Effects of Attention Residue

"Racking Up the Points"

24" x 36"

Pyrography on birch

First, before I dive into a look at attention residue, let's deal with Mr. Moose here.  I just completed him this past weekend and now he is looking for a good home with ample supplies of water lilies, pine cones, lichen, moss, catkins, tall water grasses, and Moose Tracks Ice Cream.  

Okay, what is attention residue, you ask?  Research has been looking hard at our digital communication pattern, especially in the work place.  They have come up with this term to describe work strategies where you switch from some Task A to another Task B, but your attention doesn't immediately follow.  I have been reading Cal Newport's latest book, Deep Work:  Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, in which he addresses the impacts of distraction on our work.  He asserts that deep work is the only type of work that optimizes your performance.  His definition of deep work is this:  "Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your congnitive capabilities to their limit.  These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate." This is in contrast to shallow work which is non-demanding and often performed while distracted.

I think common sense would make Cal Newport's assertions obvious, but the research results with their stunning implications really drives home the import of what he is saying. One research findings on a particular company found that the company spent over a million dollars paying their employees to process emails instead of focusing on the specialized tasks for which they were hired.  Cal refers to this hard-to-measure amount of time that employees spend on email, social media, and in-house meetings as a metric black hole.  In our own personal lives, if we tracked the amount that we spend on social media per day, we would probably be astounded at the percentages.  It is a black hole that can steal valuable time on more important tasks if we aren't employing limits on ourselves.  

How does one make use of social media effectively without allowing it to become a tyrant with our time?  Cal Newport suggests some surprising but interesting solutions in his book that I'll not divulge here.  I encourage you to read the book.  Some things he touches on are rituals, downtime, embracing boredom, scheduling internet use, accountability, and working like Teddy Roosevelt.  

In another aspect, I wonder if the Deep Work aspect applies to our relationship with God. Are we making the time regularly to be in God's Word and allow Him to do that deep work in us, enabling us to become more like Him?  None of us is immune to the tyranny of the urgent, our busy work lives, the social sphere, and daily life.  Is that why God has reminded us in the Psalms to "Be still, and know that I am God!"  and "Be still in the presence of the LORD...".  As our Creator, He knows that we are only dust and that physically, emotionally, and spiritually we need times of quiet and deep focus on who God is.  This allows His restoring work that King David spoke of in Psalm 23: 

"The LORD is my shepherd;

I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows;

He leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength..."

When this is our priority, our performance and quality of life is enhanced.  We are able to deep focus and do our best work.  The world needs more of this kind of living!

Live bravely and beautifully!