It takes, on average, twenty-three minutes to regain focus after an interruption. Whistles. No wonder coding, writing, or studying feels impossible when the kids are around—their DaaaaAAAaaaad notifications come every twenty-three seconds.
In Stolen Focus, Johann Hari dives into the attention economy and surveillance capitalism, breaking down how tech corporations design software to keep us skimming past as much content as possible. They don’t profit if we slow down to focus and absorb. But get us scrolling? That gives them endless chances to shove more ads in our faces.
It’s not our fault that we can’t focus. It’s by design. Our distraction is the crop harvested by digital media and sold to the highest bidder. But the worst part? That twenty-three-minute reset? Eventually, you stop trying to focus because you’re already expecting the next interruption. And social media’s weapons of mass distraction are right there—waiting. Might as well scroll. I’ll focus later when I have enough uninterrupted time.
Yeah, right. I need to figure out how to bookmark my focus and harvest all those short moments between my kids' DaaaaAAAaaad alerts.
Comments:
You can join the conversation on Twitter or Instagram
Become a Patreon to get early and behind-the-scenes access along with email notifications for each new post.
Hi! Subconsciously you already know this, but let's make it obvious. Hopefully this article was helpful. You might also find yourself following a link to Amazon to learn more about parts or equipment. If you end up placing an order, I make a couple of dollarydoos. We aren't talking a rapper lifestyle of supercars and yachts, but it does help pay for the stuff you see here. So to everyone that supports this place - thank you.