I used to think time was the most limited resource. It’s so limited that you can’t even save it for later. Every day you spend more time, and tomorrow you have less than you had yesterday. You can’t make more, and you can’t really buy more, so it’s limited and fleeting and those are the rules.
But there’s something even more limited than time. It’s your attention. Attention is a subset of time, therefore it’s more limited. How you spend your attention is more important than how you spend your time.
Attention is about focus and careful, thoughtful consideration. Unlike time – which can be broken into convenient chunks of 15 minutes – attention doesn’t divide quite so neatly or easily.
You hear a lot about “quality time” being valuable, but I think quality attention is invaluable. Giving someone your attention is giving more than just giving your time.
The greatest things you make and do are the ones that get your full attention. It’s helpful to take an inventory of what you’re doing and then ask yourself where you’re spending your best attention. You can fill your time, but you have to spend your attention. How you spend it is probably a better measure of priority than anything else.
Next time you say yes to something, ask yourself if yes means “yes, I can do that” or “yes, I can spend my attention on that.” If you’re not willing to spend your attention on it, is it worth doing? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s a good thing to think about the next time you take something on.
James Deer
on 07 Sep 11Lovely post.
Never thought about time/attention like that.
Time is nothing without attention.
Ross Hudgens
on 07 Sep 11As far as I know Merlin Mann is basically the bible on this concept: http://www.merlinmann.com/media/tag/time-attention
AC
on 07 Sep 11This post was to long, in all honestly, to keep my attention.
I didn’t finish the post but wanted to comment to let you know.
P.S. I’m saying this genuinely, not trying to sound like an ass.
Chris Atherton
on 07 Sep 11Merlin Mann’s Google talk on Time And Attention is a great resource here if you want to consider the topic some more.
Eric D. Brown
on 07 Sep 11The line: “You can fill your time, but you have to spend your attention” is wonderful.
Nicely done.
Sergio Majluf
on 07 Sep 11Attention is an incredible understated asset these days.
Striving to reply that twitter mention, hoards of email waiting for action, facebook and g+ messages bouncing off our docks, and of course, work to be done… your are indeed right: we need to manage our attention, and how we allot time for what´s really important.
Take a look at this short but deep presentation by Lee J. Colan & David Cottrell from 2009 that goes on the subject with great clarity.
James
on 07 Sep 11Seems like a complicated way to ask yourself if you want to do something. I don’t think there are many people that don’t consider whether or not they want to do something when asked.
Justin Jackson
on 07 Sep 11This reminds of something David said in a 37signals podcast (ep26):
ggwicz
on 07 Sep 11Brilliant.
– So true.JZ
on 07 Sep 11This is something that’s been on my mind, too. And like many others, Merlin was the first to open my eyes to this idea.
For me, it’s partly about the quality of what I give my attention to. I know that in my life I’m never going to be able to read every book I want to read, see every film, play every game, work on every project, learn all I want to know, master every hobby, etc. I just can’t. There is so much in this world – it’s overwhelming. So I want only give my attention to the things that are worth it, things that matter.
That means sometimes bailing on a book when it loses my interest, not finishing every issue of every magazine, skipping the TV shows that aren’t entertaining like they used to be, skipping the new album from a good band if they haven’t put out a good one recently (the new one is sure to be great, right?). Sometimes it’s as simple as turning off the morning news on TV. Sure it’s on in the background, but it’s noise and it’s stealing at least some of my attention.
The other part of this is not letting someone else (or something else) choose what gets my attention or when. For me that meant turning off the red badge notifications in my dock, the sound of new email, turning off Growl, RSS, Facebook emails, magazine subscriptions, and iOS push notification. So I check email when I want to, not when mail arrives. I read Twitter when I launch the app, rather than letting it run all the time and bombard me with colors, sounds, and Growl messages. This lets me choose where to put my focus, and lets me keep it there. Reading news, email, etc. is now intentional and those tasks also get my full attention when I decide they deserve it.
I made this change about a year ago and I don’t feel like I’m missing anything – nothing but anxiety from the demands of piling inboxes, unread messages, and constant flashing lights and sounds. The stuff that is truly important tends to find me. And I have no shortage of places to spend my attention.
Bryan Sebastian
on 07 Sep 11One thing I have noticed about attention is how many new things in today’s world detract from the ability to give the full attention Jason is talking about.
For example, I went out to dinner with a friend I only see every now and the a few weeks ago. He had brought his cell phone and spent over half of the time texting on his phone, not really thinking about it. We had a nice time, but I had to wonder, if this were 15 or so years ago (before cell phones), I would have had his full attention to catch up on things. I am sure people probably text while on dates, which I am sure is endearing.
It is for this reason that I never have my cell phone when eating with my family. They deserver my FULL attention and I deserve theirs. (Actually the family rules is no cell phones when we are doing something together… eating, playing mini-golf, whatever).
Sandor Weisz
on 07 Sep 11This is a major theme of Carl Honore’s In Praise of Slowness, which has added great value to my life. Highly recommended.
Jo Hund
on 07 Sep 11Herbert Simon noticed the issue of attention scarcity in 1971:
[shameless plug] To focus our attention on the information that matters most to our work and lives, we are creating Intigi
Dmitry Kharlamov
on 07 Sep 11Life changing!
Thank you!
XO
on 07 Sep 11This, and the post reply is sort of covered in Randy Pausch’s last lecture . I’ve personally been aware of this most of my life. We all have a personal daily biorhythm. I guard my most productive part of the day with my life.
Clinical testing ADHD is (mostly) a big lie too. Attention is something that requires work, not a pill.
Sprae
on 07 Sep 11Just remember to say “Thank you for your attention.” if one values the effort of an audience.
Peter SHINe
on 08 Sep 11I am not sure about the old days, when our parents and grandparents were finding their jobs, but these days it’s much harder to find those who can give full attention to their assignments.
Including myself, many of us are constantly distracted and often let ourselves to be distracted voluntarily.
In my opinion, if you want to be successful in your career, you have to learn to control to give more attention to something important and less attention to other stuff at your own will, regardless of surroundings.
One of the reasons why giving full attention can lead people to be successful, I think, is that this kind of people are usually ones who deserve to get full attention back, benefitting collaboration.
Many people think this comes naturally when you are getting mature, but I personally think this ability should be intentionally trained regularly, without specific end.
Corey McMahon
on 08 Sep 11Good to see that Merlin Mann is getting some love in these comments. For me he was the first person that really made me sit down and think about the difference between the two. It’s rather unfortunate that when it comes down to it most of us aren’t particularly vigilant in how we allocate our attention, which ultimately is our most valuable resource. I know I’m a particularly bad offender of this at times (trying to get better)
Jed Sundwall
on 08 Sep 11Love this: “We create ourselves by how we invest this energy.”
Jon Glick
on 08 Sep 11I just started realizing this during last weeks’ vacation during which I read Tony Schwartz’s “The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working”. Full attention is powerful and exhausting and we need to work with the way it ebbs and flows.
AYO Media
on 08 Sep 11This is genius. I am changing my entire life around this model.
David Omoyele
on 08 Sep 11Indeed. Our limited attention also makes it hard to attain many desirable talents in a short time. The most desirable skills are not easy to master. Mastering these skills requires much discipline and concentration(attention). This also reminds of one of my favorite Paul Graham article The Top Idea in Your Mind
Harsha M V
on 08 Sep 11Wow.. you had my attention all through and i am sure it was worth it ;)
Jason D. Luna
on 08 Sep 11There’s also a well-written book about this very issue called The Attention Economy that opened my eyes to the concept and changed how I looked at marketing techniques based on interruption (billboards, etc.).
Mark
on 08 Sep 11When you are caught up in something (focused and attentive) you lose track of time. There is a really cool RadioLab podcast on time. http://www.radiolab.org/2007/may/29/
Anand
on 09 Sep 11@Jason, you have great clarity in what you write. And you are able to communicate to others very clearly about what you think. I have learnt a lot from your articles/books.
Attention is important. Not the time. Awesome post.
XO
on 09 Sep 11A company I once worked for renovated it’s IT section. Four cubes in my group were arraigned to face each other. Instinctively, I decided against the seating arraignment and sat elsewhere. Within 6 months 2 of the 4 individuals sitting in that area were prescribed Ritalin. The other 2 began wearing headphones for 80% of the day.
One day (hearing a lot of noise coming out of that area) I marched over there and said, “I’d need Ritalin in order to concentrate as well. I got the ‘attention’ of one individual. He shared some of the side affects he has been dealing with. He stopped taking the medication.
After researching the clinical tests for ADD/ADHD diagnosis, I’m certain (sadly – more below) I would have qualified for this disorder as a kid. Things we do (or are subjected to) can eventually manifest clinically e.g., you can literally (& willfully) thicken neural pathways in your brain through habitual behaviors. Many things are not congenital (although they appear to be).
Attention is something practiced. It requires a certain disciplining.
Busymike
on 10 Sep 11Spot on guys. As an individual who balances multiple responsibilities, i can truly say ive been guilty to being present but not being “present.” attenton is all that matters and the human brain only has so much juice. I actively choose what to devote my attention to, not just my time. Social media gets time, but not attention. Deadlines get attention as necessary. Phone calls are scheduled in order of necessity. Anyone who didnt get the message in this post doesnt truly understand today’s true work environment. I have a project that requires 10 hours of attention daily and then i get 70 emails daily to distract me. Attention is something i pay close attention to. Do i need to DOthis, or just simply be there? Its a valid question.
Arrache-moi la tête
on 10 Sep 11So true, Jason.
Winifred Gallagher said something similar, in her book Rapt :If you’re interested by how this poverty of attention is affecting us as a society, you can also read Distracted, by Maggie Jackson.
Mika
on 11 Sep 11While paying attention watching the new movie “Contagion”, I noticed 2 copies of “Rework” in the background, when Jude Law visits the journalist. Product placement? :)
Jacqueline
on 12 Sep 11I don’t know it it’s said before above (no time to carefully read and pay enough attention because I’m at work, sorry): Time is quantity, attention is quality?
This discussion is closed.