On managing your Attention
You are there, but are you actually 'there' ?
Giving something time and paying attention to it are two different things. I could be spending time with a friend over coffee but be immersed in mindlessly scrolling on the phone while the other person is speaking or this could be in a classroom or a meeting. Quite often, while we are physically in a certain place and time, we are not there mentally. Our mind, is in another place, occupied with either thinking of something different – the commute back in the evening, the argument with the spouse earlier today, an upcoming holiday or something to do with money etc
The trouble many of us have is that there are too many claimants to our mind space and attention at any point in time. The proliferation of technology and media has dramatically multiplied the number of little blue pills that we are attracted to and hence we are juggling multiple things in our mind with some more waiting in the queue to join in
This state of half-being-there at the moment impacts our listening, comprehension and social skills; We are there but not there, we are hearing but not listening. The fear is that this state of constant distraction will become a fundamental challenge and only increase in intensity with time. The lure of social media, non-stop short video feeds and an endless stream of chat messages and the flurry of notifications that they bring along is conditioning us to a form of behaviour that can have undesirable consequences for all of us
If unchecked, this could result in stunting the growth of our mental faculties, inability to connect socially with others, and fostering a new generation of human beings who are not equipped enough to match the world's demands. A generation of humans where a majority of our knowledge is shallow, depth is an exception, understanding is boiled down to short nuggets, in-depth understanding is a rarity etc
So, the least we can all do is to be there in the moment, pay attention, give a 100% of ourselves to the situation. The other things can wait and they will have their opportunity too
Nice read, reminded me of the book 'The Miracle of Mindfulness' by Thich Nhat Hanh that gives tips about how to be more mindful while doing everyday activities.