May I Have Your Attention, Please?

Oh, the irony! Literally, my job as a copywriter is to get your attention.

Yet, it can be HARD to tune out all the noise of the world and focus on my business. It is rather impossible to sit down to actually write good copy when I am distracted.

So when I saw the book Indistractable by Nir Ayal, I knew it was for me!

Ironically, he’s also the author of “the little yellow book” that almost all tech companies have used as their go-to guide for GETTING your attention, Hooked. 

He wrote Indistractable as an answer to his previous book, after he realized what was taking place with the tech companies that were using it. It is interesting to see both sides of this coin through his eyes...there is so much to be gained by manipulating people’s attention, and so much to be gained when we fight back against it.

This is probably one of the best books I’ve read this year, although, I admit with a sheepish grin, that it sat on my shelf for months before I finally got around to reading it. 

Imagine having to go to the library to renew a book on being “indestractable” because you had exhausted all your online holds and needed to renew it in person.

Oh well, no shame in my library game!

But, an amazing thing happened once I sat down and actually got to read the book...I flew through it in less than a week and had some amazing takeaways I’d love to share with you.

• Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, how we choose to spend that time is important. While you may not be 100% in control of your time (family commitments, difficult working situation, a long commute, personal health issues…everyone has some static in their life), making a plan, what the author calls Timeboxing, for how you spend your time can have a great impact on what you are able to accomplish. 

• Focussed energy is more productive energy. I am, by nature, a “do all the things” kind of lady. Many days I run around like a headless chicken trying to get stuff done, not finishing a lot, and getting overwhelmed. It is all much worse if I try to add caffeine to the situation..Oy! Since reading this book and implementing the ideas, I’m getting more accomplished, feeling more fulfilled, actually experiencing less stress, and finding more time to spend with my family.

• Kids can benefit from this idea too! There was a whole section on how the ideas can be applied to kids and why we, as parents, should be helping them grow up with healthy tech boundaries. Mindless scrolling uses their time and attention to create ad revenue, and many of them aren’t even aware of how the whole system works! Giving our children the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions as kids, will help them make good choices that will turn into good habits later in life. 

• Distracting triggers are inevitable, but how you respond to them is key. I was interrupted about nine times since I started writing this post. It was my fault for trying to Timebox a morning writing session when my kids are not used to me being “off mom duty.” There are ways that you can mitigate distractions, and ways you can work to control your response to these triggers.

  For the LONGEST time, like many moms, I would turn to my smartphone to distract me from being bored while watching a show with my kids, or waiting for them to finish up a task. I’d sneak away with my device (and a little bit of chocolate!) to take a “mommy break” from the chaos of my reality being a SAHM to two wild children.

  But those “breaks” which were a response to me being triggered by feelings of discomfort did not serve me, or my family well.

  Getting a handle on the things that make us want to be distracted is a huge part of what this book taught me, and definitely one of the most impactful parts of it.

What about you - do you find that you are easily distracted in the attention economy we are living in?

What ways do you fight back against it?

Any interest in reading Indistracatble yourself?

I’d love to hear your thoughts down below!

This is Karen from the editing future….for the record, in the 30 minutes it took to write this whole post, I was interrupted 13 times by my children.

Yes, I counted.

Yet, I still got this written in the time frame I allotted for the task.  Not ideal, but life happens.

The big takeaway for me is that I didn’t let the interruptions act as a trigger to give up. I pushed through, even though it was hard.

And because I didn’t let the trigger of getting interrupted by my kids distract me from my task, my blog post is going up as scheduled, and I feel much better about the kids, myself, and meeting my goals for the day.