Managing distractions?

Advertising emails. Chat notifications. Text messages. Pop-ups. A different chat app notifications. Smartwatch alerts. Calendar reminders. A third chat app notifications. I, like any of you that experience this as well, was overwhelmed.

To start managing my divided attention, I signed up for an email service which, true to its claim, will collect your daily barrage of emails, and deliver one summary of them all. Until I noticed an odd behavior forming…

I was beginning to pay less attention to everything that came through my email, even important stuff.

I read less. I knew less. I cared less.

In a world where everything you’ve ever engaged with tries desperately to continue to demand your attention, is the right answer to let those things continue to yell in your direction?

Allowing these brands to raise the ambient noise of your world to a louder and louder volume can only end in hearing nothing at all. Is a better solution to silence the things you truly don’t need and start paying deeper attention to only what remains?

Maybe then the everyday soundtrack of your life might be something enjoyable instead of stressful.