Why should I learn to pay more attention?

Why should I learn to pay more attention? I love this TED talk by Sam Chase about paying attention. Sam teaches meditation and studies the science of conscious attention.

Our minds wander about 47% of the time, and this is where a lot of our creative thinking happens, however research shows that when our minds are wandering we are less happy than when we are focused on the present.

Our brains are bombarded with around 11 million bits of information every second, but our conscious attention can only handle around 60. Everything else is processed by parts of the brain that operate unconsciously.

So many things are vying for our attention, this 60 bit bandwidth, and so we try to multitask. However, the research shows that multitasking is a cognitive illusion. Your attention ping pongs back and forth in a process called task switching, which makes us worse at everything we are doing. Each task takes us longer, and our performance is worse, but the disturbing part is that we feel we are performing better. Multitasking also increases our stress levels, increasing impulsiveness and reducing self-control.

Our conscious attention allows us to seek out new information, to sort between the streams of attention vying for our attention, and to choose to stay with the important stuff. That last part takes practice, as we easily get distracted. Mindfulness can help. It is simply the practice of paying attention to the present moment with an attitude of non-judgement.

When we practice mindfulness it helps us become creatures of choice rather than creatures of circumstance. It also helps us to become less caught up in our own stories, which makes space for the stories of others. This helps us to increase our social connection and compassion, and leads to more altruistic behaviour. Research shows it reduces implicit bias and discriminatory behaviour.

I will definitely pay more attention to what is getting my attention in future!

Project 365

I set up this website after deciding that I want to build a more creative life for myself, so I can give up my job and be in control of my own destiny.

I have set myself a goal of publishing an article on my website every day this year, to document my journey from employment to self-employment.

The name I chose was Project 365 because I see this as a year that I have dedicated to learning and self-development, as I countdown to freedom. It started on 1st January 2021, so I have 231 days to go!