“Ping.”
“OMG the craziest thing just happened...”
“Do you have time today to chat?”
“Taylor Swift Breaks the Internet with a Surprise…” - The Economic Times
These distractions all hit my phone within the first five minutes of my attempt to edit this email.
Whether you have an ADHD diagnosis or not, we are constantly bombarded by a million bids for attention.
One glance around in a major city means finding half the people around you glued to screens, filling up their calendars for “fear of missing out,” or wasting their evenings away with hours of Netflix.
They say time is everything, but you can’t control your time without focus.
The only way to progress meaningfully in life is to take charge of your time and attention.
Rethink Your Attention Diet
Your dopamine addiction is comparable to a food addiction.
Just like with food, there exists junk information, healthy information, and quantity of information.
Junk information consists of things that steal your short-term focus. They make you feel good in the short-term, before an inevitable crash.
Healthy information is fulfilling and relevant to your goals. It might not be the most appealing upfront, but it sustains you long-term.
Too much information leads to bloat and overwhelm. Too little information leaves you feeling isolated and lacking progress. It’s about balance.
Step one to going on a diet is to remove the junk. Cut the excess.
Step two involves replacing the gaps with healthy choices.
Step three is maintenance. Adjust for balance.
Here are some concrete examples of how you can fix your attention diet.
Ignore Your Notifications (More)
While working in big tech, the best manager I ever had told me to ignore his messages.
Why?
Once I stopped responding so fast to everyone’s requests, I could finally prioritize my own focus time. Call him crazy, but doing this led to my next promotion.
Simplify.
Most notifications are not that important. Nobody will die if you take an extra hour or two to respond.
The best productivity app is airplane mode. Block off a few hours to focus, and dedicate break times to respond to notifications in bulk.
It will become obvious what’s actually “urgent”—not a lot. Adjust for those few urgent items accordingly.
Selectively ignoring will help you and everyone around you.
Social media algorithms are designed to maximize your time on the apps, not improve your life. Take it from a tech person who wrote code for social media apps.
Curate your feed.
Unfollow the accounts that make you feel worse about yourself. Use the “see less of this content” button.
Actively look for creators who make useful or educational content. You can even skip your main feed altogether and only filter for content from those you follow.
Moderation is key. Set dedicated times to scroll when using it to wind down.
If it doesn’t inspire, educate, or motivate, unfollow.
Remove the Short-Term Relationships
Technology is an obvious attention-stealer, but most people forget to re-evaluate what’s right in front of them. This is why people get trapped in bad relationships for years.
Pay attention to where your in-person time is going.
If you don’t approach an invite with a genuinely excited “Yes!”, it’s a no. Remove the events that drain you, especially the ones you feel obligated to go to to appear “busy” or “social.”
Surround yourself with people who support you, and inspire you. (And be that kind of person back.) Spend more time with people who will contribute to your life long-term.
Allow yourself to choose who has access to your time and attention. You can’t and shouldn’t please everyone.
It’s hard to say no to people you care about, but you have to be realistic about who ultimately helps you and who hurts you.
A Note on Entertainment
Of course, there is a time and place for entertainment. Not everything has to be in service of a greater goal or purpose, and every human needs time to recharge.
Life is supposed to be fun.
However, intention is key. Choose these things on your terms. Avoid being swept along by someone else’s demands.
The Reality of Change
Just like with food, fixing your information diet will take time. If it’s hard, that’s normal and it means it’s worth the effort.
Aim for a gradual shift from mindless consumption to high-value consumption.
This Week: For You
Pick one junk item in your “attention diet” to remove this week, 7 days in a row. Find a healthy information source to replace it with, or simply give yourself that extra space to breathe.
If you’d like some accountability, reply back about any changes you’re making in your attention diet. I’d love to hear from you!
Hi, I’m Kat! Welcome to my newsletter—your weekly dose of mindset, perspective, and mental health for sustainable success.
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Thanks for reading. Chat again soon!
— Kat