- distraction
- distractions
- less productive and sharp
-
Types of attention
-
Focus on the self
- Voluntarily disengage our focus
from what’s distracting us
- Work toward resisting distraction so that
we don’t gravitate back to it
- Concentrate on what we’re supposed to be doing
and imagine how good we will feel when we achieve it
-
Focus on other people
- Develop empathy
- Understand how other people
are feeling
-
Focus on the world
around us
- focus on the world around us
- critical for being strategic
and innovative
-
How attention and
concentration work
-
System 1
- automatic system
- involuntary brain network
- environmental stimuli
-
System 2
- reflective system
- voluntary
- when brains get tired
-
How to avoid distraction traps?
-
Minimize all distractions
that you have control over
-
external stimuli
- phone alarms
- text alerts
- inbox
- System 1
- System 2
-
Practice training your “focus muscle”
- Focus on your breath
- Recognize that your
thoughts have drifted off
- Let go of your current thought
- Focus on your breath again and stay there
-
Meditate
- reduce mind-wandering
- increases our ability to maintain concentration
- If possible, put your phone
in a different room