Attention is at the heart of all human achievement

At yesterday's Web3 conference at the Swiss Re Institute's Centre for Global Dialogue, Johann Hari was our final keynote speaker. I'll share my overall insights in a separate article, but here my thoughts about Hari's time with us.

Johann Hari is the author of Stolen Focus "Why you can't pay attention - and how to think deeply again." I think, as a reader right here and now, or as someone at yesterday's conference, you could not help but sit up and pay more attention. Because even in that book's title you see yourself, you get uncomfortable. You know your life, your daily behaviors, your multi-tasking, your shifting focus. That book, let's be clear, should be in no way surprising - but an increased focus on our attention is of monumental importance as we accept and embrace ever more immersive (and engagement algorithm-driven) technology into our lives.

"Attention is at the heart of all human achievement."

Think about your day - how often are you fully concentrated on doing just one thing? And even if you try your hardest - how rarely are you not interrupted by emails, texts, phone calls and constant notifications (sounding off, vibrating, enticing with red circles)? Hari visualized what is needed of us with a simple example:

You're in your car on your way to getting to your destination. Suddenly your windshield is splattered with mud. Obviously, before you continue to drive, you'll clear your windshield. Only then will you be able to focus on the road again.

Our constant distractions are that mud. Hari makes it very clear that this constant 'mud' is not our fault - that there is nothing wrong with us. It is the world we live in and 'our attention has been stolen.' Read Hari's excellent piece in the Guardian:

Hari traveled all over the world for his book, talked to hundreds of experts, and learned that the human brain can at most - thinkg about two things at the same time. Multi-tasking is a myth (he calls it a mass delusion). What we can do, is to juggle multiple tasks. But that juggling means a constant switching from one focus area to another, and that comes at a big cost.

During his research for the book he has learned that people who are chronically interrupted lower their IQ by ten points. He says (and not even in jest), that you're better off smoking a joint. It will also lower your IQ by a bit, but not nearly as much. We've long known about the dramatic negative effect of interruptions - still, always important to highlight it again. When you get interrupted, it takes you more than 20 minutes to get back into your previously held concentration mode.

Hari said that he's very much pro technology, but calls the big tech companies 'big invasive forces' because of what they are currently doing. Among the many experts, he also talked with Tristan Harris , who prominently featured in Netflix' 2020 The Social Dilemma - the documentary that explains (you might also says exposes) what social media giants do, how and why they do it. It should be, it really should be, essential viewing.

'Our lack of attention is disastrous for the economy, for creativity, for our children.' (Johann Hari)

So - what to do? Pull back and rest our brains. Concentrate with books and remove distractions. Take time for intentional mind-wandering. Hari says we need to aim for “the opposite of Facebook—standing perfectly still, looking out toward the ocean, with your palms open.” When we tap into that stillness, our minds will be sharpened to do anything we set them to, and we’ll have workplaces and organizations that are ready to innovate and do great new things."

I could go on - but it is ever so much better if you just take a bit of time and spend it in the company of Hari and none other than Stephen Fry in a conversation about Stolen Focus. ?

Maybe, in closing, two very personal recommendations from my side - they are excellent countermeasures to combat the engagement algorithms of social media platforms - and they will give you quality time in turn, trust me on this:

1) Remove notifications. On your smart phone, got to notifications and remove - ideally - all notifications - no sounds, no vibrations, and especially also no red dots at the top right corner of your apps. At the very least, remove them from most of your apps.

2) Bundle and relegate to second screen. Bundle all your social media apps in one folder and relegate it away from your smart phone's main page.

Do those two things and allow your FOMO to wash over you (it will). After a few days at most, you'll begin to realize that you're not missing out on anything. And you'll also realize that you will go check in with Insta, FB, Twitter and whatever else, when you feel like it, when YOU choose to do so. I can assure you, it works like a charm. It'll calm your mind and it will allow you to retrieve - to say it with the title of Hari's book - your stolen focus.