top of page
Search

Attention Is Your Most Valuable Resource - Don't Give It Away

Writer's picture: Rusty BozmanRusty Bozman

What is attention worth? Elon Musk might say $44 Billion (the cost to buy Twitter). Election campaigns spend millions, sometimes, billions for it. Social media companies, advertisers and neural marketing firms trade on your attention. Well...maybe said a better way, your unconscious attention.


How in the world did we ever conduct business without computers, smart phones and Zoom or MS Teams? It seems like a dream that before the 1980's and 90's most business was done with telephones, handshakes and typewriters. We were not accessible all hours of every day.


We live in an ever increasing din of competing forces vying for our unconscious attention. We've learned we can drive behavior by capturing others' attention without their conscious awareness that it's happening. For example, social media companies deploy algorithms to feed our biases and insecurities, and techniques such as streaks or withholding likes to drive our addictive attention to them. News outlets work hard to feed us a heavy dose of fear becuase they know our brains are pre-wired to give more attention to threats than opportunities. Our food industry dusts chips and other snacks with salty and savory chemicals perfectly designed to keep us unconsciously coming back for more. Did you know artificial sweeteners were initially designed to drive up our unconcious addiction to sugars? We now get prescriptions to solve diseases we didn't know we had once pharmaceutical companies were allowed to advertise on television beginning in 1997. Heck too many of us text while driving.


It's not surprising we see a corresponding significant increase in diagnoses of isolation, stress, anxiety and depression, particularly among our children and young adults. Why do we volunteer for this?


Don't get me wrong. I'm not arguing for a return to the past. I believe the genie is out of the bottle, and there can be benefits to technology and understanding human behavior. I'm suggesting rather we reclaim our agency by adding consciousness back into where we focus our attention.


  1. Slow down. Find some time to be still. Trade in some time scrolling or messaging for some time meditating, being in nature or just sitting still. Breathe.

  2. Set intentions. Start your day by setting intentions for what you want to pay attention to or accomplish, and periodically check in with yourself to realign with your intentions.

  3. Pay attention to what you are doing and ask yourself why you are doing it. Mindlessly scrolling or binging the news? Do you really taste your food or grab something on the go? Ask yourself how it makes you feel. If something makes you feel tired, anxious or fearful, why continue doing it? Does it serve you or help you move forward toward your life goals?

  4. Schedule time with people who bring you joy. Are you missing people you don't feel you see enough because you are so busy? Schedule calls or visits with them, or invite them to share a meal or engage in an activity.

  5. Another idea is to spend some time doing service for others. Paying attention to the needs of others and being present in those interactions can strengthen relationships, take you out of yourself, and foster deeper connections. It can also build perspective - in many cases, if you could trade problems with others, you may choose to take your problems back when when seeing what others are coping with.

  6. Finally, take breaks. Incorporate short breaks throughout your day to pause, breathe, and refocus your attention to enhance overall awareness and presence. Move around a little.


Try it out and see how you feel after a week. If you need help or support, check out our Wellness and Resilience Series at https://www.worksyn.com/book-online. Good luck bringing intention back to your attention. I'll be cheering you all along the way!





11 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


CONTACT

Jacksonville, Florida​

Tel: (904) 343-5760

​info@worksyn.com

  • LinkedIn - White Circle
Talent Optimization Badge.png
Select Partner Badge.png

Thank you for contacting us, we will be in touch shortly!

bottom of page