Can I Have Your Attention Please??
By: Drew Crawford
Tags: Minimalism, Focus, Attention, Productivity, Digital Minimalism

In today’s world, where everyone is battling for your attention, it’s harder than ever to focus…

I should know.

Like many of you, I find myself checking social media, email, and random websites throughout the day…

And before I know it, I’ve went down the internet rabbit-hole for 30+ minutes.

What the heck??

➡️ So, in a world where your attention is being assaulted from every angle, how can you fight back and take back one of your most valuable assets?

While I haven’t perfected the protection of my attention, I have found a few things that have allowed me to better guard it…

✅ 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 — there is no reason you need to know every time someone likes your photo, follows you or sends you a message. Become “un-notified” by switching off all notifications on your phone and computer — except from maybe Whatsapp or your text messaging service. Most of the things you think are important, really aren’t that important. You’ll thank me later.

✅ 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐬 — this was one of the best things I’ve done in the last year… deleting apps like Google & Apple News from my phone. I got sick of reading about Trump, school shootings and other negative headlines. Negativity sells, so naturally the headlines are dominated by all the bad stuff that’s happening. The more news you consume, the more negative you will view the world. The moment you free yourself from the headlines, you will notice your lense in which you view the world becomes more optimistic.

✅ 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐀𝐩𝐩 & 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐠𝐢𝐧 — have you ever found yourself scrolling through Facebook endlessly? You may have even come across this post on your newsfeed and be reading it from your phone or computer. Hopefully this is the one beneficial thing you consumed on here today… but frankly speaking, the majority of posts here are a waste of your attention and time. I found that by deleting be FB App from my phone and installing a chrome plugin for my desktop that removes my newsfeed, that I spend way less time on FB and only login for very specific purposes, like messaging family and friends or learning new things in groups that I am part of.

✅ 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐈𝐆 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐄𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 — I have yet to find the perfect solution for Instagram without completing deleting it from my phone (which I have tried unsuccessfully)… however, one solution I have implemented is to activate an in-app reminder once I have hit 55 minutes of screen time in a day. This can be done by going up to your menu bar in the top right corner -> click on ‘Your Activity’ -> and then ‘Set a Daily Reminder.’ Create a realistic goal based on your current activity. I use to be at 2–3 hours per day before I set a limit of 55 minutes. I am now down to 1 hour, with the majority of that time producing content rather than consuming it.

✅ 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐨 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 — Because I realized I couldn’t win the war against Instagram (damn you Zuckerberg!)… I put the app in a folder that is more difficult to access vs. having it within one tap on my home screen. If you don’t see the app every time you open your phone, you will be less likely to want to click on it and start scrolling. Those few seconds and extra taps may seem minuscule, but it actually is a good deterrent. Give it a try.

So while it may be hard to focus in today’s attention battlefield, you can implement a few action items that will allow you to take better control of how your attention and time is spent.

➡️ Any other recommendations on how to protect your attention? I’d love to hear what you have done in the comments below…