GOODNIGHT, FUCKERS #761: ATTENTION SPAN

 Remember a while ago when I begged you all to stop multitasking in order to live a better life (and possibly make my square job a little easier)? Tonight's topic is related because a majority of people lack focus. Not too long ago I read another of Arnold Schwarzenegger's newsletters, and now maybe I'm thinking this lack of focus isn't entirely a choice.

You really, really don't have to read this. It's long and academic and kind of dry, but the reason I'm putting that link there is because that's where he gets his numbers. 20 years ago, he says, our attention span lasted approximately 2.5 minutes, and over time it's continued dropping. Now it's at a depressing 47 seconds (and others say it's a mere 8!). Not even a full fucking minute. The study says that technology is to blame, specifically staring at phone and computer screens and spending time on social media.

Once again, I get it. We're all busy. We've got stuff to do. But it is my belief that our dropping attention spans are ruining the quality of our lives. Schwarzenegger agrees: ". . . the less you focus, the more likely you are to experience stress and anxiety and have a harder time being present and feeling happy."

How often have you gone online to find more information about something? And then you see something else, and now you want to learn more about that? And so on and so forth? People call it "going down the rabbit hole." Think about every time you've ever done that. How have you felt afterward? How much info did you actually retain? Did you even get an answer to your first question?

No wonder we're having difficulty being present. There are too many presents, and we want a piece of them all, and we're not exercising the control needed to focus. I wonder what our attention spans will be like in 20 years. If the current trend continues, we might not have an attention span. In one ear, out the other. Or, more apropos of the topic, in one eye and out the other.

I've got a fairly good attention span. Another of Schwarzenegger's newsletters suggests that those who read have a better time of it, and I not only read a lot, I spend a lot of time in nature reading (weather permitting, of course). So what can you do to improve your ability to focus? He's got some suggestions. I'm just going to copy and paste them below. Good luck in applying these to your life.

1. Block off 2 to 3 times per day when you don’t use your phone. On some level, we’ve all become addicted. You must train your brain to go without your phone to break the cycle, just as you must train your muscles to become stronger.

2. Get outside and walk for 20 minutes. You can listen to music or call a friend, but try to stay off the screen or social media. Being outside and moving can help your brain reset and focus.

3. Do something quiet and mundane that requires some level of focus. It can be a crossword puzzle, the dishes, or laundry.

4. Read a book for 30 minutes. You’re not just training your brain to stay off your phone; you’re training to maintain focus for a longer time on a singular task.

Out of curiosity, does anyone remember this show? Do you remember the name? There are no prizes for this piece of trivia, but you'll have my undying respect if you do know.

GOODNIGHT, FUCKERS #682: STOP MULTITASKING

 I talk to about 100 people a day, and almost all of them are miserable. And I have a pretty good idea as to why. On the surface it seems that they don't have their shit together, and that's a vague way of putting it. It seems to make sense, but the important question is: WHY is it that way?

Everyone feels the need to fucking multitask, and it's ruining their lives. They can't just do one thing at a time. They have to take on a multitude of tasks all at once or they don't feel like they're accomplishing anything. Looking back at a lot of my miseries, the ones due to me not having my shit together, I know I was in misery because I was trying to do too much at once.

I know, I know. We all have a limited amount of time in this life. And none of us knows how long that finite amount of time is. So we gotta rush, rush, rush, right? Nope. It's quality of life, not quantity. If I dropped dead tomorrow, yeah, I'd have a lot of shit that I didn't get to do, but at the same time? The shit I *did* do? It gave me a life of quality, and I'm good with that.

You don't need to multitask. Stop doing that. Whatever you're doing at the moment, FOCUS ON THAT AND NOTHING ELSE. You'll find the quality of your life improving drastically.

I hear you have a lot of important stuff to do. OK, so do we all. And again, there isn't enough time to do it all. So you have to accept right off the bat that you can't do it all. Stuff is going to be left undone. That's OK. Learn to prioritize. Find out what is most important to you, and do that thing. Focus on it and nothing else. Then on to the second most important thing, then the third, etc. The stuff you don't prioritize can always be done another day because it's just not as important as the other stuff.

There is one flaw in my philosophy. What if you have kids? Sorry, but you're kind of stuck with multitasking on that one. At least for the first 18 years of their lives. That goes for caregivers, too. If you don't multitask, you'll never get shit done. So yeah, you're stuck being miserable for a long time. But the rest of you? Stop multitasking. Prioritize. Focus. Learn these things, and your life will be better for it. So will mine because you're eventually going to need auto glass, and you might wind up talking to me. And when I ask you questions I need answers for, you won't be driving and talking at the same time. You'll have all the information you will need at your fingertips. And our phone conversation will go very smoothly and quickly, and we can move on with our days.

Yeah, OK, you got me. I'm being selfish, but how selfish is it if my advice really does help you?