When Focus Becomes a Luxury
By Hope Kanouff
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Family dinners are becoming few and far between without the constant distraction of a cell phone buzz to pry the mind away from any sort of meaningful conversation or even a cohesive thought. Overall, society deals with an attention crisis. Some believe that the way to overcome these struggles is through individual, personal discipline. In contrast, others think that our attention is purposely being stolen by systemic forces. Although some think the attention crisis is an individual problem caused by a lack of self-discipline, it is largely a societal issue influenced by our fast-paced lifestyles and declining creativity, making it increasingly difficult to maintain meaningful focus.
Our attention problem is a societal issue because we live in a fast-paced world that constantly demands our time and focus. A critical example of this is the experiment of the four-day workweek as seen in Johann Hari’s non-fiction book “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again.” Hari writes about a trial run by a boss named Andrew Barnes of a well-developed company with lots of employees. When Barnes realized that the average British worker only engaged with their work for less than three hours a day, he decided to make the call to have the employees work four days instead of five. Once the workers decided on a plan in which they could do the same amount of work in a shorter time, they were free to spend the extra day however they liked. This day gave their brains time to relax and think more clearly, benefiting their work and personal life. They got time to live. Because of this change in the design of the schedule, stress decreased while overall engagement in work and personal time increased. In essence, society can change, but the way society works does not create the individual to believe it is their own fault they can not focus.
In addition, through instant messaging at work, or text messaging throughout the day, society is always dialed in to work or any notification that seems more enticing than the conversation one is having. Due to the fast environment that we live in, we are susceptible to fragmented attention and constant interruptions. These distractions are infinite and ultimately lead to increased stress. Society as a whole is under intensified pressure from these stressors of speed. This stress and constant state of alert hinder the flow state, which Hari discusses as well. As it turns out, a crucial part of flow state is the ability to be creative.
Our attention problem is also caused by a society that limits our creativity by encouraging constant stimulation instead of independent creativity and imagination. Again, Hari addresses this concept in his book “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again.” A survey was conducted by the American Time Use Survey, in which they studied 26,000 Americans and discussed their reading habits. The results were daunting. About 57% of Americans do not read a single book in a year. Potentially even scarier is that the reading of complex texts is specifically suffering. Less than half of Americans actually read literature for pleasure. Why? Reading from screens is more pleasurable, but it also trains us to skip from one thing to the next while attempting to think deeply. As a society, we generate new ideas, or we fail. Reading and thinking in fragments leaves little room for complex deep focus. If society continues down the same path, our understanding of reading will deplete our ability to apply it when attempting to solve problems. Losing the ability to think in a sophisticated way poses a threat to the future of people who will not be able to form complex thoughts and solutions together.
From Medium Digital Culturist
Our inability to think deeply will lead to the ultimate inability to solve complex and difficult problems. The world will always face complex systemic problems, and humans need to think thoroughly to be able to solve them. Eventually, our society will be unable to be creative, solve problems, and plan long-term. These traits are critical to sustaining a working society and world, one that can use creativity and imagination to foster a better future. This environment that we live in is a constant erosion of the mind. Ultimately, without societal reform, we could lose our freedoms and fall to worldly problems due to our inability to solve them.
Technology is a nice escape from reality and gives many a time to de-stress. It allows for communication when you can not physically be with someone. However, excessive use can lead to social isolation, dependency, and reduced attention spans.
In conclusion, some think that this attention crisis can simply be solved on an individual level through a fix of personal willpower, but it is clearly a massive systemic issue caused by our fast-paced world and depleting creativity that is making it increasingly difficult to maintain focus. This speedy society is shown through the constant demands of our schedules and the overall loss of creativity, shown through the large decline in deeper thinking through reading. That buzz of the phone gets increasingly enticing each second you let it sit. But one day that buzz might just steal from leaders the ability to solve real-world problems and from you, your imagination.
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