Guard your attention and turn down every bit of noise you can…
Possibly second only to your time, attention is your most valuable asset in this digital world.
This thought just occurred to me… we know our time is valuable, right? Consider this… your time, plus your attention really constitutes your life as you live it. The line between our attention and our lives is extremely thin.
This is why we must stop freely giving our attention away as if it doesn’t matter.
Do you remember when commercials on TV were the pretty much the only marketing holding us captive? Remember when the most annoying commercials on TV were from local car dealers?
With each passing year, advances in technology deliver more and more distractions to our already saturated senses.
What can we do?
Interruptions have become constant. Sometimes they even come in layers. They’re screaming at you from the television, so you hit the mute button. About the same time, ding ding, you’ve got a text. You’ve got to guard your attention constantly.
Are you thinking, “Sure, I don’t like it, but what can I do?”
See, that’s the thing about it. We’ve become so numb to hyperstimulation that we don’t even realize how much of it we’re exposed to every day of our lives.
You may not even believe how many attention stealing messages we see each and every day. I’ve seen numbers ranging between 3,000 and 10,000. No joke.
Who needs this? Who wants this? How is it even possible?
Hard to imagine, isn’t it? Let’s see if a claim like that is within the bounds of reason. (Remember when that mattered?)
With some quick key punching, assuming 16 waking hours per day, we all have the same 57,600 seconds in which to receive said interruptions. So, stated another way, we supposedly receive one message, interruption, or other attention stealing piece of, ahem… information every 5.8 to 19.2 seconds.
If that’s not a reason to diligently guard your attention at all times, I don’t know what is.
Many of them… we don’t even notice.
Not consciously anyway! Here’s the real point—whether the number is a few hundred, a few thousand, or ten thousand… if you’re not asking for it, let’s call it what it is. IT’S. JUST. NOISE!
Why is that a good term? Because noise wears us down and dampens our thinking. Noise is a constant… and virtually impossible to avoid in this world.
What if attention itself has been downgraded by technology?
Isn’t the underlying purpose of technology to make our lives better by making everything easier?
Distionary.com’s definition of attention requires that notice is taken of someone or something regarded as interesting or important. Or that, special care is taken of someone or something.
at·ten·tion /əˈten(t)SH(ə)n/ noun
- notice taken of someone or something; the regarding of someone or something as interesting or important.
- the action of dealing with or taking special care of someone or something.
Doesn’t seem to apply so much anymore, does it?
Possibly second only to your time, attention is your most valuable asset in this digital world. Have you ever stopped to think about many people, machines, and devices are seeking to steal it? You must keep that in mind… then protect it with all you’ve got.
How can we stop the onslaught of the constant noise, interruption, and attention grabbing?
The bad news is we probably can’t.
But we can…
- Turn off the news
- Mute the commercials
- Unsubscribe from everything but the very best
- Make your default question “Is it for me?”
- Find a quiet retreat
Unplug regularly. Give yourself a break often. Go outside and leave your phone (at home on the charger, of course). You can do it. It will take some getting used to. At first it will feel uncomfortable… then you’ll begin to feel better.
Austin Kleon wrote a blog post about the late author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal that featured this tweet…
for anyone trying to discern what to do w/ their life: PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO. that’s pretty much all the info u need.”
— Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author
I think paying attention to what you pay attention to can be a pretty good defensive play for avoiding all the attention stealing noise being inflicted upon us…
“Pay attention to what you pay attention to.” Then ask yourself, “Is this for me?” When the answer is ‘Yes,’ keep giving it your attention. If the answer is ‘No,’ well, you know what to do… it’s just noise.
Guard your attention… and be untucked.
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Funny thing… I’ve written about this noise thing before. You might like these too…
When the noise is constant, how do you find some quiet?
How to Notice What Matters in a World Filled with Noise and Distraction
Can’t We Stop the Noise for Just One Minute? How You Can Turn Down the Volume…
Copyright © 2020 Jeff Meister – All Rights Reserved
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