31–40 of 161 posts
We'll get the smartphone zombie outbreak under control, but not before it becomes worse. And if not.. not sure we'll even care or notice anymore.
It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…
For me I never want to unplug because it brings me all the stress from things I have going on (and not going on) in life. This continuous online state has allowed me to putoff major life decisions.
"Hyperfocus is the experience of deep and intense concentration in some people with ADHD. ADHD is not necessarily a deficit of attention, but rather a problem with regulating one’s attention span to desired tasks."
I don't know, but "hyperfocus" on a hobby you love sounds exactly like what most people need nowadays to get off their phone and stop wasting their life staring on ads and ad-financed content. Also, I remember that most things we covered in school were completely irrelevant for the real world. So a difficulty to concentrate on school stuff may actually be better than doing the homework.
In short, ignoring what society considers normal and instead being super focused on your own things ... sounds more healthy to me than the average "normal" person.
I've spent the last year or so trying to control my smartphone usage, by removing apps and trying to set rules for myself like "your phone stays in the kitchen for most of the day". I recently took the plunge and got rid of it entirely, and it was truly surprising to realise how much of my time and attention it had still taken, despite my best efforts. If you think you're ready for that step, I highly recommend it. J…
There's also one killer app I don't want to stop using: maps (Google, Apple, Open Street Map, doesn't matter which).
However, I have switched to NextDNS and locked out a large chunk of the internet on the phone. That helps.
It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…
I am going to make a counter point, albeit one that I don't like: Advising kids to lean away from modern life and push back on the progress of distracting technologies will actually be a more anti-social move than not. What I mean is that to exist and live in the modern world increasingly requires adept skills at managing bespoke technological platforms. To be a social being in the 21st century is largely about navig…
It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…
I am going to make a counter point, albeit one that I don't like: Advising kids to lean away from modern life and push back on the progress of distracting technologies will actually be a more anti-social move than not. What I mean is that to exist and live in the modern world increasingly requires adept skills at managing bespoke technological platforms. To be a social being in the 21st century is largely about navig…
It's not about telling kids to unplug completely.
It's about balance.
There are so many endless digital distractions available today that people need to know how and where to draw the line on their consumption. Or they don't recognize that the short-term value they derive from scrolling Twitter or making a $100 gain on their Robinhood app comes at the expense of setting back their desired career goals, or personal fitness goals, or even their social goals.
It's exhausting to listen to mentees complain that they don't have enough time in the day to work out, or read a book they want to read, or cook the healthy meals they want to eat, but then they go on to discuss things like Bitcoin and Dogecoin for 4 hours straight in Slack or recruit their friends into another Twitter argument.
> Accept that today's child is a highly connected, distracted, techno-proficient being and let that be that.
Part of our role as mentors and/or parents is to guide young people in healthier directions.
There's nothing wrong with being connected and techno-proficient, and there's nothing wrong with having some fun on Twitter or Tik Tok. However, that doesn't mean we should go full laissez-faire and tell young people there's nothing wrong with being distracted all day every day.
There are a lot of parallels to diet: There's nothing wrong with eating donuts or cookies or bacon in moderation. However, if you overindulge in sweets, eat 3000 calories a day, and never moderate your intake of anything you're going to accumulate major health problems over the course of your life.
It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…
This is honestly one of the reasons I stopped investing in my twenties. I cashed out everything and put it all towards paying down debt because I was absolutely obsessed with the stock market...but after doing the math the guaranteed returns on debt payment were a better focus than the up and down nature of the stock market. I invest now but I have to be conscious of obsession mitigation techniques otherwise I will c…
Many young people are entering the market with an expectation that cryptocurrency prices only go up and that they can outperform Wall Street by getting hot tips (DD) from meme-infused posts on Reddit.
When it doesn't work out, they swear off "investing" when they never actually did anything beyond speculation and daytrading.
I hope apps like Robinhood find a good way to encourage portfolio balance, dollar cost averaging, and risk management over time.
It is interesting how manufactured distraction-free sessions like yoga, meditation, paid retreats, have emerged to fill the demand for idle time. We’re forgetting how to unplug unless it’s a product or service that we can buy. The distraction issue is the number one issue holding back most of the young people in the mentorship group I’m part of. They’re so glued to their phones to check minute-by-minute updates about…
> they’re all nervously watching the real-time changes of their $1000 portfolios to see if they need to be sad about losing money because it’s crashing or sad about not investing more money because it’s going up. I'd say those students are learning a lot. A few could make a profit or loss that is life-changing to them (this might also be a surprisingly small amount of money), and they are also presumably learning how…
From a mentor perspective, it's exhausting to hear students complain that they don't have any time to study or schedule interviews, then watch them spend 4 hours talking in the group Slack about their Dogecoin speculation theories.
I love how you summarize the dilemma of a digital native. May I add some juicy polarization by referencing the quote "I don't know how to live, but I got a lot of toys" from the song 21st Century Digital Boy? Your article gives great reason to rethink. How to use the time we have been given in a meaningful way, to be labelled as a sentient being rather than a robot. It is definitely a daily test to one's choice: Rath…
I've been reading technical books for so long, hunting for information and with my shortened attention span, I now have difficulty reading for the sheer pleasure of it. I tried reading fiction not too long ago and found it laborious. It was the most disappointing feeling in the world to me.