The Battle between a constantly distracted life and mindful focus is raging on in our heads and most of are either losing the battle or unaware we are fighting for the wrong side. As I write this article, it is two hours into a four-hour flight for work. I recall a time just a few years ago, where the plane was one of the last few safe places where we were forced to disconnect from our devices and turn to our hobbies of old which seem to find less and less time on our priority lists on while on the ground. Things like reading, internetless writing, really listening to music or even the simple task of staring out the window and daydreaming. Nowadays, most flights will provide wifi once you cross the 10,000 feet range. I looked around and like junkies waiting for a fix (myself included), passengers sat with phones in hand waiting for the seat belt light to shut off so they can connect to the free network the airline provided. With most airlines now ditching the in-seat screens and forcing passengers to use their own devices to stream media, for those first 20 agonizing minutes, passengers are truly unplugged. Some resort to quick swipe games. A quick hit of the soft drugs before they can get back on the data mainline.

Once the plane crossed the 10,000 feet altitude mark, chaos struck. The network was unavailable. Passengers turned to one another asking “is the internet working for you?”. After confirming it was not just a nightmare happening to them, and attempting several phone restarts, the call service lights begin to “ding” throughout the plane. Passengers asked the flight attendants if and when the network would return to which they were told the awful news, that the internet was not going to be available during this flight. Unfortunately, sometimes technology does not work the way it’s supposed to. I also am a current addict working to get a better handle on my technology addition. Like an Alcoholics Anonymous member, I’ve at least accepted I have a problem and am trying cut back. As I sat back and watched the last thirty minutes unfold, I decided it would be a good time to knock out a blog article without distraction. The plane has always been where most of my productive writing has been created.

When social media really went mainstream in the early 2000’s it created a way to connect people across the globe at a previously unprecedented rate. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit have accumulated massive userbases under free registrations. But the end game was not to create the network, it was to monetize them and it was achieved under the umbrella of advertising as Google had once done. The ability to target advertisements to users have marketers flocking to tech companies like Facebook to publish their advertisements, which Facebook happily obliges…for a cost of course. So how do the social media companies get their algorithms to figure out what ads to show you and how do they provide value to their real customers (the marketers) by ensuring ads get seen and convert to clicks and leads? The answer is user engagements. Their goal is to obtain as much of your time as possible looking at their app. Cramming in dog food ads while you look at cute puppy videos, or meal delivery services when you googling “what is the Keto diet”. The ultimate goal for companies is to pull your already short attention away from the real world and back to your devices.

This is where the brilliant creation of notifications and “likes” became the new crack. Our devices begin gently alerting us of small interactions in each of the platforms. Each one screaming “hey look over here for a second will ya?”. Researchers discovered the quick updates and checking of the notifications created a micro dopamine spike in the brain. After a series of hits, the brain begins to create an addition cycle. Users begin checking their phones even if there is not a notification and begin mindlessly scrolling through their feeds for anything that may give them the little kick their brain is asking for. During this time, ads are being fed with every swipe and scroll and your long term attention span decreases.

Netflix and streaming services, while not classified as social media, are in the battle for your attention as well. Assuming you are sleeping for 8 hours and at work for 8 hours, that leaves 8 hours of free time and you better believe Netflix wants to claim every last second of that time. It is why they have invested millions of dollars in content. It is why they let you skip the introduction and credits of the show. Just roll right into the next episode and facilitate the “binge” watch. The healthy and normal one hour you dedicated to unwinding quickly turns into three.

Social media and streaming apps are not the only culprits in the shortening of our attention spans. We also have mobile games. This is a sensitive topic for me personally as I grew up a gamer. I always enjoyed deep story driven games but if you take a look through the top selling games on the app stores, most games only require a few swipes or taps to play. Between each round of the same patterns, advertisements and microtransactions are served to the users. Reviews read “great time killer” which makes you ask your self, why are we trying to kill time? Our most precious commodity. The only commodity you can only expend and never accumulate?

Our devices and the applications we run on them refuse to allow us to focus on any one thing for a significant period of time. As time goes on, we find ourselves missing out on our family and friends as we look at our phones during dinner. Our work output and job satisfaction decrease. Our happiness and contentedness, like the frog in boiling water, slowly decrease without us being aware. We are no longer mindful of what is happening around us and instead of actions scientifically proven to make us feel better like gratitude and human connection, they are replaced by “likes” and “friend requests” to people you will never speak to in real life. Outdoor activities that replenish your vitamin D and spike your serotonin become far and few between as scrolling through Reddit and Instagram are your new connections to the outside world. Silicon Valley has successfully pulled us out of the present moment and is investing big dollars into new ways to keep our flow broken.

It’s easy to document the issue but figuring out where we are and where we need to get back to is not an easy task. Looking around the plane, a deeper self-realization of my own problem becomes more apparent and I try to shut down my laptop for a moment to sit still and observe as I used to as a child. Within 5 minutes, the need to open my phone or computer begin to brew in me. I tried my 10-minute meditation routine but there is too much noise on the plane to focus. What finally helped was looking out the window to see the sun setting on Scottsdale, Arizona. The sky transitioned from yellow to a dark red in almost a picturesque image and finally, the little voice screaming to open my phone fades as I shift into a good old fashion daydream. For the first time since the flight took off, I feel my anxiety drop, a small validation that this new mental state is a healthier place for me and all of us. The realization of the goal and the comprehension of the problem seem like a first good step for all of us but I just hope over time, the discipline to move to a more mindful place has a fighting chance against all the companies wishing to crush it. Only time will tell.

1. More Deep work and Less Shallow Work. Setting up blocks of time for when to work and when not to work.
   Set a very strict schedule for yourself for when you will be working and when you will be checking emails. While you are working be deliberate on the item you are working on. During this block of time, that one task is all you do. No stopping to check an email, or social media and no jumping to another task. The goal is to hit a state of flow and do good deep work.
   Set up 15-minute blocks of time for shallow work. Checking and responding to emails, or other housekeeping items. If you need a mental break, do it during this time as well. The key take away is that when you are working, you are working. For the brain to switch gears, there is valuable time lost as you shift back into a state of flow.
2. Kill the alerts
   Every ping from your phone, or pop up on your computer screen will scream and beg for your valuable attention. Go into each setting and shut every notification off. You will learn most responses can wait until you are ready for your designated block of time to respond. I’ve only half tacked these issues by shutting off my notifications and still find myself responding to instant message requests but over time I hope to avoid the temptation and set better expectations with my teams in the future.
3. Do not be a human router
   Checking and responding to emails less then 3 sentences for the most part just turns you into an old school phone operator, just moving information around from one party to another. Not much of value is created during this effort which you may think is a valuable exercise of coordination. Think through batching efforts and emails in your designated email time slots.
4. Set up a daily work schedule
   Either the night before or first thing in the morning, plan your day and your goals. Break this down by the hour if possible but at a minimum, shoot for a pre-lunch and post-lunch block to get started. An extraordinary amount of time is lost sitting thinking about what you are supposed to be working on next and then sprinkling in a few random Google or Reddit searches.
5. Productive meditation (walking)
   Get up from your desk from time to time and go for a walk over 5 minutes. If you can walk or bike ride to work, this also works well. Use this time to think about and meditate on the big problem for the day. Similar to those brilliant shower thoughts you get, your brain will be better able to crack problems you are stuck on when you free it and let it run wild in a stress-free environment. A nice added benefit will be getting your 10K steps in which equates to about ~350 calories burned on average!
6. Learn to focus
   The author discusses a technique to memorize a full deck of cards but the overall goal is not to learn a neat party trick but rather sharpen your brain to focus. This can be achieved through other methods as well. I’ve begun a meditation practice, as well as created homemade memory flash cards which I will try to play every few days. As a personal experiment in improving my focus, I recently bought a 10th-grade Algebra book and try to work through a few problems every few days. No verdict on if this has helped but I have gotten better at 10th-grade Algebra again.
7. Shut down routine
   When you are done with work…you are done with work. When the day ends, try to make a routine for your self that trains your brain that it is time to take a break. Make notes of what items you will work on tomorrow, close Excel document and save them. Shut the computer down, do not put it to sleep! This has been a hard one for me as I usually have items to work on in the evening due to the nature of consulting, but I do make sure from when I leave the office and I head to the gym and have dinner, work is on complete pause and not dominating my thoughts.
8. Quit Social Media
   This is going to be hard for a lot of people. It took me a long time to wean myself off of social media but now due to the requirement of marketing my book and blog, I had to reengage the platforms. I have set aside three blocks of time in the evenings a week that I have marked as “Marketing” which I allow myself to really engage in social media. Although I have cheated a lot on this self-discipline tactic, the goal has been set and I hope to improve in 2019, hopefully, you can do the same!

If you have not already ready Deep Work I highly recommend it. I also talk a little bit about a healthy work life balance in my book Jack of All Trades Master of Some – An Introduction to Consulting.