5 Steps to Protect Your Attention and Become a Better Thinker

5 Steps to Protect Your Attention and Become a Better Thinker

Reader Comments (10)

  1. One more idea: don’t try to be productive all of the time. If you try to push yourself too hard, your efficiency will be reduced and you’ll be miserable too.

  2. How about turning off notifications? I have the no-frills readers, but as soon as I see a mail or message come in I’m inclined to go check it immediately instead of just continuing reading the article…
    I will try with the grayscale setting on my phone right away.

  3. Also to add, one of the mission-critical moves for enduring success is to build your daily life around your deepest priorities. Certain things generally do not require all of your attention.

  4. The grayscale thing is genius — and for apps where I still need color (cough Pokémon cough) it’s a triple tap away.

  5. Good tips. I am continually surprised how much #5 makes a difference in my thinking and production. A couple nights of poor sleep wreak havoc on me. But a few nights of getting to bed early and sleeping well helps me think better and get more done. No longer do I brag about how little sleep I get like I used to. Thanks for this post.

  6. I already have an alternative solution for #2 in place: when I stumble over a post that deserves dedicated time and full attention, I click the “klip.me” plugin icon on my browser and the blog post gets automatically emailed to my kindle. Sometime later, I read the post offline on the relaxing, passive grayscale display and without the temptation of any “hey, while you are here…” links.

  7. My first step was not clicking anywhere else on my desktop while reading this article. It was difficult to be honest 🙂 But I tried to be as focused as I could. Thanks for the great article.

  8. Thanks for sharing these. I’m definitely going to try turning my phone screen display to grayscale. Never thought of that!

    And you’re so right about getting a good night’s sleep. Far too many stay up late and burn the midnight oil trying to get a head start on the next day, but really that just exhausts them even more.

  9. Thanks for the article, Jerod.
    #3 non-tech, offline, physical sanctuary
    Yes, pen and paper (blank – no lines). Absolutely. I much prefer to take notes and scrutinise my creative ideas using pen and paper. There’s something really lovely about it being a tangible experience.

    #5 good night sleep
    Well… I wish. But I have a 3yo and 4mo. Sleep isn’t really on the cards right now, unfortunately. But that in itself is forcing me to work more efficiently.

    #1 grayscale
    Love this idea. I’ve heard about this for donkey’s years, but never actually took it seriously. I think that’s about to change. Thanks for the info!

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