It's so easy to get distracted. Open your browser and a host of tabs and recommendations yank your attention. Feel the buzz of your phone (or smart watch or smart glasses or smart fridge or smart.. everything). Each of these holds the promies of something even better. More exciting, more interesting, more engaging. Everything around us tugs at our attention. And our brains respond.

We are more distracted than ever. Less focused than ever.

Ironically, as I sat down to prep for this video, I fell into this trap:

• I had an article open that I wanted to read later so of course I skimmed it. (3m)
• I opened my note taking app which was a bit dusty and decided to re-organize my folders before I got started (20m)
• I forgot to close WhatsApp and responded to three messages from my family (1m)
• I opened youtube to find a favorite 'deep focus' playlist and watched a movie trailer (3m)

In isolation, there's nothing wrong with this. Letting the mind wander, jump between different creative ideas, finish pending work... All of these are fine.

But distraction is not an exception.. it is our default. Our new normal.

And this distracted mode is not how great work gets done. Great work requires deep focus. Requires you to embed yourself so deeply in the art or recipe or sport you're doing that your brain shuts off and your body takes over.

So how do we achieve deep focus in a world constantly vying for our attention at every turn?

The answer is not a single fix or 'life hack' or a gadget. Our attention is already too short for a single quick fix.

Distraction is a series of constant papercuts that follow you everywhere you go.

So you need to make a more systemic change to your life. You need to make 'focus' your priority. You need to design your life for deep focus.

I know we live in a world of 'quick fixes' and diet pills but this problem runs so deep that you have to attack it at a deeper level.

You need to make 'focus' a part of everything you do.

You need to embody focus and presence. You need to create intentional moments and re-evaluate most elements

This probably sounds overwhelming but it's actually not that hard. You can still start small with baby steps and work your way up to a life that leads to focus over time.

Think of your brain like an impressionable child. When you give a child candy, they get excited. When you put them in front of a high-energy TV show (e.g. CocoMelon), they will stare at the screen in awe with their mouth agape. They will keep eating candy until it makes them sick. They will keep watching TV until their eyes glaze over and they scream when you turn it off.

The dopamine hits too hard.

Even if you're in your 70's, your brain and body still works the same way. Feed it high engagement videos every 30 seconds and your body responds. Check your phone every time any app has a quick update and your body responds.

You have trained yourself to crave these quick hits. These quick interruptions.

So we need to work to untrain it and remind your body and brain that focus feels great. Being present feels great. Staying on task or just enjoying a moment of downtime can be more rewarding than watching another video.

Here's how I approach this:

Step 1: Silence the distractions

If your devices are vying for your attention, a part of you will always be waiting for that next buzz, beep, or ring. Picture trying to have a conversation while sitting in a high energy sports bar with loud music playing, fifteen games playing on the screens, and a toddler tugging on your shorts.

Every second there's a variety of things tugging at your attention: sights, smells, sounds.. It's so overwhelming, you can't help but look!

So let's get rid of as much of this as possible. Let's start by just removing as many distractions as possible during the day. Take control of your time and your attention.

My mental model for this is to move from 'push' (where the world is constantly pinging you to pay attention) to 'pull' (where YOU decide when and where to check for new information).

Notifications

First - Aggressively tune your notifications. Pay attention throughout the day to the buzzes and beeps that interrupt you. If you have news apps or other non-essential notiifcations, silence them (ideally via your phone's notification screen) immediately. You should check those when you have time.. when YOU want to, not when they want you to. Take back control.

Second - Go after your 'essential' notifications. Be really honest with yourself, do you need to get EVERY one whenever it hits?

If you have alot of active group chats, mute them. If you have constant work interruptions, mute as many as you can. If your email hits you with a notification, batch them into daily updates or just set a timer to check your email every few hours. Most inbound requests do NOT need an immediate response. If you're the type of person that prides yourself on responding instantly to everything, consider lowering your SLA. It's ok to wait 30 minutes for a low-priority inbound request and you'll still feel the same sense of accomplishment if you quickly work through 10 messages at the end of the hour than if you responded to every single message every 3 minutes.

Open the 'Notiifcations' settings on your phone and run down the list to make sure only the minimum set of apps can buzz your phone.

Personally, I use 'Do Not Disturb' aggressively on my phone and use the 'Favorites' contact menu for my wife, parents, etc. This keeps my phone in 'pull' mode 95% of the time and just lets a few important people be able to capture my attention. When I worked at Meta, I would 'Pin' a few important contact members to the top of my chat apps and only let those interrupt me. Everything else I would work through during dedicated moments in the day.

Remember to hit your laptop and your phone. Both are distracting.

Speaking of e-mail, this is another source of distraction.

I've been using an email program called Extra that gives me a daily email digest. I check it twice a day (morning when i start my work day and in the evening when i'm wrapping things up). This allows me to take care of any tasks I need to do.

Unsubscribe from e-mails (or spammy text threads). These are like notifications from email. Do you really need to know when your favorite shoe brand drops a new line? Or launches their back to school sale? Pare down your email list subscriptions to the absolute minumum. Your inbox is your space. Don't let other people clutter it up with spam and junk mail.

Recommendations

Next - turn off as many recommendations as possible. Pay attention to the number of times throught the day a website or app encourages you to check something out. You'll be surprrised how often we have to ignore recommendations.

Browser: When you open a new tab, make the new tab page blank or a beautiful image (not a recommendation for something else to read/watch). I use a plugin called vToad (don't ask 🤷‍♀️ 🐸) that lets me set a beautiful / inspiring animated background instead of recently viewed sites, news, or other recommendations.

Youtube: Set youtube to 'Theater mode' so additional video recs are below the fold. Don't give in to the allure of 'just one more video' or 'oh i want to watch that.' Watch what you came to watch, then finish it.

Create Friction

Step 2: Create Friction for distracting apps and games

Phone: Move enticing apps off your home screen to subsequent pages. Create a little bit of friction to reach your distractions. You'll be surprised how much this cuts down on your usage. My home screen is really simple - it has a big picture of my family, a few daily productivity apps, and spotify so i can quickly get to music. Everything else requires at least one swipe so i don't see the idea regularly.

Websites: Block distracting websites. I have reddit and a few other sites I used to constantly check during downtime on a blocklist so I don't reach for them when I need a quick 'fix'. I can still open these in incognito mode (or on my phone) if I REALLY want to but adding this extra bit of friction really helps.

Escape Valve

Sometimes there are important ideas or tasks you need to capture. I love DJing so I regularly think of songs I want to put into my set. Or maybe I just remembered that I need to pack swim clothes for my son's school tomorrow. I keep a simple todo list that I check every day and stash these ideas there. As long as I know a task or idea is 'parked' somewhere and that I'll come back to it, I can keep moving and stay focused on my task vs spinning out and going down a deep rabbit hole on that other topic.

Step 2: Create the right conditions for focus

• Close every non-essential app and put your phone away. Prefer standalone apps where possible so you don't have the allure of a new tab one hotkey away.
• Set your apps to 'focus mode' or fullscreen mode. When I was preparing for this video, I wrote everything in obsidian which just gives me a writing surface with no extra
• Find a comfy space, set the lights, turn on your aircon (if you're in a tropical climate :D)
• Find music that you play consistently that remind your brain and body it's time for focus. The right music can help your brain quickly slip into focus mode. Try to find music that matches the energy you need for what you want to get done and ideally doesn't have alot of words (which can be distracting). I have separate playlists for 'Execution' (doing boring tasks I hate), Flow (writing like this post), and Creativity. (I linked them below in the description).

Step 3: Find moments of flow and rest

Step 4: Switch to 'slow' media.

I saved this one for last becasue it feels like saying "Eat your vegetables" or "Go to the gym and exercise." Easy advice to say, VERY hard to follow.

When possible, turn your screen off and switch to other forms. Short form video is (imo) the worst for your attention. I know that scrolling is a very engaging way to pass the time but... it really does train your brain to seek something new every 30 seconds. It is literally eating away at your attention.

Kids who watch shows with very fast cuts (e.g. Cocomelon) are easily distracted after the show turns off. You're not that different. If you constantly switch topics and jump to a new video every 5-30 seconds, your brain will start to crave operating at that pace. And you will find it very hard to focus or go deep on topics.

Sidenote: The reason I decided to start a Youtube channel (not Tiktok or Rednote or IG Reels or even YT Shorts) is because I want to create content that HELPS people focus. That they can go deep in, get lost in, immerse themselves in... It's a much slower path to growth but I want to live this value of deep focus and presence.

This will be the hardest change for most people. Sit with downtime. Grab a book. Look out the window. Don't reach for your social media app. I'm not saying you should cut out all social media entirely, just... consume it in moderation. Don't make it your default for every moment.

• Write notes on pen and paper, not a laptop or phone. It's VERY hard for a notebook to pop up a notification. Worst case scenario you find a page of very exciting notes :P Personally, I remember more this way and it allows me to stay present in a moment (Vs having a laptop and keyboard between me and a person i'm talking to, for example). It puts all those apps and websites and notifications farrrr away.
• Meet someone for coffee.
• Take a walk. Ride your bike.
• Read a book.
• Find a guided meditation.
• Spin up a playlist and close your eyes.
• Write, Make Art, Make Music, Sing.

The list is endless.

One of my favorite activities recently has been making pokemon cards with my kids. They heard about Pokemon in school and we decided to draw our own cards vs buying/collecting. I am a TERRIBLE artist but sitting and figuring out how to draw certain shapes, how to color and shade, how to write legibly... all of these are hard for me but keep me super present and focused.

I also keep a sketchpad and a notebook with me at all times. When I'm out at a coffee shop, I can pull out a book and write or just sketch out a scene or an idea. Again, I'm terrible at it but.. it still feels good. and it gives me an outlet that keeps my brain in 'creation' mode not in 'consumption' mode.

Like I said, I know this is the hardest one to implement and I still struggle with it. But the more moments you can pull yourself away from a screen and just be.. your body and mind will thank you.

Summary

Phew, we covered alot. If you get here and you're feeling totally overwhelmed, I get it. As more and more technology becomes intertwined in our lives, distraction becomes a part of everything. But don't worry, even implementing one of the ideas I mentioned here will make a huge difference. You don't have to tackle it all at once, just rewind and pick a single idea that speaks to you and try it. If it feels good, keep it going and try something else.

Focus is like a habit or a core value. If you keep chipping away at it, you'll notice enormous changes in your brain and body.

You can do it. I believe in you.

And finally, if you have suggestions or things that worked for you to be more focused and reduce distractions, please share them in the comments! This is something I'm always working on and I'd love to hear different approaches and learn from you.

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Focus

Distraction is a series of paper cuts. Like a parasite (roomate?!) that slowly creeps into your brain and infects every corner but gives you enough ___ to make you think.. "eh it's not that bad."

Every moment. Every decision.

"I used to write. I used to write letters, I used to sign my name. I used to sleep at night... before the flashing lights sunk into my brain." -Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait (2010)

Information is at our fingertips. Buzz. 1 Notification. Maybe I should check. 1 New Message. Maybe more important than what i was doing. What if it's ... (insert fantasies here).

Need to check.

Need to pay a bill. Open laptop. See open tabs. Remember that email I forgot to hit send on. See a video playing on youtube. See another recommendation.

Buzz. 2 new Notifications. Maybe I should check. Might be important.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

What was I doing again?