Focus

We live in a distracting age, with countless forces vying for our attention. The rise of cell phones and social media has only exacerbated the situation.

I struggle to deal with distractions now more than ever. This is partly due to a fairly recent change in my daily job responsibilities. It’s also due to factors that are completely within my control. I could definitely make changes to reduce the number of distractions competing for my attention.

Here’s the thing. I know how to shut out distractions. Solving physics problems requires intense focus. The same is true for doing creative writing or composing a song. The same is true for writing good software.

I’ve spent countless hours without experiencing distractions. I’m concerned this isn’t true for many younger people, who never knew a time without cell phones or social media.

Nir Eyal has made a career helping people become “indistractable”.

Cal Newport has written a book called Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. I haven’t read it yet. It’s on my list. Who has the time and patience to read such a long book these days?

I’m only sort of joking!

What I know is that I value the ability to focus. I like being able to do work that requires strong focus. And I’m not the only one.