September always has a back to school vibe, it’s when people might start studying a new course or students return to their learning.
A key aspect of learning is paying attention… read on for some thoughts about the value of attention.
Sinead
Recently, I listened to the first 5 episodes of a Podcast on Spotify which is called “Dear Phone, It’s Not Me, It’s You“. The presenters are Emer & Julie and they are talking about their experiences as they try to be less addicted to their phones. They are following the advice in the book “How To Break Up With Your Phone: The 30 Day Plan To Take Back Your Life” by Catherine Price.
On average we spend close to 3 hours a day on our phones, which when multiplied by 7 days in the week, means we are close to spending 1 full day per week paying attention to our phones.
The hosts think their unhealthy phone relationship has led to poorer concentration and an uneasy feeling, whereby they are constantly needing to check their phones, in case they’ve missed something.
I could identify with the phrases “doing the rounds” or “App loop” which I interpreted as the behaviour I have myself of doing laps of my Apps – checking news sites, social media and emails periodically during the day.
The hosts accurately point out that the reason we can have so many free Apps is that we are paying for them with our attention.
In following the 30 day plan, outlined in Catherine Price’s book, the hosts are taking actions to put themselves back in charge of their phones. Their goal is to resist the constant lure of the shiny device delivering instant gratification and dopamine hits.
In addition to some of the more usual advice, the hosts have taken bolder steps such as deleting the browser on their device and taking a 24 hour break from the phone.
I particularly liked the suggestion of setting the screensaver as “What are you avoiding?” as we so often pick up our phones to divert or entertain ourselves.
If we are always distracting ourselves, or as Pema Chodron puts it, “if there’s never any pause—we will never be able to relax. We will always be speeding through our lives.”
I am learning a lot from the podcast and rethinking aspects of how I use my phone, even if ironically, I’m using my phone to listen!
The podcast episodes are relatable, thought provoking and just 12 minutes each, I recommend it to you and I’m looking forward to future episodes to hear how Emer and Julie are getting on.
“Pay attention”, is a common phrase that is heard in the context of education.
I wonder why we don’t say “give attention or be attentive”? Is it because our attention is a type of currency? When we pay attention to something we give it value.
Maybe the next time you find yourself paying attention to something worthless, scrolling through social media, engaging in idle gossip or worrying about something that might never happen, pause and consider that your attention is a currency with value.
I’m sure you would like to spend it wisely.
“Smartphones also talk back at us. They nag us. They disturb us when we’re working. They demand our attention and reward us when we give it to them. Smartphones engage in disruptive behaviours that have traditionally been performed only by extremely annoying people.” Catherine Price
“So when you pay attention to something you don’t especially value, it’s not an exaggeration to say that you’re paying with your life.” Oliver Burkeman
“In fact, to take time to think is to gain time to live.” Nancy Kline
Sinead Huskisson 