Managed

ATTENTION IS LIMITED AND FRAGILE AND MUST BE MANAGED

I think generations from now, we will look back at the 2010s as the point in history where we finally reached attention saturation as a society. What I mean by that is we just lived through the first time in history where the amount of stimulation available to us vastly outstrips our ability to indulge in it.6

This creates a new and unique set of problems. For example, it’s more important than ever before to develop the skill of consciously choosing what deserves our attention and what does not. We must develop discipline in not getting carried away by our emotional reactions to news. The same way we bargain shop for the best deal on a new laptop or a pair of khakis, we must now be stingy with how we invest our time and attention. It’s taken us awhile, but we’re now figuring that out.

The television age trained us to be docile and receptive. “Show me the shiny funny things, oh, glorious fun box.” But the internet requires us to be active participants in our own consumption. Taking responsibility for that consumption—and managing ourselves when we over-indulge on that consumption—is a difficult and never-ending task. Just this year, in a popular article, I compared it to dieting, even going so far as to call it “The Attention Diet.”

Similarly, a slew of books and products built around attention management have come out in the past year or two.7 I imagine this will become a big space in the 2020s, like a smaller version of the fitness and nutrition industries. Like our health, attentional nutrition will be something we’re all expected to maintain and improve to maximize our personal health and well-being.