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I Got My Attention Back (2017)

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Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)

#31

Post by mrslave »

noir_lord wrote: post #24
coffeefirst wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is absolutely true and shocking difficult. You can disable every notification on your phone, mute all non urgent email, change the way you read news, block social media for a day or delete it permanently... all the small things help. But the worst interrupters are the hardest to tame. If anyone has a Slack containment strategy, I’m all ears.

I just turned slack off and check it every couple of hours. No one has shouted at me yet.

Yes. Desktop app/web app only. If you can't ignore blue, shut it down. If you get lots of red, shut it down.

Helping others is one thing. Doing it at the expense of your own productivity is another.

Silent phone is easy for me. You can always make the bosses VIP. Also I have never installed email or Slack on my phone. My current workplace is relatively low volume (50 or so staff). I can't imagine how it must be with a lot more.

Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)

#32

Post by gdubs »

muonic wrote: post #29

I'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…

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, let’s say, on the days where I meditate.

Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)

#33

Post by 300bps »

Fiveplus wrote: post #18
DEADBEEFC0FFEE wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yesterday I spent 9h 31m on my phone (according to the built-in screen time tracker on my iPhone). It doesn't make me happy, but I can't stop scrolling. I think I have an issue. What are you scrolling, which app has that hold?

I'm not the person you replied to. However, when I used to browse reddit - my phone logged an unhealthy amount of time spent on that app (in roughly the same ballpark).

I stopped reddit cold turkey 6 years ago for that reason. I’m sure there is a healthy way to use that site but I don’t want any parts of it. Its ability to provide fresh content every second of every day is not good for me.

Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)

#34

Post by omreaderhn »

muonic wrote: post #29

I'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…

Here are some things that have worked for me:

1. Keep your phone on silent (or shut off) in a different room than your office (or wherever you're trying to work)

2. Install an app like Refine on your phone and block all social media and sites that you open up frequently (HN would possibly be an example)

3. Keep your phone in a different room before going to sleep.

4. If you like listening to audiobooks, consider getting an Amazon Echo. I like to listen to audiobooks before falling asleep and with the Echo you can set a sleep timer and then play an audiobook and it will stop playing after the sleep timer expires.

5. On your laptop (assuming you use Mac or Linux) add social media and other frequently visited non-productivity related sites to your /etc/hosts file.

Personally I try to avoid drugs for these kinds of things. In my view it's a matter of self improvement and self-discipline which are things that can be developed with effort.

Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)

#35

Post by Bedon292 »

bpizzi wrote: post #4

The text starts with "there are a thousand beautiful ways to start the day that don’t begin with looking at a phone. And yet so few of us choose to do so.". Is it really so? I'm only a single datapoint, but checking my phone is the last thing I do in the morning. Getting children up, coffee, shower, planning some today's work in my head - if the phone isn't ringing then I may well not fiddle with it until later in th…

Unfortunately my phone is literally the first thing I do when I wake up, and last thing at night. Is sometimes an hour on the phone before actually getting out of bed. I had to quit Reddit years ago because of the addiction. Don't really use Facebook. But Twitter currently has its hooks in me. It is a news source to me, about the pandemic, election, protests. But it manages to suck me in to reading extra comments and stuffs. I have been realizing it more lately, and don't want to give it up because I do think it helps me stay informed, but I need to find a way to change my usage habits because its not good.

Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)

#36

Post by muonic »

gdubs wrote: post #32
muonic wrote: post #29

I'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…

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?

Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)

#37

Post by corytheboyd »

muonic wrote: post #29

I'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…

Sounds like you’re aware of the problem, and already know what you want to do about it. Now time for that daunting next step, doing something about it.

Start with something small, take a walk outside every day. It sounds stupid but it is guaranteed time away from a computer and the barrier of entry is non-existent.

At the end of the day, nothing will change until you change it. Nobody will come fix it for you, it’s on you.

Hope this helps, you got this fellow person struggling with indefinite WFH :)

Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)

#38

Post by staticvoidmaine »

omreaderhn wrote: post #30

I 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.

Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)

#39

Post by Bedon292 »

coffeefirst wrote: post #19
thdrdt wrote: post #10

Another 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.

This is absolutely true and shocking difficult. You can disable every notification on your phone, mute all non urgent email, change the way you read news, block social media for a day or delete it permanently... all the small things help. But the worst interrupters are the hardest to tame. If anyone has a Slack containment strategy, I’m all ears.

I turned off notifications at the top level except @mentions, and then specifically turned back on just the super important channels (operations type stuff). I even explicitly mute a lot of channels that don't need my daily input, and people know that they need to @mention me if they need attention in that channel. And making sure to put the right quiet hours, and time zone in to shut them all down.

Re: I Got My Attention Back (2017)

#40

Post by [deleted] »

300bps wrote: post #33
Fiveplus wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not the person you replied to. However, when I used to browse reddit - my phone logged an unhealthy amount of time spent on that app (in roughly the same ballpark).

I stopped reddit cold turkey 6 years ago for that reason. I’m sure there is a healthy way to use that site but I don’t want any parts of it. Its ability to provide fresh content every second of every day is not good for me.

[deleted]
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