Attention

I’ve spent the last 40 minutes trying to write a single line for this blog post which was originally supposed to be about what I am reading, and I’ve only just realised two things. Firstly, you cannot write if you do not read. And secondly, we live in a world where technology has done something truly terrible for about ability to concentrate on a single task for prolonged periods of time without becoming distracted.

And I think this is twofold. Social media (and TikTok, which I do not consider it to be social media), and notifications.

Ah notifications, every device screaming for attention all of the time. I am so glad I came off of social media but in the last 12 months I rejoined traditional social media in the form of LinkedIn. The amount of bullshit notifications (bullshit, meaning a notification that is worthless) I receive from this network is truly annoying. So today I am having a detox, and an ultimatum.

If I receive a single notification from an app or service that is worthless to me, then the entire service loses its privilege to interrupt me. Because that is exactly what a notification is, an interruption.