📚 A&B #138

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👋 Hey everyone,

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🤓 Course Update:

We're up to 300+ people on the waitlist, reply "A" to this email and I'll personally email you once the course is available for preorder!

📚 Book Summary:

This week's book is "Attention Span" by Gloria Mark.

This book shares the latest science on attention spans. You'll learn how attention works, what drains our attention and how to restore it, how to become more productive, and more.

If you enjoyed "Hyper Focus" or "Deep Work" you'll like this book.

Here are 3 key lessons from the book:

📖

1) Improve Your Focus By Changing Your Environment

Distractions are expensive–research shows that it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to our original work when we're interrupted.

Even if you view yourself as someone with extreme willpower or discipline, research shows that just having to resist distractions drains our energy and increases the chances of distractions.

Here are a few tips on how to change your environment to stay focused:

• If you're working on a task online like writing a report, only have one tab open and hide the rest to decrease the chances of switching to a different task.

• If you're constantly working on your laptop, use a tool like RescueTime to block social media sites or other distracting websites for certain hours of the day.

• If you're reading a book or journaling, put your phone and laptop away in another room so you aren't tempted to check your devices.

Follow the tips above and you'll avoid falling into an information or social media rabbit hole that keeps you distracted for hours throughout the day.

📖

2) Visualize The Consequences of Distraction

Another tool you can use to minimize distractions is visualizing how your current actions will affect your future.

So before you go on social media or play an online game, take a moment to think about how this action will affect your day.

Let's imagine you need to finish a PowerPoint presentation, respond to emails, search for a new apartment, and help your kids with homework. You know that if you hop on Instagram or TikTok you'll easily spend an hour or more on it. So before you pick up your phone, pause and imagine how that hour will affect your day.

Will you not be able to finish that presentation before 5pm? Will your kids be upset that you're still working and not helping them with homework? Will you miss out on a great apartment because you didn't have time to look at them today? Will you be responding to emails at 11pm?

Envisioning the impact your actions will have on your short-term (and maybe even long-term future) will create speed bumps that help you slow down before you decide to switch your attention.

You can also visualize how great your day will look like if you do stick to your goals. Imagine yourself all done with your tasks, relaxing on the couch with your partner watching that new Netflix show you've been wanting to watch.

So before you seek out a distraction, take a second to visualize the consequences (and rewards) of your actions and how they will affect the rest of your day.

📖

3) More Tips On How To Stay Focused

One of my biggest takeaways from this book is that attention is goal-focused.

When we don't have a goal or aren't keeping it top of mind, it can be extremely easy to spend an hour scrolling social media or watching TikToks. To combat this, it helps to have a visual reminder of the tasks we want to accomplish.

For instance, every morning write your top three goals on a Post-It note and stick it to the bottom of your monitor so it's always in view. Or move the Reminder app on your phone to your lock screen so you see it every time you pick up your phone.

Another useful tip is to have an escape rope.

This is when you have a notification or task go off that helps you escape your distraction.

For instance, if you're waiting for someone to call you in 10 minutes, you can spend that time browsing social media and the call will help you escape the distraction (of course there's the danger that you might miss that call if you have your sound off).

Another escape rope you can set is to ask Siri or Alexa to set an alarm to go off in 10 minutes. When the alarm goes off, that's your cue to stop what you're doing and reclaim your attention.

The last big takeaway from the book is that about 50% of distractions are internal (meaning we distract ourselves).

So if you find yourself working on a project and itching to do something else, take a deep breath and ask yourself why are you seeking a distraction:

• Are you hungry and need a snack to refuel?

• Is the task boring and you're seeking stimulation elsewhere?

• Is the project confusing and you need help from your manager?

Taking a deep breath and a few seconds to reflect on why you're seeking a distraction will help you better understand your feelings and stop you from reaching for a source of distraction that may not actually serve your needs or benefit your well-being in the long run.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Change your environment to improve your focus:

• Have only one tab open when working in the digital world.

• Put your phone and laptop away when working in the physical world.

2) Visualize how your actions will affect the rest of your day:

• Before you seek out a distraction (like social media or playing a video game) take a moment to imagine how this action will affect your goals and the rest of your day.

3) More tips on how to stay focused:

• Write out your top three goals for the day on a Post-It note and stick it to your monitor or laptop.

• Before you start scrolling social media, set an alarm on your phone to alert when you should stop.

• Before you seek a distraction, take a deep breath and a few seconds to reflect on why you're seeking a distraction in the first place.

📖 Reading Lesson:

Two cold hard reading truths.

⭐️ Weekly Quote:

"Everyone buys books, few ever read them. Everyone wants growth, few accept pain. Everyone wants to be happier, few ever change. Intention is nothing without action."

–Steven Bartlett

Thank you for your support everyone, I'll see you next Sunday!

Read on,

Alex W.