{"id":8387,"date":"2016-03-15T21:51:56","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T01:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=8387"},"modified":"2016-03-15T22:15:33","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T02:15:33","slug":"addicted-to-distraction-and-the-possibility-of-restoring-a-longer-attention-span","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=8387","title":{"rendered":"Addicted to Distraction and the Possibility of Restoring a Longer Attention Span"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Blog<\/a>Photo Credit: DIY Genius<\/a><\/p>\n

Recently I was at a training event in a remote area where I had no cell phone service and limited internet. It meant I went through stressful training and at the same time experienced a forced exile from screen time. I don’t even have to tell you which was more challenging.<\/p>\n

Growing up in my generation was very different than now – playing outside until dark, talking for hours on the phone with friends, falling asleep to the comforting drone of Mom and Dad talking and laughing in their bedroom down the hall. If you’ve ever seen the 1999 film October Sky<\/a>, it makes me think of Dave’s growing up also – playing in the woods, biking everywhere, building rockets, hunting and fishing.\"Blog<\/a>Photo Credit: Jeffs60s<\/a><\/p>\n

We are enjoying different advantages now for sure…I wonder how our grandchildren will one day describe their childhood. Having computers and the internet have been amazing assets to our lives. The dilemma is when our screen life becomes more engaging that our real life. When “Facetime<\/a>” replaces face-to-face time.<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong, I love the opportunity to see people via phone. For instance, friends of ours who got married recently had a small wedding, BUT they had a friend live-stream the wedding and all the rest of us got to “be there” via Periscope<\/a>. Saw the kiss and everything. \"2016<\/a><\/p>\n

There is something to be said about all the electronic capabilities we have today. For sure.\"BLog<\/a>Photo Credit: LittleRedFrench<\/a><\/p>\n

The problem is when objects take command of our lives. These screens (phones, TV, computers) eat up so much of our day. Also, what about when we start exchanging real time relationships with the barest minimum associations via Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter? When a friend decided to go off Facebook, I was bummed… At that time, she lived 6 minutes from me. Not like my friends in Morocco or Egypt where I depend most on Facebook to keep up with them. She lives right here in town. We can have real coffee’s and real talks on the phone. Sigh… I had pretty much relegated keeping up with her to social media. Now we’re back affiliated only in real life where I might need to call her. Imagine.<\/p>\n

I’ve written about this before (here<\/a>) and want to manage my life better in this area. Multi-tasking was always something I thought was a strength, but now, getting older, it hasn’t helped me develop much of an attention span (see Charlie Munger’s thoughts on this here<\/a>). It makes sense that thinking long and hard on something would have a powerful impact on our success or decision-making. Focus. Concentration. These are the things that have suffered in my life with all the distractions.<\/p>\n

Kyle Pearce wrote a small piece on being distracted and introduced me to the work of Nicholas Carr (who wrote The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains<\/em> <\/a>and The Glass Cage: How Our Computers Are Changing Us<\/em><\/a>). The 4-minute YouTube video<\/a> below describes some of what he writes about:<\/p>\n