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The attention economy

aeon.co

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Re: The attention economy

#61

Post by mikestew »

colmvp wrote: post #2

Does anyone have tips for re-gaining focused attention? Willing to try anything at this point.

Others in parallel comments have some great ideas, and I would suggest pursuing the ones that you find appealing and think will work. My one piece of advice: go buy a smartwatch. Doesn't have to be fancy (one of the inexpensive Garmin Vivo thingies would do the job), just has to have notifications. Put your phone on silent, and set the watch notifications for only those critical alerts such as phone calls and text messages. Whatever you do, don't put FB or Twitter on there as you'll be defeating the purpose. Put your phone in your pocket or bag and leave it there, knowing that if one of those "kid's school" messages that you're always using as an excuse the check your phone (and not put it on vibrate so as to annoy your cow-orkers) comes through, you'll know about it.

Now you're looking at your phone when you need to, not pulling it out to check something else and "oh, look a hit of dopamine! I mean, someone replied on Twitter!" and falling down the hole.

For example, I don't have Gmail alert the watch (nothing work-related, and rarely needs my immediate attention), rarely use Twitter and don't have a FB account, so those don't get on the watch. I do have the following go to the watch: Dark Sky (rain alerts) Calendar Fidelity ("LC hit it's stop limit, so we sold it for you."; I could do w/o this one.) Home cameras (e. g., Nest) Text messages Phone calls Airline apps and Apple Wallet Reminders A bunch of crap I don't care about (e. g., app for Nissan Leaf) that have never, ever notified me, so I leave it on because lazy.

Of those on the "allowed" list, Calendar, msgs, reminders, and the rare phone call alert me the most, which is what I'm looking for: stuff I need to know now.

This will allow you to cease being inundated, so when you implement some of the mindfulness techniques described by others, you'll likely be in a better state of mind if only because the noise has abated a bit. IOW, it's easier to be mindful of reaching for your phone when you're not doing it in a Pavlovian manner.

Re: The attention economy

#62

Post by msb »

studentrob wrote: post #54
msb wrote: post #25

"An overabundance of rabbits leads to a shortage of lettuce."..."a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention." Herbert Simon talked about this when we were still sending men to the moon [1]. This should be the charge of HCI practitioners, but the needs of consumers have largely been ignored. AI might provide some relief (my phone is getting better at learning when not to disrupt me...but it has a long way…

> Herbert Simon talked about this when we were still sending men to the moon [1]. Cool, thanks for sharing. It's sobering to realize when people have already discussed things we face today > mostly I think it is up to us to close, ignore or turn away. Yeah. I feel like there are some successful people who say that stopping doing things is as important as doing things. Or, they say giving up control is useful. For eve…

>That's fear of missing out talking.

I think it is more a fear of managing expectations than a fear of missing out. When instant communication is the norm, choosing not to instantly communicate being perceived as neglect, for example. While in reality, you simply need to block the distractions for a few hours to get work done.

Re: The attention economy

#63

Post by exolymph »

studentrob wrote: post #53
exolymph wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Personally, reading again was a great way to rebuild my attention span and just rewiring my brain in general. I had no idea how bad I had become. I've gone through this same process. It was definitely frightening to realize how far I'd fallen from my grade-school bookworm days. I have to consciously fight against bad information-intake habits now. I actually wrote an ebook about it: https://www.amazon.com/How-Start…

So, to start reading again I have to read a book that tells me how to read. Hmm

You don't have to, but it's an option.

Re: The attention economy

#64

Post by studentrob »

msb wrote: post #62
studentrob wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Herbert Simon talked about this when we were still sending men to the moon [1]. Cool, thanks for sharing. It's sobering to realize when people have already discussed things we face today > mostly I think it is up to us to close, ignore or turn away. Yeah. I feel like there are some successful people who say that stopping doing things is as important as doing things. Or, they say giving up control is useful. For eve…

>That's fear of missing out talking. I think it is more a fear of managing expectations than a fear of missing out. When instant communication is the norm, choosing not to instantly communicate being perceived as neglect, for example. While in reality, you simply need to block the distractions for a few hours to get work done.

> While in reality, you simply need to block the distractions for a few hours to get work done.

Oh, I see. I suppose that depends upon your relationship with coworkers/clients. My expectation is that people around me understand that anything less than a phone call or in-person request does not demand immediate attention. If they don't, that's their problem. I've never had someone fire me for letting an email go a few hours. They might ask about it, and then I would just reply I was focused on something else. Pretty understandable in my opinion, and if not, again that isn't my problem.

That said, I think being able to do context switches without losing work is an acquired skill. There are people who can do it in conversation; when interrupted, they can come back to the original where it left off. I don't know of many people who switch between code and people but I believe it's possible to get good at it.

Re: The attention economy

#66

Post by CM30 »

throwaway13337 wrote: post #30
advertising wrote: post #19

I got into work mode the past couple years of my life and spent most time either working or speaking with people, then browsing my phone in the downtimes / before bed / first thing in the morning. I hadn't read a book in a couple of years and it was scary the first time I tried again. Literally could not read more than 1 - 1.5 pages without my mind wandering or feeling the pang to check the feed on my phone. Kind of…

Even movies are too slow now for me and some others I'm around. Rarely am I engaged the whole time. It doesn't matter the genre. They take too long - just like books - to get a point across. It's definitely a symptom of the proliferation of smartphones. I'm not sure it's an entirely bad thing - just a shift in the way we consume media. Short burst rather than long-form. Long stretches of passive consumption could be…

I feel the same way about movies, as well as TV shows and plays.

But I suspect film makers and the likes are already starting to realise that a lot of their audience feels like this. Why? Because in a lot of modern entertainment, you'll notice a general reluctance to continue with one 'theme' for more than a few minutes or so.

Note how many TV shows seem to cut from scene to scene a lot more quickly than they once did.

How many films seem to rely on too many jumpcuts and shaky camera angles and rapid fire dialogue.

How many newer video games seem like they're literally falling apart as you play, with the level quickly changing from one new mechanic to another every 30 seconds-1 minute.

That's not a bad thing (the level design in the likes of Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze or Rayman Legends is awesome), but there's definitely a feeling that as a result of lower attention spans, works have tried to make everything as dynamic and fast paced as possible.

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