stolen focus

i finished my book Stolen Focus by johann hari. the conclusion does a great job of summarizing both the personal things we can do to improve our frayed attention, and also outlines the bigger systemic problems we need to address. i am sharing this one paragraph on what we can do at the individual level. but hari warns that that will only get you 30% improvement at best, as the bigger problems are systemic, and need to be addressed collectively. nevertheless, i thought this list was interesting, so i am sharing it with you in hopes that it piques your interest enough to read the book:

“Your ability to develop deep focus is, I have come to believe, like a plant. To grow and flourish to its full potential, your focus needs certain things to be present: play for children and flow states for adults, to read books, to discover meaningful activities that you want to focus on, to have space to let your mind wander so you can make sense of your life, to exercise, to sleep properly, to eat nutritious food that makes it possible for you to develop a healthy brain, and to have a sense of safety. And there are certain things you need to protect your attention from, because they will sicken or stunt it: too much speed, too much switching, too many stimuli, intrusive technology designed to hack and hook you, stress, exhaustion, processed food pumped with dyes that amp you up, polluted air.”

— Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari

STILL has been my personal antidote to the attention economy. somewhat subconsciously i designed a project that gave me meaningful activity and a portal into deep play. it requires me to walk, and thereby mind-wander on a daily basis. it checks a lot of the boxes that hari recommends. i did this intuitively 11 years ago. but it is is not rocket science. i think it is a recipe many of you could use if you are feeling fractured and unfocussed. my own experiment, with STILL, supports hari’s conclusions. my bigger concern now is how we protect the kids.

crown vetch (Securigera varia)