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After spending months isolated from so many distractions on the outside, we should have laser-sharp focus and all of our issues solved by now, right?
It seems that during the day, we have less time to achieve what we used to, as if time is going by faster than usual.
Our attention is the most important asset we have, because without attention, time becomes blurry and unnoticed. As it happens, our attention is what most businesses would like the most from us, making ads, asking for your feedback, and even creating algorithms online to best capture your attention.
On the other hand, focus is a result of productive attention, which can certainly be necessary when work needs to be completed or solving any relatively complex task.
So why now having fewer distractions, have we worsened our relationship with time and focus?
“But when it [time] is squandered in luxury and carelessness, when it is devoted to no good end, forced at last by the ultimate necessity we perceive that it has passed away before we were aware that it was passing” -Seneca
A Brain that Seeks Pleasure and Stimulation
Our brain is dependent on rewards that we expect. Even before eating a delicious cookie or hanging out with friends, the anticipation gives a certain pleasure that we enjoy.
They can often be healthy, but overusing these rewards are a sign of instant gratification that can make you look away from unexpected long term rewards, such as studying for that exam in 3 months or writing that book.
When stuck at home, many healthy rewards disappear from our day to day, putting that delicious cookie in a glowing light, waiting for you to devour it.
The inability to leave your home often can cause a certain trap to over consume whatever it is easiest, especially when filled with nothing to do.
If you’ve ever played slots, you may have experienced the intense anticipation while the wheels start to turn — the little instants between pulling the lever and the outcome — provides a window for dopamine neurons to increase their activity, creating a feeling of reward without needing to see the little figures align beautifully together.
When you don’t win (most of the time), you have a negative prediction error (NPE), or a cue of dopamine followed by a negative reward of loss and tragedy. The small chance of winning is what keeps us hooked.
So if we perceive a reward at random, checking for the reward comes at little to no cost, ending up habitually checking it.
This is where devices come in.
Digital Devices are made for you to Crave Them
The goal of Facebook, LinkedIn, or any successful digital platform is for the client to go back to it as much as they can.
Any business would always be happy with a returning customer, so who can blame them?
The issue of the new digital foundations is that they can really tap into your cognitive and behavioral stimuli, with new psychological research revealing methods where any human will be instantly attracted to.
In other words, it is now quite easy to trigger your dopamine levels when scrolling through an app, or even reaching down to your pocket because you thought you felt a buzz.
Worst of all, having friends and family away forces us to go online to see those familiar faces as much as possible. It is an excusable action, since as social animals, going digital may be the best compromise.
The social network that is Instagram and Facebook makes it rather difficult to stay away from all the people you tend to be surrounded by. After all, it’s fun seeing images of your friends and being part of the social network!
The problem is, half of those friends can be a necklace startup selling you some new fresh gear. We are starting to consume things we don’t really want or need, and although we have an incredible strength to ignore them, the expectation of rewards will throw yourself back in.
The expected rewards come at a virtually unlimited supply of social stimuli — every notification whether it’s a “like” on Instagram or a text message — has the potential to create a dopamine influx. All. Day. Long.
Our phones at home may take advantage of our minimal time, swallowing our attention to an effect where we don’t have time to think, act, or even relax.
Can we Get Our Attention Back?
Although it seems like there’s no way for us to look away from our phones because of the chance that we may be “missing out”, the key to train our focus and distractions is through scheduling and taking time away from everything.
Scheduling time for focus will devote its most critical thinking into a single priority at a time.
Our focus is limited, so the blocks of time specifically committed to one thing takes advantage of our finite willpower.
The other key component is scheduling when you can relax and what you should do during leisure time, which can quickly be absorbed with the easy attention sucking dopamine boosters.
A strange form of leisure can even be taking time away from everything, which is when we are doing nothing and aren’t paying attention to anything. If you are doing nothing for a long period of time, it strengthens the mental muscles from the urges of getting distracted and takes away the stimuli that we constantly have throughout the day.
Doing nothing can simply be meditating, taking a quiet walk, or just day-dreaming wherever you are. In these activities, there will be times of “boredom” where not looking at a device will be hard, but training those little urges will transition your mind to resist distraction. The mind will no longer be wired for distraction, both in leisure time and in work time.
If you are considering stepping away from the phone here are some quick tips:
1. Putting on grayscale to decrease Dopamine effect (Settings > Accessibility > Colour Filters > Grayscale)
2. Turning off notifications.
3. Using a different alarm or removing the phone away from your reach prior to bed
These will take away many dopamine hits and give you fewer reasons to keep checking the phone.
Focusing on important things can bring out life to the fullest. Letting go of small yet time consuming distractions will open up more fulfilling rewards in the long term.
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