Attention, Distraction, and Your Responsibility
So when you pay attention to something you don’t especially value, it’s not an exaggeration to say that you’re paying with your life. Seen this way, “distraction” needn’t refer only to momentary lapses in focus, as when you’re distracted from performing your work duties by the ping of an incoming text message, or a compellingly terrible news story.... See more
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
The Cost of Distraction
- Attention is a habit; letting it wander builds bad habits and errors.
- Multitasking harms focus and productivity, and even brief distractions cause lasting impairment.
The Daily Stoic • This Is How to Live Well | Don't Let Your Attention Slide
To make things more troublesome still, it can be difficult even to notice when your outlook on life is being changed in this depressing fashion, thanks to a special problem with attention, which is that it’s extremely difficult for it to monitor itself. The only faculty you can use to see what’s happening to your attention is your attention, the ve... See more
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
Gallagher reports. “[Among them is the notion that] ‘the idle mind is the devil’s workshop’ … when you lose focus, your mind tends to fix on what could be wrong with your life instead of what’s right.” A workday driven by the shallow, from a neurological perspective, is likely to be a draining and upsetting day, even if most of the shallow things t
... See moreCal Newport • Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Every day, something new demands your attention. Another crisis that feels urgent. Another injustice that breaks your heart. Another threat that makes you worry about the future.