In the last installment of Themes for Thinkers we focused on the idea of what’s essential in life and simplifying the daily routine. The more we cut out the non-essential, the more of your life and attention you get back.
It’s a simple idea but brutally hard to implement. This week I want to talk more about focused attention and how it really can be a superpower for you!
I was first exposed to the idea of focused attention by my uncle and other mentors about 8-9 years ago. Smartphones were still relatively new at that time and not yet the attention hogs they are now.
But even then you could tell that attention spans were growing shorter and shorter. The internet and social were in full force by then, competing with TV and ads for your attention. The ability to stay focused on a task for long periods of time was already dwindling.
In his 2016 book Deep Work, Cal Newport shared a resounding call to attention based on this entire premise. He called it “Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World” and the idea made a big impact on me.
As I’m sure you would agree, the opportunities for distraction have only increased in the past 3 years and are likely to continue to climb in the future.
Many of you know I took February off from social media. A little over a week through March and I’ve given very little of my time back to it. Here are a few tactics I’ve used to limit the temptation.
- Removed Twitter, Facebook, Messenger, Gmail, Chrome, Slack, and Amazon from my phone. Basically the ones sucking up my attention (more in a sec).
- Moved Instagram to a “folder” named TIME SUCK with other mobile-only yet distracting apps. Moved the folder to a back screen on my phone.
- Set a time limit of 15 minutes for Instagram and Safari.
- Only log in to Twitter using TweetDeck, which I promptly close after each (short) visit. I also moved the public timeline out of view and look at my notifications first. If there’s nothing new, then close the app.
With these tactics I’ve cut my phone usage to under an hour each day and have a goal of keeping it that way. I can’t tell you how good it feels not to be as tethered to the device as I felt in the past. About 6 weeks in and the “twitch” to check my phone and/or notifications is so much less.
For those of you alarmed at the thought of removing “productivity” apps like Gmail, Chrome, and Slack – I hear you, those were tough. My thinking is that I’m rarely far away from my laptop, which has all of those apps too.
But the physical act of going back to the Mac and opening it up instead of checking my phone has so much more friction to it. I really have to think about if checking email or Slack is that important. Plus the social stigma of taking out my laptop at dinner is way worse.
Now I don’t check my phone as much because there’s not much to check! After just a couple of weeks I’m paying more attention to what’s right in front of me. Whether it’s my family, a book, work, or this newsletter – I’m able to give more of my attention because distractions are limited.
Ok, lots of context for you – here are three tactics you can try this week. Do at least one and observe its impact on your life.
- At the end of each day measure your level of distraction on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most distracted.
- Remove one social app from your phone – preferably one you “default” to regularly. For me it was Twitter.
- If you can’t quite remove an app yet, try to limit the attention you give the apps. Do this in the latest iPhone settings by going to Screen Time —> Add Limits (here’s how). Start by cutting the time in half.
This isn’t meant to make you go cold turkey on anything (though it’s not a bad idea). Most apps you can still access from a web browser, even mobile-first apps like Instagram still allow web logins for checking up on likes and posting comments.
What I encourage you to think about this week is where you are directing focus and attention – followed by careful consideration of whether or not each one is serving you well. Is it worth your precious attention?
Would love to hear what you discover this week – let me know in the comments or subscribe to get these delivered to your inbox with other productivity tactics.
Photo by Jacob Sapp on Unsplash