How Do We Get Our Attention Back?
21st century life makes it almost impossible to maintain our attention for more than 10 seconds.
Smartphones. Tablets. Computers. Social media. Constant notifications.
The chronic state of anxiety that these devices create makes it very easy for us to be distracted and lose focus.
These are 5 tactics we can put in place to balance the ledger:
- Create small, manageable chunks of time where you eliminate all distractions. The Pomodoro method is a system where 25-minute chunks are set aside for interruption-free work.
- Remove email from your smartphone. Not having email on your smartphone eliminates a source of distraction. Keep email for the office or laptop.
- Take a break. Without breaks we may deplete our willpower. In Thinking Fast and Slow, we see how fatigue weakens our ability to reason clearly compromising our ability to fight distraction.
- Breathe. Setting multiple alarms throughout the day to breathe ensures that we stop stress in its tracks. See how in today's Quiet the Noise TIP.
- Eliminate all notifications for non-essential apps. Social media is our most prominent source of distraction. Take 15-minutes to clean up all notifications and welcome in a new era of peace!
And when in doubt…
Pause. Breathe, And Quiet the NOISE.