in His new video above,writer daniel pink “Pick up a book and time yourself. How long can you read without getting up or checking your phone? Try to really push yourself. But don’t judge yourself because it’s only a few minutes. Write it down. That’s your baseline.” From there, “train your attention like a muscle. Start small and develop it gradually,” which he recommends to “fix your attention span.” Just one of five strategies. The deeper we get into the 21st century, the more people feel the need to fix it. If even opening a book seems a little overwhelming, start by taking Pink’s challenge of watching this four-and-a-half minute video “full screen, 1x speed, without distractions.”
As with any endeavor, it’s important to start small. Once you have a baseline, however you measure it, you can start improving it. To properly position yourself to do so, Pink recommends eliminating distractions from your immediate environment that are already “rigged against you,” especially by social media companies. Therefore, it’s important to create a “no phone zone” or at least turn off notifications permanently.
Drawing on Cal Newport’s research (previously featured in Open Culture), he also suggests using certain physical movements, certain music, and certain scents to cue your brain to enter work mode. But even when you’re in work mode, you should make sure to intentionally take breaks every 90 minutes or whatever interval your brain starts performing like a toddler with a meltdown.
At the highest level, we need to “reconnect attention to meaning.” In other words, before you focus on a task, you need to understand why, if any, you are doing it. “I learned this myself in my last book,” Pink says. “I was struggling. I was distracted. I was on my phone or watching sports highlights instead of working. And I realized the problem was, I didn’t know why I was writing this book. There was no purpose.” It was only when he finally articulated the benefits of doing the work and posted it above his desk that the work started flowing. The next time you feel like you can’t keep doing something, whether it’s work, a personal project, or reading or writing a book, ask yourself: “Why are we doing this?” Maybe the answer will give you the strength to tackle it. Or maybe you’d be better off doing something completely different.
Related content:
How to focus: 5 talks that reveal the secret to concentration
Computer scientist Cal Newport says it’s time to delete your social media accounts and do some valuable ‘deep work’ instead.
The amazing power of boredom: confronting big questions and giving meaning to life
Why you should only work 3-4 hours a day like Charles Darwin, Virginia Woolf and Adam Smith
How to become a serious reader by reading 5 books a month: Tips from Cal Newport, author of Deep Work
Medieval monks complained of constant distraction: learn how they overcame it
Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages and cultures. His projects include the Substack newsletter books about cities and a book Stateless City: A Stroll Through Los Angeles in the 21st Century. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter. @Colinbemust.
Source: Open Culture – www.openculture.com
