, it) }
         }
+        LOG.info { "Finished processing notifications" }
     }
 
     fun processNotification(project: Project, notificationData: NotificationData) {
         val shouldShow = RulesEngine.displayNotification(project, notificationData)
         if (shouldShow) {
+            LOG.info { "Showing notification with id: ${notificationData.id}" }
             val notificationContent = notificationData.content.locale
             val severity = notificationData.severity
             val followupActions = NotificationManager.createActions(
@@ -105,6 +110,7 @@ class ProcessNotificationsBase(
         notifListener.add(newNotifListener)
 
     companion object {
+        private val LOG = getLogger<ProcessNotificationsBase>()
         fun getInstance(project: Project): ProcessNotificationsBase = project.service()
 
         private const val NOTIFICATIONS_PATH = "aws-static-resources/notifications.json"