I'm constantly amazed how often I step outside to smoke and a problem I've been grappling with is immediately answered without even much thought, the answer arrives. Perhaps many of us don't realise how much attention is stolen from looking at the screen.
I Got My Attention Back (2017)
41–50 of 188 posts
Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s not a “quick fix” but meditation really does help build focus, attention, and awareness. If that sounds like it would be impossibly hard, you can definitely start small with something like 10 breaths where you really just pay attention to breathing in and out, and then gradually work up to longer stretches. I find that meditation has a spillover effect into my life — I’m less likely to be tempted by junk food, l…
Interesting... I've read that but perhaps chose not to believe it. Would you mind sharing how often you meditate and for how long?
Every day for sure. There's a good amount of evidence thay 20 minutes provides a benefit, maybe as little as 15 or 10 can provide a benefit.
Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)
#43I built this service to help deal with this problem: https://omreader.co It allows you to read blogs (RSS feeds) and email newsletters on your Kindle. I originally started working on this to help me read financial news without needing my phone which I find to be a really distracting environment. I would find myself mindlessly opening up and scrolling through reddit or HN and in my experience, repeatedly doing that ha…
I love the idea, will have to try it out. Not so thrilled about yet another service that wants to collect a monthly rent, but maybe the free tier will suite my needs
Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s not a “quick fix” but meditation really does help build focus, attention, and awareness. If that sounds like it would be impossibly hard, you can definitely start small with something like 10 breaths where you really just pay attention to breathing in and out, and then gradually work up to longer stretches. I find that meditation has a spillover effect into my life — I’m less likely to be tempted by junk food, l…
Interesting... I've read that but perhaps chose not to believe it. Would you mind sharing how often you meditate and for how long?
For a while I was doing 20 minutes a day. I found that hard to maintain, I switched to 12 minutes, and did it every day for 2019. I found the shorter time easier to keep up, and so perhaps more beneficial for me over the long run.
There are stretches where I’m inconsistent for days or weeks, and I try to gently bring back the routine. Or I’ll apply the same focus to something like exercise or stretching.
I use a simple timer app on iPhone called “Timeless”.
There’s a quote that goes something like, “one mindful breath is better than an hour of mindless meditation.”
Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)
#45I built this service to help deal with this problem: https://omreader.co It allows you to read blogs (RSS feeds) and email newsletters on your Kindle. I originally started working on this to help me read financial news without needing my phone which I find to be a really distracting environment. I would find myself mindlessly opening up and scrolling through reddit or HN and in my experience, repeatedly doing that ha…
This is very cool! I’ve recently started using my wife’s old Kindle for reading the pfSense book and the Google SRE Handbook and have been loving the fact that it isn’t a bright screen or filled with distractions. This is a great idea that I’ll be trying out with a couple technical blogs.
Awesome! Yeah I tested this out on my mom's old kindle (one with a keyboard) and it renders really well. Not the same as how it looks on the newer Kindles but they still have special support for the newspaper format on the old Kindles and it looks great.
Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)
#46I built this service to help deal with this problem: https://omreader.co It allows you to read blogs (RSS feeds) and email newsletters on your Kindle. I originally started working on this to help me read financial news without needing my phone which I find to be a really distracting environment. I would find myself mindlessly opening up and scrolling through reddit or HN and in my experience, repeatedly doing that ha…
I love the idea, will have to try it out. Not so thrilled about yet another service that wants to collect a monthly rent, but maybe the free tier will suite my needs
Ha no worries. I've tried to find a good balance with the free tier. It's actually a bit more generous than what the copy on the marketing site says so I'll go ahead and update that today. Would love to hear any feedback that you have.
Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)
#47I'd actually appreciate anyone's opinion or advice on this... I grew up on computers and the internet (absent, technophile parents made that very easy) and by the age of 13 or 14 my computer really just felt like an extension of myself. When I was in undergrad, I realized that the only way I'd ever actually properly study is if I had someone on my dorm floor take my computer from me and refuse to give it back for som…
I am in the same boat.
I noticed that mindless browsing is a form of procrastination. The small trickle of dopamine from mindless browsing prevents me from starting more rewarding activities.
I learned two things: don't use your computer without a purpose, and turn it off when your task is done.
Computers make you fine with being bored. I found that just shutting the computer off and doing nothing for a few minutes is enough to spur me into action. The first step is to catch yourself browsing mindlessly, and stepping away from the computer.
Sometimes, I'll get busy with other things and spend days away from the computer. I'm always surprised by how few messages and notifications I missed.
Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)
#48Another way to look at it is: stop context switching (all the time). Personally a lot of context swithing is giving me stress and is draining my energy. It also makes me less productive. So I believe the article is spot on.
My problem is way too much context switching, definitely. I have done at least 20 different things since I opened the tab to read the article. Still only 1/3 of the way through the article though.
Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)
#49I built this service to help deal with this problem: https://omreader.co It allows you to read blogs (RSS feeds) and email newsletters on your Kindle. I originally started working on this to help me read financial news without needing my phone which I find to be a really distracting environment. I would find myself mindlessly opening up and scrolling through reddit or HN and in my experience, repeatedly doing that ha…
This is something I never even considered but I love the idea of leaning more on my Kindle Paperwhite and less on my iPad. Going to give it a shot!
Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)
#50I installed a small switch from Home Depot in line with the power to my router so I can turn it off at any point and it takes a few minutes to power back on (which is good that it takes a bit). No signal in the house at night. Easy way to control access for all parties in the house. I like his idea of no internet till after lunch.