The Challenge to Pay Attention

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We live in the 21st century.  I know that.  We can't completely ignore technology, and most of us can't (or don't want to) move to a commune in the woods.  Anyway, a lot of our modern machines are helpful.  So we need a hybrid approach.  We need to participate, but we also need to contemplate.  We need to acknowledge our interdependence, but we also need to think independently.


We need to train ourselves to regain the attention we've lost to computers, smart phones, and 24/7 media of all kinds.

We need distance and time to be functional enough to do or think anything meaningful at all.
Jenny Odell


first thing in the morning - photo by Valeriia Miller on Unsplash



Disconnect to connect


How many of you reach for your phone first thing in the morning?  Studies show that a whopping 84% of us do.  Just 20 years ago, that would have been unthinkable.


Our eight-hour workday was originally created with this idea in mind:  "Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what you will."  Yet economic insecurity (leading to the need for multiple income streams), technology, and social media have forced us into having almost constant availability that is undermining our ability to rest, relax, pay attention, and contemplate.


This isn't just a problem for our physical lives, but for our emotional and creative lives, too.  Our sleep is negatively impacted, our posture, fitness, and cardiovascular health are imperiled, our ability to civilly engage with anyone whose opinion differs from ours has practically disappeared.  The more "connected" we are, the more our productivity suffers.  We know less because we Google more.  (Why actually learn anything when you can just look it up?)  And forget engaging with the people or the world right in front of us.  Ironically, we may feel closer to an online acquaintance and be better-informed about the sights of a faraway place (or even a fantasy place) than we are about our local environment.


I know I lived most of my life before smart phones became ubiquitous, but this isn't just an old person ranting about modern times.  We as human beings are legitimately losing a lot of valuable stuff.  No wonder so many think we're replaceable by AI.





Overcoming some of our human tendencies


Of course, there are ways in which this isn't a new problem.  Humans have always been distracted by wanting more, whether that's respect, popularity, or possessions.  There's a reason we're so easily addicted to social media, for example.  We've always been afraid of being the outsider, of missing out when others are having a good time together.  We've always compared ourselves to our neighbors, and either wanted to be the one everyone looked up to, or desired to have and do the same as the envied person we admired.  Social media just amplifies those tendencies and makes them even more relentless.


Mindfulness has always been a challenge for us, which is why traditions such as meditation have been around for millennia.  That's why we need more than a digital detox.  We need to downgrade the importance of constant digital connection in favor of connection with our community, our world, and ourselves.  We need to reassert the status of our devices as tools, not life-shapers.  After all, what does it mean that we spend so much time in cyberspace (up to five hours a day for the majority of us), that we are so adept at creating digital worlds, when the actual world is in trouble right before our eyes?


Our attention is one of the most precious – and overtaxed – resources we have.  What we choose to focus on decides the course of our lives.  So instead of letting it be hijacked and shaped, we need to consciously decide how we'll use it.


What engages your attention?  Read more to learn how to strengthen and increase it.

I stopped looking at my phone because I was looking at something else, something so absorbing that I couldn't turn away.
Jenny Odell





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