Your Attention Span is Less Than That of a Goldfish

I hate to break it to you, but your attention span is less than the attention span of a goldfish. Don't believe me, check out this study from Microsoft. Is it the technology or is it the abundance of amazing cat videos? You tell me. 

Throughout my own life, I have struggled with focus. And with the increase in demand for multitasking, I struggled more. My life became a battle against the onslaught of emails, texts, meetings and constant interruptions. Always waiting for news of a licensing deal about to close or, more likely, news of something gone horribly awry that I needed to fix with a well crafted argument backed up with charts and charts and more charts.

No wonder they say that watching cat videos is good for us when work has become an ongoing quest to keep our necks above the data being thrust in our general direction for us to categorize, fight or somehow use.  

In the midst of all this I have learned to enjoy a well written article or elegant, visual slide presentation, but, I have to say that very little holds my attention quite as well as a movie. I mean, I love movies. 

Even though I am in a role that demands watching short movies, it still seems like a guilty pleasure to be watching one at my desk.

I associate movies with good times like my very first date: "Better Off Dead", when I first moved to Los Angeles: "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", even sneaking into film studies classes before I finally opted to take one: "The Searchers". 

But movies actually have a place in the workplace. They can do something decks and articles and speakers don't do nearly as well: inspire us.

And, most importantly, they hold our attention so we can actually beat out that goldfish. Because I'm not the only one who loves movies....

Featured in this episode:

Fareed Ben-Youssef, Andy Cunningham, and Paul Zak

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