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The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

theguardian.com

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Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#81

Post by Apocryphon »

agumonkey wrote: post #59
Swizec wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember how stats used to say the average american spends 5 hours per day watching television? Now they do that with The Internet. Before telly that it was radio and newspapers. Before even that it was books. The more things change the more they stay the same. Is it possible humans simply aren’t meant to be totally productive always on all the time and that we crave time wasting on a fundamental level?

It's true but partial. Internet is not a TV it's a cable network of Infinite size. I realize it was often like zapping or worth. It also eats on the social aspect, just like this comment is.

It's pretty crazy how the internet, once perceived as superior to TV in terms of quality of content and possessing an interactive aspect (more interaction than couch potatoes get) has become seemingly worse for people. Probably because as you say, the content is infinitely more.

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#82

Post by clubm8 »

I have a cell phone plan with limited data. At first it was just a frugality thing, but it's also done wonders for attention/mindfulness. I tend to listen to podcasts instead of mindlessly FB/Redditing. Not only does it clear my mind, but listening to the news instead of constantly refreshing a news site throughout the day saves time and decreases stress and "FOMO" (fear of missing out). I know I'm missing out - I've chosen to! :)

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#83

Post by agumonkey »

Apocryphon wrote: post #81
agumonkey wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's true but partial. Internet is not a TV it's a cable network of Infinite size. I realize it was often like zapping or worth. It also eats on the social aspect, just like this comment is.

It's pretty crazy how the internet, once perceived as superior to TV in terms of quality of content and possessing an interactive aspect (more interaction than couch potatoes get) has become seemingly worse for people. Probably because as you say, the content is infinitely more.

Yeah we so often think things just scale without negative side effects. Internet started as web of academic/serious documents but the mainstream 'value' ended up in sucking attention for ads and shallow communications. I, too, did believe so much web 2.0 and ~real time json comments would make everything so much better .. but I don't believe so anymore. I think humans are 80% local and physical animals; we like having a bit of remote exchanges and seeing pictures, but it stop being deeply satisfying quickly. Especially when its devoid of human value (big companies don't make my heart sing with their new disruptive ideas anymore, to a point I have happy thoughts whenever I run into a single person passion driven ~crappy html4 website)

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#84

Post by borkt »

tostadora wrote: post #53
octygen wrote: post #49

Three things helped me: 1) Mindfulness training so I could see myself in the moment NOT concentrating and stop myself. Still not at 100% with this but have been getting a lot better since I first took https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/mindfulness-wellbeing-pe... a couple of years ago. 2) Thinking of my mobile in the way marketers think of it. As a cache for mobile minutes. Each marketing dept is like a little gnome…

The Michener essay is a great read. Thank you for the link. It has made me think about a problem, though: how to select that huge task in which to pour your energy. For him, it was his novels; but being in a 9 to 5 office job like I am, I'm wondering what are my options.

I have always found that detailing a car carefully to really calm my mind and feel rewarding after words. Recently I decided to try my hand at repairing a panel on my car as the shop wanted ~1000 over materials. It came out great and I have now built out a home painting setup that is great. There was a mix of research, fabrication, and careful practice in order to develop the skills, and the results are far more rewarding than simply detailing a car. I am now planning to help my father paint his car.

My advice? Start with something you get enjoyment out of and take it as far as you can, even if it isn't exactly practical

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#85

Post by dmschulman »

moltar wrote: post #11
hiei wrote: post #3

This is one of the reasons I still have a few subscriptions to magazines. No micro-distractions, just long form journalism.

Which magazines aren’t 90% ads and the remaining 10% long form ads? Genuinely interested as I haven’t seen any good mags in a while.

The New Yorker

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#86

Post by brootstrap »

Might be coming across as an asshole but it's not that hard for me to ignore digital things. Sure i have a bad habit of looking to my phone and opening HN but... When i'm at home i will leave phone sitting somewhere (forgot where i left it) for hours and ignore people. I can run and exercise and listen to the sounds of nature. The problem I have is that at work you are plugged into the browser 8-10 hours a day and instantly searching everything. When you get home it takes a bit of focus to just live and not be staring at a screen. It is possible though.

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#87

Post by tiniuclx »

bitexploder wrote: post #68
tiniuclx wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deep Work ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracte... ) concisely sums up many feelings I've had about distractions and how this always connected world affects the way I think. I believe the teachings of this book are especially applicable to knowledge workers.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It is one of the most important ideas in my life. The book is good, but the ideas and observations are critical. It really helps me manage my ADHD. A lot more goes into it, but the basic notion is: more deep work hours = more productivity = moving the needle in my universe more.

What I like about the book is that it presents many ways of incorporating deep work into your life: from long, focused sabbaticals (e.g. writers living and working in a cabin to complete important work) to frequently dedicating a small part of your day to pursue your goal. It also presents rituals, quirky as that may be, as a good way to get yourself into the desired mindset.

Another interesting idea: not all important jobs require or even benefit from deep work.

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#88

Post by gfs78 »

My best strategy is to avoid the distractions from the get go.

I don't browse the web until I finish my workday. If I need to look up something (which must be work related) I just browse the minimum needed to get the answer. I don't browse to the related links.

With my smartphone is the same. I turn off all notifications and leave it in my bag (if I'm at office) or in another room (if I'm working from home).

My focus, calmness and confidence skyrocket when I do this.

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#89

Post by teekert »

gregknicholson wrote: post #80
teekert wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, for starters, you seem to have learned a great deal of useful stuff about life, stuff that takes years to accumulate. So to me you already seem like someone I could have engaging conversations with. That said, I have no trouble talking to strangers but a colleague of mine once said he found "The Tao of Badass" [0] a useful book. It didn't fix the fact that he was always completely disinterested in what others d…

From [0] above: > The Tao of Badass by Joshua Pellicer > Josh Pellicer is a leading expert on female psychology, body language and the art of seduction. His seduction system, The Tao Of Badass, is the best-selling seduction system in the World. Well this is creepy as fuck.

Haha, my colleague told me it was all about getting a conversation started and keeping it going. He didn't really mention it was targeting women. Anyway, I saw him using it on men as well, asking open questions like: "What was the nicest things you did this weekend?" People rave on about what they like...

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#90

Post by tfandango »

deepGem wrote: post #24
codyb wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new Apple screen time app really is a tremendous addition to see just how bad it is. A lot of time on my phone I'm doing things that I still consider productive like reading technical articles, and doing my anki cards, but the amount of time I can spend looking at my phone is absolutely outlandish in a given day of free time. My big time sucks are hn, fark for news, and occasionally reddit. I'd like to at least d…

But it's definitely different then when I was younger and would just tear books up. When I was 19, I finished John Grisham's The Partner in one sitting - without even getting up for food. Something like 24-30 hours non stop reading. There's no way in hell I'll be able to do that now.

I never read a whole book in one sitting, but I could read for hours. For me it wasn't the internet/phone distractions that broke me of that ability, it was having kids. There was just not time to do that anymore. Now, for better or worse, I still read a lot of books but in very small rapid chunks, even standing in line at the store. I treasure the times when I can go to bed and read for an hour or so, though I usually just fall asleep after 20 minutes.
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