Focus & Attention
Anything and everything related to focus and attention while living in an era characterized by the shortest attention spans
Focus & Attention
It’s almost like boredom doesn’t exist, like difficulty doesn’t exist, scarcity doesn’t exist. And a feeling I’ve been having a lot lately is that scarcity is often what creates meaning. When you’re surrounded by infinite possibilities, when you know around the next corner is another video that might be funnier, you’re never going to sit with the
... See moreThis inclination towards external stimulus, even if harmful, highlights the reluctance many people have towards quiet introspection. I could only speculate that some of my workaholic acquaintances fall into the same category as those who would prefer self-inflicted discomfort over stillness. They continue to shoulder an increasing workload, even... See more
Jen Hitze • Attention, Distraction, and Your Responsibility
Self-inflicted discomfort over stillness
Chamath on the importance of slow compounding:
“The faster you build it, that is the half life: it will get destroyed in the same amount of time.”
Things tend to come and go, tip to one side and then the other, tide out and back in, grow and then rot, get created and destroyed, at the same speed.
“Clarity isn’t about knowing what you want to do with your life, it’s about knowing what you want to do this week.
You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to know your next step.”
You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to know your next step.”
James Clear • 3-2-1: How to be great, the power of cold emails, and the dangers of working late
Clarity
The fastest growing sector of the culture economy is distraction . Or call it scrolling or swiping or wasting time or whatever you want. But it’s not art or entertainment, just ceaseless activity.
The key is that each stimulus only lasts a few seconds, and must be repeated.
The key is that each stimulus only lasts a few seconds, and must be repeated.
Ted Gioia • The State of the Culture, 2024
Her class was also less about consumption and more about conversation. Before arriving, we were responsible for reading 10 pages and writing a 750-word reflection on them. Class always began with small group conversations, in which we discussed the reading from the night before. By ungrouping and regrouping into different groups, we gained... See more
David Perell • Against 3X Speed
We’ve all heard the saying about an idle mind, but its true meaning often eludes us. An idle mind is not necessarily indicative of an empty calendar or a lack of to-dos. An idle mind is one that is unaware of its attention’s whereabouts and is incapable of redirecting it
Jen Hitze • Attention, Distraction, and Your Responsibility
Idle mind
Philosophers have been worrying about distraction at least since the time of the ancient Greeks, who saw it less as a matter of external interruptions and more as a question of character—a systematic inner failure to use one’s time on what one claimed to value the most. Their reason for treating distraction so seriously was straightforward, and... See more