Attention
A few months ago, I read the book Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey. This was my second non-fiction read. After I wrote the first blog, I thought, why not give it a try to do more, about 2 blogs per month or something. So, when selecting a topic, I saw this book and selected it. So, let’s dive into today’s blog, Attention.
“Success is 1% inspiration, 98% perspiration, and 2% attention to detail.”
-Phil Dunphy, Modern Family-
Autopilot mode
Before diving into attention, let’s see what this autopilot mode is.
“Autopilot mode enables us to keep up with the demands of our life.”
In our lives, most of our daily tasks are done without our attention. When you get into a vehicle, your body movements, when you’re crossing a street, the way you look right and left, and many more things are done by this activated autopilot mode. In general, this is not a bad mode to be in. But when it comes to work, is autopilot mode the best state we should attend to?
“While falling into autopilot mode can help us keep up the pace of work and life, attention is our most limited and constrained resource. The more we can manage our attention with intention, the more focused, productive, and creative we become. ”
Work Or Tasks
Even though we spend most of our lives in autopilot mode, we have to sit at a desk and work. When we are in autopilot mode, we can not give the focus and the attention required to complete a specific task productively. So, in the book, these tasks are divided into four main parts as below.
It’s simple. Think of something that you did today; maybe you watched a few episodes of a sitcom. So was that productive NOPE, but was that attractive. YEP, and going to watch the next few episodes tomorrow, right? So, like that, you can see whether what you’re going to do is purposeful or not. When your task fits the “necessary” and the “purposeful” blocks, that means it requires your attention. That is where we need to get out of autopilot mode and focus on the work.
Distraction
Were you doing something before you picked up the phone, saw the link to this post, and clicked on it? Maybe you were going to get a cup of coffee. When talking about distractions, my phone is my main distraction. Oh, the number of notifications. Today, our world is full of distractions, and we can’t understand whether something is a distraction or not. To that level, distractions have become a part of our lives. So, if something takes you away from your work, the meaningful work you’re doing, you can call that a distraction.
These can be of two types. Getting disturbed by your mother asking to come and have lunch and getting distracted by a YouTube notification are two separate things. One is a good distraction, and the other is just a distraction. These distractions directly affect the thing that makes us productive and focused, and that is the Attention space.
Attentional Space
This week, I’ll offer a concise glimpse into what attention space entails. As with many things in the world, our attention is also limited. The amount of attention you have, which you can direct into work, is what you call attentional space. Join me in the upcoming blogs as we venture into the depths of attentional space. Let’s explore easy ways to make the most out of your attentional space.
