How to focus
How to use boredom to increase your attention span
What is focus?
When your mind is focused your senses are all set on one purpose. Whether its reading, studying, watching tv, playing video games. Your focus is linear. When you become distracted your focus is no longer linear and your senses are engaged elsewhere whether it’s a noise, sight, smell etc.
Why you can't focus
With modern technology when a distraction arises we have an abundance of resources that are designed to satisfy our focus and are suited to short attention spans.
Long-form focus on things such as books or studying doesn’t seem to compare to the short-form engaging content of TikTok or Netflix.
Modern Technology and applications are specifically designed to gain your attention for extended periods of time.
If you got distracted reading a book 50 years ago it is likely your mind would come back to the linear focus of reading after a short period of distraction.
Today technology capitalises on those few moments of distraction and will satisfy your mind’s desire for focus with content tailored to you.
Algorithms are designed to cater towards your specific interests and keep you focused for hours on end. On Tiktok or Youtube your page will have videos specifically for you and when you finish one there’s another recommended based on your taste.
When you fall into this trap it’s easy to lose hours without productivity. Teams are paid millions to create these algorithms to capture your attention for long periods of time, try not to attribute this happening to laziness or part of your identity.
How to fix your attention span
As soon as we enter a state of distraction or boredom we engage in an activity that grants easy focus such as our smartphones, Netflix, or video games etc.
Usually what we try to do is the activity we were meant to be doing in the first place such as studying or reading instead of getting distracted.
When studying and our mind becomes distracted we will try to “be disciplined” and remain studying which often leads to eventual failure and giving in to our desires e.g. picking up your phone etc.
Instead, when we become distracted and our mind drifts, sit with the boredom. Don’t force yourself to study or work but avoid picking up your phone or going onto Youtube etc.
If you sit with boredom your mind will have thoughts about many irrelevant or random things and eventually come back to studying naturally as it desires to focus.
Due to technology, our mind has become very bad at tolerating boredom however if you learn this skill it will prove very useful in improving focus. When you get the urge to listen to music, pick up your phone, listen to a podcast etc. Try instead to tolerate being bored.
As soon as you pick up your phone those algorithms are almost certainly going to trap you for longer than you anticipated.
The goal is to not pick up the phone in the first place just sit with the boredom. This will be very difficult as our brains are now conditioned to never be bored but it is easier than forcing ourselves to engage in work or studying.
Conclusion
You can learn to tolerate boredom in everyday practice, whether it’s going for a walk without music or a podcast or even just sitting and not giving yourself anything to take your attention. Just try not to pick up the phone. You don’t need to force yourself to work just avoid the distraction and be bored.
If you can learn to tolerate boredom you can become in control of your focus and no longer be dictated by external technologies and distractions.
