Paying Attention and Rediscovering Deep Thinking
Why can’t we pay attention? Why can’t we focus? Why are we constantly on the move, rarely ever giving ourselves time to sit and think deeply? Why do we think that if we aren’t busy, busy, busy, we’re behind? Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari answers these questions and gives us the tools to get our focus back to start paying attention, thinking deeply, and gaining back our freedom.
The deterioration of our ability to focus is happening to all of us, and it’s been happening for some time now, but what’s the cause? There are 12 attributes that Hari describes that can either improve or reduce our ability to focus and pay attention. These factors stem from the rise of technology and smartphones, our unhealthy diets and food choices, our stress levels because of our work and school environments, and the fast-paced nature of the world we’re living in. Our attention has seemingly been stolen from us. What can we do about this? How can we regain our focus when the world’s largest markets are seemingly against us? Hari has explained these forces and introduced several ways we can fight them.
Our Phones and The Fast-Paced World We’re Living In
Our phones help us do everything from waking up in the morning to housing our to-do lists and calendars to staying up-to-date online, and so much more. While it seems as though our phones are helping us, they’re really stealing our attention. Let me explain. We’re constantly being interrupted by the ping of our phone when we get a text message or email. Instead of taking in the beauty, things, or people around us, we’re caught completely zoned in to our phones, endlessly scrolling or typing. We so often fix our gaze on the fast and temporary things like social media feeds that cause us to feel as though we have to keep moving or else we’ll be left behind. Feeling guilty of this? Yeah, me too.
The amount of information we consume daily has exponentially accelerated over time with the rise of technology and our ability to receive information within seconds on our smartphones. Hari refers to his conversation with Sune Lehmann, a scientist and professor, mentioning that 100 years ago, it took days, weeks, and months for news and information to travel. The increase in the volume of information we can consume now doesn’t even compare to what our ancestors would process. We’re being overstimulated and exhausted with the amount of information that is thrown our way but not without cost. Our attention resources are dwindling because we’re trying to focus and understand so much all at once.
This is where the switch-cost effect comes into play. Hari tells us that we’re constantly switching and juggling tasks. Our brains are only able to consciously think about one or two things at a time, so when we try to focus on several things at one time, our ability to complete the tasks and produce quality work/thoughts decreases.
Rather than focusing on the fast-paced world we’re told we need to keep up with, let’s try to refocus our gaze on things a little more permanent and meaningful like the beauty of the ocean as Hari describes in the book or the people we surround ourselves with. Let’s live in the still, slow, and relaxed, allowing ourselves to be softly greeted by life rather than be violently interrupted by the speed around us.
This seems to be a little easier said than done, don’t you think? Hari set aside his distractions by removing the internet entirely from his life and fled to Provincetown, a stretch of sand that connects the U.S. to the Atlantic Ocean. Sune decided to stop watching TV and using social media, except for Twitter (X) once a week. While this isn’t very realistic for the Average Joe, Hari provides us with more practical ways we can escape our attention-stealing smartphones.
Set limits and boundaries. (Our phones can actually help us do this.)
Pay attention to Apple’s Screen Time which shows the amount of hours you’re spending online. You can use this feature to track the hours you spend on online and set limits on your usage. If we utilize this, we can start to regain our attention.
Put your phone in “phone jail”.
When your friends are over, if you’re on vacation, or simply need to focus on a task, put your phone in “phone jail” to separate yourself from distractions. Hari refers to a study that found that 20-30 percent of our brainpower is lost to our smartphones when we get a text notification. That’s a lot of brainpower to lose. If we put our phones away, we’re setting ourselves up to get refocused.
Get more sleep.
So many of us are on our phones from the time we wake up to the time we go to sleep. Let’s be mindful and make a switch in our morning and bedtime routines. If we stop scrolling earlier, we’re more likely to go to sleep earlier and get better sleep to get focused for the next day.
Other Factors Stealing Our Attention and Focus
Beyond technology, Hari outlines many other factors that take part in stealing our attention including food, stress, our environment, and the way we let our kids play.
Our food today is highly processed and refined which is extremely far off from the whole foods our grandparents ate 50 and 60 years ago. We’re missing out on the key nutrients we need for energy and focus. If we can stick to the outer edges of the grocery store and purchase (and actually eat) whole foods, we can start refueling our bodies in a clean, sustainable way that encourages brain power and focus.
We become highly vigilant with stress and danger. If we’re constantly being exposed to dangerous and/or stressful situations, our ability to focus dwindles. To be able to pay attention, we need to feel safe and secure in our environment and reduce the amount of stress we’re feeling. By implementing four-day work weeks and removing ourselves from stressful environments, we can begin to regain our focus.
Huge childhood changes have taken place over the last several decades. 30 years ago, kids played freely outdoors all day long. Now, playtime is adult-supervised, behind closed doors, and on screens. This shift has led to children being unable to focus and pay attention. When we move around, run, and play, our ability to focus increases. Now, this goes for both children and adults. Creativity, imagination, social bonds, a sense of aliveness, focus, and attention are all able to increase when free, unstructured play is reintroduced to children.
Is Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How to Think Deeply Again for You?
It’s interesting for me to tell you to take a break from social media or your phones and technology and the internet. Why would I do that? Social media is my job. While that may be true, we should not be consumed by the attention-hacking nature of social media. Social media in itself isn’t harmful or wrong or bad, but it can be if you let it. I encourage you to unplug, regain focus, and return with a new perspective.
Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again has been one of the most eye-opening books I’ve read. At the end of the book, Hari calls for an attention rebellion. If we don’t come to realize that our focus and attention have been stolen from us, how can we start this rebellion? I had never slowed down enough to realize that 1. my focus had been stolen and 2. there's something we can do about it. We’re living in a fast-paced, ever-changing society that tells us we can’t slow down and we’re lazy when we can’t get several tasks done all at once or when we need rest. Hari concludes with six ways he’s changed his life to regain focus:
Pre-commit to tasks.
Rather than switching tasks every few minutes, Hari tells us that we can pre-commit to our tasks. Set aside the distractions and get focused on one task at a time.
Stop shaming yourself for your distractions.
Everyone gets distracted; that’s not the problem. The way we approach and handle our distractions, on the other hand, can allow us to rethink and refocus. Hari asks himself: “What could you do now to get into a flow state and access your mind’s own ability to think deeply?” Seek out the flow, and stop self-shaming.
Social media was built to hack our attention span. Take a break.
Don’t let social media steal your time and attention. Instead, take a break from socials to get refocused.
Mind-wandering. Do it.
Hari tells us that mind-wandering is an important form of attention in itself. Give your attention space to roam to think sharper and develop better ideas. Hari rids off all distractions and goes on one mind-wandering walk a day.
Get 8 hours of sleep.
Sleep is not the enemy or a luxury. Sleep is essential to being able to focus. Try to wind down before bed without screen time. Instead, grab a book and relax.
Give kids their free time.
Whether you have kids or not, when you’re with them, allow them to think and play freely. The more free play they get, the more foundation they’ll have to pay attention.
Each of these points is important, and I encourage you to try them as you work to regain your focus in our newly-found attention rebellion. This book has laid the foundation for me as I embark on my own attention rebellion. To my fellow social media scholars, I recommend this book to you and to everyone. We need to understand the changes that have happened over time to take action and get refocused. Let’s use this book as an opportunity and gateway to use social media for good and take a deep dive to figure out how to change the attention-hacking narrative and shine a more positive light on how to use social media as an effective tool without it consuming users’ lives.
