Professor Joel Nigg, one of the leading experts on children’s attention problems, told Hari that we need to ask if we are living in an “attentional pathogenic environment,” one in which tasks that require deep focus—like reading a book—are becoming more and more like running up a down escalator. Professor Barbara Demeneix, a French scientist, told him, “There is no way we can have a normal brain today.”

But Our Brain Can’t Be Normal Anymore

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”

Individual changes will help, but they will only get us so far. At the moment, it is as though we are all being covered with itching powder, and the person pouring the itching powder on us is saying, “You know, you might want to learn to meditate. Then you wouldn’t scratch so much.” Meditation does have value, but we need to band together and collectively take on the forces pouring this powder on us, and stop them.

How We Can Respond As A Society

There’s a precedent, as the <a href="https://nextbigideaclub.com/conversation-the-father-of-virtual-reality-on-how-facebook-is-messing-with-your-mind/18641/">technologist Jaron Lanier </a>has pointed out. In the 1970s, we learned that the lead that was found in our paint and our gasoline was damaging our children’s brains. So, we banned the lead. We still paint our homes and drive our cars—but without lead. We now need to do the same with the factors that are ruining our attention today. This requires a shift in perspective. We need to stop asking for tiny tweaks.

There Was Once Another Poison That Is No More

The first, as one of Britain’s leading nutritionists, Dr. Dale Pinnock, explained to Hari, is that our diet causes huge energy spikes, and then energy crashes—which leave us with brain fog. Imagine, for instance, that you eat white bread or Frosties for breakfast; that releases glucose really fast, giving you a rush of energy. But then your blood sugar crashes, and you slump at your desk, feeling drained and unable to think clearly. It is, Pinnock said, “like putting rocket fuel into a Mini. It would just burn out and bust very quickly—because it can’t handle that.

Ways Processed Diet Affects Focus - Energy Spikes And Crashes

Hari learned that there is scientific evidence for 12 factors that can degrade our attention—and many of those factors have been rising dramatically in the past few years. In other words, your attention didn’t collapse; it was stolen by these big and powerful forces. You haven’t become weak. You’ve been hacked. Interestingly, tech—which is normally the first cause we think of—is playing a significant role, but it isn’t the biggest of the causes. To get out of this crisis—to get our brains back—we need to first understand these 12 causes, and then deal with them one by one.

Our Brain Has Been Hacked 

But it gets worse still. Professor Michael Posner at the University of Oregon found that if you are interrupted, it takes you an average of 23 minutes to get back to the same level of focus you had before you were disturbed. So if your screen time shows that you spend three hours a day on your phone, you are losing much more. Yet we are surrounded by apps like Facebook that are designed to interrupt you and get you to pick up your device and start scrolling.

And Then It Hits Rewind

But this phenomenon isn’t limited to bear attacks; any stressful situation will trigger greater vigilance. This is why stress—at work or at home—so often causes a huge increase in attention problems. As Dr. Jon Jureidini, a leading child psychiatrist in Adelaide, Australia, told Hari, narrowing your focus is “a really good strategy in a safe environment, because it means you can learn things and flourish and develop.”

The Greater The Vigilance, The Lesser The Focus

A new field of science has emerged in the past few years called “nutritional psychiatry”—the study of how what we eat affects how our brain works. By interviewing some of the leading figures in this field, Hari learned that the unprecedented shift in the Western world toward eating mostly processed foods has seriously affected our ability to focus, in three ways.

The Biology Behind Struggling To Focus: (Hyper)Processed Diet

“I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded because I have a long attention span.”

Imagine that, one day, you are attacked by a bear, and you survive. In the weeks and months that follow, your attention will shift, involuntarily, from focusing on the things in front of you—say, your emails—to scanning for dangers all around you. You will find it harder to focus on more everyday concerns because you are primed to spot unexpected threats. Now imagine that, just as you start to feel safe, you are attacked by a bear again. You will then flip into a state called “hypervigilance,” where you are constantly scanning for risks, and find it impossible to focus.

The Psychology Behind Struggling To Focus: (Hyper)Vigilance

Thirdly, our current diet contains dyes and chemicals that act on our brains like drugs, amping us up. A study in Southampton in Britain took a group of kids and divided them in two. One was given a plain drink, and the other was given a cocktail of dyes and other chemicals that are found in the candies kids eat every day. The kids given the cocktail were significantly more likely to become wild. We already knew the Western diet was making us obese, but it is also ruining our focus.

Ways Processed Diet Affects Focus - Abundance Of Additives

There are two levels at which we need to respond to this crisis. The first is as isolated individuals, by making changes in our own lives and our children’s lives, to protect ourselves from the forces invading our attention. Hari learned many different techniques, which he goes through in the book. To name just one that really helped him: he bought a K-Safe, a small plastic safe that will lock away your smartphone for however long you tell it to. So he imprisons his phone and gets x hours of undisturbed time every day.

How We Can Respond As Individuals

When neuroscientists studied this simultaneous multiple following they found that when people believe they are doing several things at once, they are actually—as Miller explained—“juggling. They’re switching back and forth. They don’t notice the switching because their brain sort of papers it over, to give a seamless experience of consciousness. But what they’re actually doing is switching and reconfiguring their brain moment-to-moment, task-to-task—[and] that comes with a cost.”

So It Acts Like A Switcher

Hari names, unsurprisingly, the social media.He claims that as long as social media companies profit from interrupting and distracting us, they will find ever-more sophisticated techniques to do it. We need to force them to adopt a different business model.

Who’s Pouring The Itching Powder? 

Professor Earl Miller, one of the leading neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), told Hari bluntly: “Your brain can only produce one or two thoughts” in your conscious mind at once. That’s it. “We’re very, very single-minded.” Yet the average young person now believes they can follow six or seven forms of media at the same time.

Our Brain Is Not, By Nature, A Juggler

When your brain is switching back and forth “your performance drops, you’re slower—all as a result of the switching.” It feels like a small effect, but it degrades your attention and thinking by a startling amount. One study at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human Computer Interaction Lab took 136 students and got them to take a test. Some of them had to have their phones switched off, and others had their phones on and received intermittent text messages. The students who received messages performed, on average, 20% worse. Other studies in similar scenarios have found even worse outcomes of 30%

First, It Does The Tape Stop Effect

We are now living in a serious crisis of attention—one that is analogous to the obesity crisis, or the climate crisis. The average college student now spends just 65 seconds on each task. The average office worker spends just three minutes. Even the average Fortune 500 CEO only gets 28 minutes of uninterrupted focus a day.

We Are Living In A Focusless World

Most of us are responding to this crisis by blaming ourselves. “You’re weak, you’re lazy, your willpower isn’t strong enough.” Hari has spent three years traveling all over the world, interviewing over 200 leading experts on this subject. What he learned from them is that this is, in fact, a systemic crisis—one that is happening to all of us—and it requires systemic solutions.

We Are Blaming Ourselves For Our Inability To Focus

Secondly, our current diet deprives us of key nutrients that are necessary for our brains to fully develop and grow. A Dutch study assigned children to a diet where they had to cut out most of the synthetic, processed foods we normally eat. 70% of them experienced an increase in attention—and the average improvement was of 50%.

Ways Processed Diet Affects Focus - Lack Of Nutrients

“But if you are in a dangerous environment, selective attention [where you focus on just one thing] is a really dumb strategy. What you need instead is to evenly spread vigilance around your environment, looking for cues for danger.” In short, deep focus is something you can only really do when you have achieved safety. So, nobody should blame themselves for struggling to focus during a pandemic.

So, What Deep Focus Really Requires Is Safety

Johann Hari is a writer and journalist. He has written for the New York Times, Le Monde, The Guardian, and other newspapers. His TED Talks have been viewed over 70 million times, and his work has been praised by a broad range of people, from Oprah Winfrey to Noam Chomsky to Joe Rogan.Below, Johann shares key insights from his new book, Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again.

Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention

Social media and many other facets of modern life are destroying our ability to concentrate. We need to reclaim our minds while we still can. 

Acclaimed journalist Johann Hari shares 5 key insights from his new book, Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

mentalhealth

Mental Health

problemsolving

Problem Solving

timemanagement

Time Management

Stolen Focus: Why We Can’t Pay Attention—and How We Can Think Deeply Again

Once we become familiar with and skilled in developing these levels of awareness, we can actively use them as tools to calm down and redirect our nervous system. Some people make the strong argument that awareness is the only tool we need to heal. We know that we can’t “fix” ourself; our attention is focused on the problem, and from a neuroplasticity perspective, we are reinforcing it.

Awareness Is A Means To An End, Not An End In Itself

We must learn to become aware of our physiological state so that we can choose where and when we want to go or stay. Whatever set of tools we decide to implement begins with awareness. Do you think you know where in the “circle of life” you really are at this minute?

Emotions reflect your body's physiology; you must be aware of them to change.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

mindfulness

Mindfulness

Awareness as a Tool: The “Circle of Life”

Only when you are in a state of giving, are you ready to be in a relationship. Again Jay says to come down to the values and qualities you want in a person to have in your life. Our relationship are precious and giving undivided attention is our supreme duty. Keep away all distractions and devote yourself in meaningful relationships with the close people in your life.

Relationships 

﻿When you try to live your most authentic life, some of your relationships will be put in jeopardy. Losing them is a risk worth bearing. Finding a way to keep them in your life is an opportunity worth taking on.

Have strong values and principles (dharma) in your life. You protect your dharma and your dharma will protect you. We can have multi-faceted principles and it is okay if they overlap each other. Often times, we may find ourselves being distracted or diverted away from our dharma. Jay Shetty asks us to aware and then shift our focus back to our original principles.

Let your purpose guide you

We all have fears about our career choices and families. But when we embrace our fears and work on them, we can reach our biggest breakthroughs in life. If we don't work in our fears, they will work on us and stop us from achieving success in life. The only thing to fear is fear.

Embrace your fears

The most fundamental monk ideology is to give and share without any restraints and expectations. Do not measure out how much give. Engage in charities and donation campaigns. In this process, you may discover yourself and who knows, even find your passion. Your passion becomes your purpose.

Give to find yourself 

When you see th bad in others, you see the bad in yourself too. When you see the good in others, you see the good in yourself too. Jay says that you are who you are when no one's watching. Live an authentic life and get clear on your values and have a strong why for your every vacations end word.

You see yourself in others

Having a routine is a daily habit for monks. But Jay does not asks us to leave our homes, stay in a monastery or wake up at 4 in the morning. He inspires us to have our own convenient daily routine and commit to it. Through a solid routine and discipline, we can reach great distances and goals.Time is the most valuable thing in our life. In the monk philosophy, even a minute spent wisely is a boon. Jay says in his book, "you can do a lot in 10 minutes" and that has inspired me so much.

Devote yourself to a routine and spend time wisely

Jay Shetty, social media superstar and host of the #1 podcast On Purpose, distills the timeless wisdom he learned as a monk into practical steps anyone can take every day to live a less anxious, more meaningful life. When you think like a monk, you’ll understand: -How to overcome negativity -How to stop overthinking -Why comparison kills love -How to use your fear -Why you can’t find happiness by looking for it -How to learn from everyone you meet -Why you are not your thoughts -How to find your purpose -Why kindness is crucial to success -And much more... Shetty grew up in a family where you could become one of three things—a doctor, a lawyer, or a failure. His family was convinced he had chosen option three: instead of attending his college graduation ceremony, he headed to India to become a monk, to meditate every day for four to eight hours, and devote his life to helping others. After three years, one of his teachers told him that he would have more impact on the world if he left the monk’s path to share his experience and wisdom with others. Heavily in debt, and with no recognizable skills on his résumé, he moved back home in north London with his parents. Shetty reconnected with old school friends—many working for some of the world’s largest corporations—who were experiencing tremendous stress, pressure, and unhappiness, and they invited Shetty to coach them on well-being, purpose, and mindfulness. Since then, Shetty has become one of the world’s most popular influencers. In 2017, he was named in the Forbes magazine 30-under-30 for being a game-changer in the world of media. In 2018, he had the #1 video on Facebook with over 360 million views. His social media following totals over 38 million, he has produced over 400 viral videos which have amassed more than 8 billion views, and his podcast, On Purpose, is consistently ranked the world’s #1 Health and Wellness podcast. In this inspiring, empowering book, Shetty draws on his time as a monk to show us how we can clear the roadblocks to our potential and power. Combining ancient wisdom and his own rich experiences in the ashram, Think Like a Monk reveals how to overcome negative thoughts and habits, and access the calm and purpose that lie within all of us. He transforms abstract lessons into advice and exercises we can all apply to reduce stress, improve relationships, and give the gifts we find in ourselves to the world. Shetty proves that everyone can—and should—think like a monk.

books

Books

Jay Shetty, social media superstar and host of the #1 podcast On Purpose, distills the timeless wisdom he learned as a monk into practical steps anyone can take every day to live a less anxious, more meaningful life. When you think like a monk, you’ll understand: -How to overcome negativity -How to stop overthinking -Why comparison kills love -How to use your fear -Why you can’t find happiness by looking for it -How to learn from everyone you meet -Why you are not your thoughts -How to find your purpose -Why kindness is crucial to success -And much more... Shetty grew up in a family where you could become one of three things—a doctor, a lawyer, or a failure. His family was convinced he had chosen option three: instead of attending his college graduation ceremony, he headed to India to become a monk, to meditate every day for four to eight hours, and devote his life to helping others. After three years, one of his teachers told him that he would have more impact on the world if he left the monk’s path to share his experience and wisdom with others. Heavily in debt, and with no recognizable skills on his résumé, he moved back home in north London with his parents. Shetty reconnected with old school friends—many working for some of the world’s largest corporations—who were experiencing tremendous stress, pressure, and unhappiness, and they invited Shetty to coach them on well-being, purpose, and mindfulness. Since then, Shetty has become one of the world’s most popular influencers. In 2017, he was named in the Forbes magazine 30-under-30 for being a game-changer in the world of media. In 2018, he had the #1 video on Facebook with over 360 million views. His social media following totals over 38 million, he has produced over 400 viral videos which have amassed more than 8 billion views, and his podcast, On Purpose, is consistently ranked the world’s #1 Health and Wellness podcast. In this inspiring, empowering book, Shetty draws on his time as a monk to show us how we can clear the roadblocks to our potential and power. Combining ancient wisdom and his own rich experiences in the ashram, Think Like a Monk reveals how to overcome negative thoughts and habits, and access the calm and purpose that lie within all of us. He transforms abstract lessons into advice and exercises we can all apply to reduce stress, improve relationships, and give the gifts we find in ourselves to the world. Shetty proves that everyone can—and should—think like a monk.

Jay Shetty is a storyteller, podcaster, and former monk. Shetty’s vision is to Make Wisdom Go Viral. He is on a mission to share the timeless wisdom of the world in an accessible, relevant, and practical way. Shetty has created over 400 viral videos with over 5 billion views, and hosts the #1 Health and Wellness podcast in the world, On Purpose. Learn more at JayShetty.me.

Jay Shetty

Think Like a Monk

Weighing feedback can help you guard against blind spots. It can assist you in recognizing if your behaviors are having the effects you are intending.If they aren't, you can adjust your actions <a href="http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-16717/a-step-by-step-guide-to-apologizing-with-integrity.html?mbg_ifs=0&mbg_p=a&mbg_ref=body&mbg_a=17573">or apologize accordingly</a> (or mindfully choose not to do either).

Be open to feedback and criticism

Do this particularly when you feel yourself experiencing strong emotions. If a co-worker makes a comment that triggers you, make a mental note of what exactly it is that you might be feeling. It will help you to develop your emotional vocabulary and help you to take a step back from your reactions and engage the parts of your brain associated with problem-solving.

Identify your feelings

Instead of succumbing to a knee-jerk negative reaction when you become upset by someone else's actions, slow down and consider if there are other ways of explaining the situation. Even if you don't change your opinion regarding what happened, the additional time spent thinking about it may calm you down enough to opt for a more constructive response.

Question your stories

Having a deep understanding of yourself provides you with more accurate perceptions of how you are coming across to others. To increase your self-awareness, make an effort to reflect on your strengths, developmental opportunities, triggers, values, and the like so that you are intimately familiar with what makes you tick.

Know thyself

If we can calm our body's reaction to our stress, the emotional component is mitigated. Nip your body's stress in the bud, and you'll find that your emotional stress will decrease accordingly. When you feel tense, <a href="http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4386/A-Simple-Breathing-Exercise-to-Calm-Your-Mind-Body.html?mbg_ifs=0&mbg_p=a&mbg_ref=body&mbg_a=17573">breathe slowly and deeply</a>, concentrating on letting the air flow in and out of your abdominal cavity.

Breathe deeply

Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose ... and non-judgmentally, to the unfolding of experience moment to moment.By learning to observe your thoughts and feelings without judgment, you can increase your awareness of them with more clarity.

Practice mindfulness

People who experience more positive emotions enjoy better relationships and are more resilient in response to negative events. Be intentional about doing things that bring you joy. Practice gratitude, engage in acts of kindness, exercise and reminisce about positive experiences.

Celebrate your positive emotions

Emotionally intelligent people are skilled at putting themselves in other people's shoes. Consider situations from others' perspectives to better understand those around you. This increased insight will enable you to connect with them more effectively, and may even teach you something about yourself in the process.

Empathize

EQ is the ability to be able to recognize and regulate your own emotions, while also empathizing with others and maintaining an awareness of their reactions.EQ can be developed with practice.

Emotional intelligence (EQ)

Deal with conflict more effectively by tackling issues head-on in an assertive, but respectful manner — all without defensiveness. By listening empathetically to the other person, you will also create the space for taking your own thoughts and feelings into account.

Make active-listening your priority

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by your emotions that you said or did something you quickly came to regret? (Can anyone honestly deny this question?) The truth is, most of us could probably benefit from learning to handle our emotions more constructively.

teamwork

Teamwork

9 Tips To Increase Your Emotional Intelligence For Stronger Relationships

Nietzsche believed that we must look beyond hope and beyond values. We must evolve into something "beyond good and evil". For him, this morality of the future had to begin with something he called amor fati or love of one's fate.

Amor Fati

We need three things: <ol><li>sense of control; means we feel as though we are in control of our own life that we can affect our fate.</li><li>A belief in the value of something; means we find something important enough to work toward, something better, thats worth striving for.</li><li>Community; means we are a part of group that values the same things we do and is working toward achieving those things.</li></ol>Lose any of the three, and you lose the other two. Lose any of the three, and you lose hope.

To Build and Maintain Hope

﻿Hope does not even have to enter into the equation. Do not hope for a better life, simply be a better life.

From the author of the international mega-bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck comes a counterintuitive guide to the problems of hope. We live in an interesting time. Materially, everything is the best it’s ever been—we are freer, healthier and wealthier than any people in human history. Yet, somehow everything seems to be irreparably and horribly f*cked—the planet is warming, governments are failing, economies are collapsing, and everyone is perpetually offended on Twitter. At this moment in history, when we have access to technology, education and communication our ancestors couldn’t even dream of, so many of us come back to an overriding feeling of hopelessness. What’s going on? If anyone can put a name to our current malaise and help fix it, it’s Mark Manson. In 2016, Manson published The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, a book that brilliantly gave shape to the ever-present, low-level hum of anxiety that permeates modern living. He showed us that technology had made it too easy to care about the wrong things, that our culture had convinced us that the world owed us something when it didn’t—and worst of all, that our modern and maddening urge to always find happiness only served to make us unhappier. Instead, the “subtle art” of that title turned out to be a bold challenge: to choose your struggle; to narrow and focus and find the pain you want to sustain. The result was a book that became an international phenomenon, selling millions of copies worldwide while becoming the #1 bestseller in 13 different countries. Now, in Everthing Is F*cked, Manson turns his gaze from the inevitable flaws within each individual self to the endless calamities taking place in the world around us. Drawing from the pool of psychological research on these topics, as well as the timeless wisdom of philosophers such as Plato, Nietzsche, and Tom Waits, he dissects religion and politics and the uncomfortable ways they have come to resemble one another. He looks at our relationships with money, entertainment and the internet, and how too much of a good thing can psychologically eat us alive. He openly defies our definitions of faith, happiness, freedom—and even of hope itself. With his usual mix of erudition and where-the-f*ck-did-that-come-from humor, Manson takes us by the collar and challenges us to be more honest with ourselves and connected with the world in ways we probably haven’t considered before. It’s another counterintuitive romp through the pain in our hearts and the stress of our soul. One of the great modern writers has produced another book that will set the agenda for years to come.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of the international mega-bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck comes a counterintuitive guide to the problems of hope. We live in an interesting time. Materially, everything is the best it’s ever been—we are freer, healthier and wealthier than any people in human history. Yet, somehow everything seems to be irreparably and horribly f*cked—the planet is warming, governments are failing, economies are collapsing, and everyone is perpetually offended on Twitter. At this moment in history, when we have access to technology, education and communication our ancestors couldn’t even dream of, so many of us come back to an overriding feeling of hopelessness. What’s going on? If anyone can put a name to our current malaise and help fix it, it’s Mark Manson. In 2016, Manson published The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, a book that brilliantly gave shape to the ever-present, low-level hum of anxiety that permeates modern living. He showed us that technology had made it too easy to care about the wrong things, that our culture had convinced us that the world owed us something when it didn’t—and worst of all, that our modern and maddening urge to always find happiness only served to make us unhappier. Instead, the “subtle art” of that title turned out to be a bold challenge: to choose your struggle; to narrow and focus and find the pain you want to sustain. The result was a book that became an international phenomenon, selling millions of copies worldwide while becoming the #1 bestseller in 13 different countries. Now, in Everthing Is F*cked, Manson turns his gaze from the inevitable flaws within each individual self to the endless calamities taking place in the world around us. Drawing from the pool of psychological research on these topics, as well as the timeless wisdom of philosophers such as Plato, Nietzsche, and Tom Waits, he dissects religion and politics and the uncomfortable ways they have come to resemble one another. He looks at our relationships with money, entertainment and the internet, and how too much of a good thing can psychologically eat us alive. He openly defies our definitions of faith, happiness, freedom—and even of hope itself. With his usual mix of erudition and where-the-f*ck-did-that-come-from humor, Manson takes us by the collar and challenges us to be more honest with ourselves and connected with the world in ways we probably haven’t considered before. It’s another counterintuitive romp through the pain in our hearts and the stress of our soul. One of the great modern writers has produced another book that will set the agenda for years to come.

Mark Manson (born 1984) is a professional blogger, entrepreneur, and former dating coach. Since 2007, he's been helping people with their emotional and relationship problems. He has worked with thousands of people from over 30 different countries. He regularly writes and updates his blog at: www.markmanson.net

Stolen Focus: Why We Can’t Pay Attention—and How We Can Think Deeply Again

Awareness as a Tool: The “Circle of Life”

Think Like a Monk

It's time to
Read like a Pro.

9 Tips To Increase Your Emotional Intelligence For Stronger Relationships

CURATED BY

Stolen Focus: Why We Can’t Pay Attention—and How We Can Think Deeply Again

Awareness as a Tool: The “Circle of Life”

Think Like a Monk

It's time to Read like a Pro.

9 Tips To Increase Your Emotional Intelligence For Stronger Relationships

CURATED BY

It's time to
Read like a Pro.