Attention deficit

Our phone is a distraction in not only wasting our time, but wasting our attention.

I've had an Apple Watch for a couple of weeks now and my biggest take way so far: I don't feel the need to constantly pick up my phone to check the time or calls/text/notifications, only to find myself down a rabbit hole of checking in on everything else that's going on – Email, Calendar, Twitter, Slack, etc.

Our phone is a distraction in not only wasting our time, but wasting our attention:

"Researchers in the new field of interruption science have found that it takes an average of twenty-five minutes to recover from a phone call. Yet such interruptions come every eleven minutes — which means we're never caught up with our lives."

Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness

Something I've learned from meditating is to take a step back and properly process thoughts and emotions. It sounds simple, but it's harder than you think, when you're not thinking about it.

When we're sitting in front of a screen all day, everything begins to blur into a flow of information, but its the transitions in-between that can be most important to pay attention to:

  • When finishing a task, think about how it went and how it fits to your overall goals
  • Right after a meeting, or call, review notes and fill in gaps, think about next steps
  • When a random thought comes to mind, make a note of it to think through later on
  • If there is a gut feeling you have that you're confused about, take a few minutes to analyze what it's all about
  • Every hour, take a break for a couple of minutes — stand up from your chair and just take some deeps breaths

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