There are countless articles, books, and videos out there about time management. But almost all of them miss a critical concept. It’s not your time that you need to manage, but your attention.
Dopamine and the Attention Economy
The idea of the “attention economy” has been around since the early 1970s, having first been coined by Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon. Simon wrote that “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” a couple of decades before the internet was a thing. It’s fair to say that since then, the competition for our attention has increased dramatically.
Nowhere is that more clear than on social media, which is designed to keep you scrolling for as long as possible. Facebook isn’t the only offender, but it’s one of the most obvious. You get a little hit of dopamine, the feel-good reward chemical, every time you engage with the site.
In 2017, Chamath Palihapitiya, the former Vice President of User Growth for Facebook, announced that he felt “tremendous guilt” over his role in developing the addictive social media site. “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works,” he stated.
Your attention has real monetary value to businesses like Facebook. That’s why so many websites and streaming platforms have both a “free” ad-supported option as well as a paid subscription. That free option isn’t free–you’re just paying with attention instead of cash.
How to Manage Your Attention
Theory is all well and good, but how can you take practical, hands-on action to manage your attention?
One thing at a time. Thankfully, multitasking has fallen out of favor as increasing amounts of research showed that it just doesn’t work. You can only do one thing at a time. I like to make a to-do list for the day and then, on a separate piece of paper, write down the next action I need to take in order to make progress on my list.
Break big tasks into smaller pieces. One of the reasons that social media is so tempting is that it supplies the dopamine our brains crave with very little effort on our part. However, you can also trigger that reward chemical by crossing things off your to-do list. If a task is too big to complete all at once, break it into bite-sized pieces. That way you’ll keep getting a little boost throughout the day.
Notice when you have more focus. Your ability to focus will wax and wane throughout the day. You might naturally have more focus in the mornings, or you might need some caffeine before your brain fully warms up. During low-focus times, limit your distractions and work on tasks that don’t require too much attention such as household chores or routine work.
Turn off notifications. If you reach for your phone every time you hear an alert, you aren’t alone. We’ve all been conditioned, to some extent, to react that way when we get a notification. If there are times when you need all of your attention to be focused on something, then turn off those notifications.
Start meditating. At its core, the practice of meditation is one where you train your brain to return to a neutral, focused sense of mindfulness. Every time you get distracted by a stray thought or sensation, you acknowledge it and then let it go. That skill-building exercise can help you all day, not just when you’re meditating.
Take plenty of breaks. It’s simply not possible to have laser focus on your goals all the time. Do as much as you can without feeling overly tired or stressed, then take a break. If you’ve been working on a screen, don’t try to relax by continuing to look at the same screen–get up and do some exercise, eat something, or even grab a nap.
Declutter your environment. Living and working in a cluttered, “busy” space can take a toll on your ability to focus. Clutter and mess are low-key distractions that constantly sap your attention. Tidying up can actually help you be more productive.
Jot it down. If you have a brilliant idea or remember something that you need to take care of, don’t drop everything and chase after that thought. I keep a couple of index cards nearby where I can write down those kinds of thoughts and then revisit them later once I’ve finished my current task. Most of the time, they weren’t nearly as important or urgent as they seemed in the moment.
