A simple solution to this, if your using an iOS or OS X device, is to use the network link conditioner.
Using this tool, you can decrease the bandwidth going into your computer, increase the number of packets being dropped, and increase the delays while doing DNS lookups. The effect of this is you may bring your network speed down enough that your mind can keep up with the torrent of things trying to distract it. By imposing on yourself the network connectivity of 10 years ago, you may regain the focus you had back then as well. The difference is very noticeable, you'll realize right away that your doing something unessential when you're waiting +10 seconds for it to download.
Another view on this is that being exposed to different concepts and ways of thinking increases perspective and creativity. All of the things you mentioned as examples (football, playing piano and learning a language) all use very different modes of thought and activate different parts of the brain. It seems like the majority of people would really benefit from that diversity of experience.
I hear what you are saying but I actually think this is the wrong way to think about it. The point I was trying to make is that if you just learn a little bit of music, a little bit of football, a little bit of french you are still only learning the same and getting the same perspective no matter how many different things you learn. The trick IMO is to dig deep into something as this will teach you how to dig deep in…
There is a big push at the moment for "T shaped people", ie with a broad range of experience with one or two specialities.
By exposing a wide range of activities to kids, they gain breadth. They can then choose what to explore in depth - that is their call.
"Overspecialize, and you breed in weakness. It's slow death."
I recently wrote a chrome extension that helps me curb my "compulsion loop." It's pretty simple; each time the browser loads a website that has potentially distracting content (think: twitter, FB, reddit, hacker news, rotoworld, etc) that I tend to over-visit in search of new tidbits, the extension keeps track of my visit and the text content of the page. The next time I visit, I do a text comparison that checks how…
I may be misunderstanding, but isn't this like a heavy drinker having the bartender put more water than beer in his glass when he heads to the local pub? This doesn't seem to be treating the actual issue at hand (lack of self control, lack of training of the mind, etc.) is what I'm getting at. Not meaning to crap on your build, as it certainly seems cool. Maybe this could be viewed as a training tool, but only if it'…
It sounds like that but if the bartender notices he's serving a lot of water to you, he turns you around and gently pushes you out the door (redirect).
I recently wrote a chrome extension that helps me curb my "compulsion loop." It's pretty simple; each time the browser loads a website that has potentially distracting content (think: twitter, FB, reddit, hacker news, rotoworld, etc) that I tend to over-visit in search of new tidbits, the extension keeps track of my visit and the text content of the page. The next time I visit, I do a text comparison that checks how…
You should. I've had the same problem - subconsciously re-loading a site I've recently visited, realizing there is little/no new content on the front page, getting frustrated, and diving deeper in the hope of finding new tidbits. By the time the cycle is done I've found nothing of value and wasted 3x the time normally spent.
I hear what you are saying but I actually think this is the wrong way to think about it. The point I was trying to make is that if you just learn a little bit of music, a little bit of football, a little bit of french you are still only learning the same and getting the same perspective no matter how many different things you learn. The trick IMO is to dig deep into something as this will teach you how to dig deep in…
There is a big push at the moment for "T shaped people", ie with a broad range of experience with one or two specialities. By exposing a wide range of activities to kids, they gain breadth. They can then choose what to explore in depth - that is their call. "Overspecialize, and you breed in weakness. It's slow death."
I am not talking about specializing I am talking about mastering. Thats a very different thing.
You can specialize in playing a sweeping technique on your guitar that does not make you a good musician.
And again. No I simply don't believe you gain breadth by being exposed to many different things. It's the other way around. Learning a lot of different things superficially is not going to teach you the real lessons.
It's not about acquiring a specific set of skills it's about acquiring an ability to learn how to learn.
It's very easy though to procrastinate when in 'command' of a web browser. Removing the device removes the temptation. Typically I can be in the middle of something else, sit down in front of the laptop to quickly check the news or something, and end up walking away from it a few hours later. It's very easy to get sucked in. I guess I'm weak minded.
One trick that works for me: having separate devices for separate activities. E.g., I have a tablet that I use for long-form content and pretty much nothing else. I consciously know that I could pretty easily log in to Facebook on the tablet's browser. But since I've never once done it on that device, my lizard brain doesn't know. I recently bought a new phone that feels physically different than my old one (Nexus 5x…
"having separate devices for separate activities" This is the answer. My tablet has successfully replaced my PC when it comes to reading twitter feeds, techcrunch and other IT related content. On top of that, i find myself using it only in bed, for 30-50 minutes, right before i put myself to sleep. I am now planning on buying another PC just for work, place it in another room and get rid of the distractions for at least 8 hours per day. In the past i was using Dexpot for managing multiple desktops, but i found out that the temptation of switching and browsing through garbage content was still pretty high.(not just web content, but my own content as well) I'm working on it...
Why does the author consider it a perfectly healthy accomplishment to spend a monthlong vacation reading a dozen books, but dangerous and unhealthy to check his email more than thrice a day or read redditlike sites?
quickly switching from topic to topic is a lot more exhausting
It's very easy though to procrastinate when in 'command' of a web browser. Removing the device removes the temptation. Typically I can be in the middle of something else, sit down in front of the laptop to quickly check the news or something, and end up walking away from it a few hours later. It's very easy to get sucked in. I guess I'm weak minded.
One trick that works for me: having separate devices for separate activities. E.g., I have a tablet that I use for long-form content and pretty much nothing else. I consciously know that I could pretty easily log in to Facebook on the tablet's browser. But since I've never once done it on that device, my lizard brain doesn't know. I recently bought a new phone that feels physically different than my old one (Nexus 5x…
Why does the author consider it a perfectly healthy accomplishment to spend a monthlong vacation reading a dozen books, but dangerous and unhealthy to check his email more than thrice a day or read redditlike sites?
quickly switching from topic to topic is a lot more exhausting
Have you ever spent a Sunday afternoon reading a giant newspaper?