How to improve your attention spa…
When did you last check your phone for the time, forget what it was you were checking, and become distracted by something else entirely?
I do this all the time. Annoying isn’t it? It takes you away from the moment – from your thinking, reading, working.
If our phones didn’t have clocks, and we started using watches again, would they be less distracting?
Of course not. Because of the meatballs.
The what?
The meatballs.
The bright red notification bubbles that are impossible to ignore. In fact, trying to ignore them is just as attention-zapping as reacting to them, according to research.
We have BlackBerry to blame for these – they launched the push email in 2003 and suddenly people no longer needed to manually check their inbox to see if they had mail.
People thought this would free them from their phones. But in fact, the opposite was true. Because our phones were now in charge. Able to command our attention whenever they liked.
Why are notifications so effective? Because we have no way of knowing what the message is until we attend to it. It could be something important, gratifying, fun.
Or it could be a recruitment consultant on LinkedIn.
So why not just turn them off? Because it’s not easy. Apparently less than 15% of smartphone users adjust their notification settings – meaning the remaining 85% allow app makers to interrupt them whenever they’d like.
However, it’s not just notifications that are at fault. It’s us too. We still have a compulsion to to check for things like the time, the weather, our calendars.
Suddenly those digital detox holidays where you pay to have your phone taken away from you don’t seem so silly.
But if that’s not an option why not spend an hour following the tips in this article?
It will help you to keep the good elements of today’s tech while ditching the bad.
Let me know if it helps – a nice Telegram will do.
Simple hack
Charging your phone taking too much time? Try a USB-C connection, which can charge devices up to 20 times faster than a normal phone charger.
Sign of the times
Apple has discontinued its iPod Touch after 21 years. The once impressive tagline ‘1,000 songs in your pocket’ no longer cuts the mustard against the iPhone’s 90 million.
Sustainable scrawling
Like writing notes by hand, but worried about the environmental impact of using paper? The Rocketbook system connects traditional handwriting surfaces with the power of the cloud.
Neckband speaker
The latest trending topic is the neckband speaker - speakers that can be worn like travel pillows. The market for wireless wearable speakers is estimated to double by 2025.
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