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Easily distracted: why it's hard to focus, and what to do about it | Psychology Today
"People everywhere seem to be experiencing an epidemic of overwhelm at work. I believe it's a function of two things. Firstly it's the amount of information we now process, which our brain may not be used to. I read somewhere that The New York Times on Sunday contains more information than the average 18th century French Nobleman learned in his lifetime (now, if only I could remember where I read that...)"
Stanford study: Media multitaskers pay mental price
Think you can talk on the phone, send an instant message and read your e-mail all at once? Stanford researchers say even trying may impair your cognitive control.
FRONTLINE: digital nation: living faster: split focus: the skill of the future | PBS
The Skill of the Future
In a word: multitasking.
Henry Jenkins is the Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts at USC.
FRONTLINE: digital nation: our latest: a certified multitasking master | PBS
Gloria Mark, a professor in the Informatics Department at the University of California at Irvine, studies the impact of technology on the way we live and work. She's especially interested in the way we multitask, moving from one task, even project to another extremely quickly. Last week, we interviewed her at our production offices in Brooklyn, and she also spent the day observing me work. Her conclusions were alarming, if not surprising; I knew that I was in trouble before the day even began. Since I started working on the Digital Nation project, my ability to focus on one thing for longer than a few minutes has dropped precipitously. See the results of Mark's evaluation here, and stay tuned for more on how the rest of the Digital Nation team and I fare at managing our own culture of distraction.
Active Listening | University of Colorado conflict research consortium
Active listening is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding. Often when people talk to each other, they don=t listen attentively. They are often distracted, half listening, half thinking about something else. When people are engaged in a conflict, they are often busy formulating a response to what is being said. They assume that they have heard what their opponent is saying many times before, so rather than paying attention, they focus on how they can respond to win the argument.
Empathetic listening resources | University of California (downloads)
The role of the listener is to help empty the large reservoirs of emotion, anger, stress, frustration and other negative feelings until the individual can see more clearly.
How the brain hardwires us to love Google, Twitter & ... | Slate
How the brain hard-wires us to love Google, Twitter, and texting. And why that's dangerous.
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Seeking. You can't stop doing it. Sometimes it feels as if the basic drives for food, sex, and sleep have been overridden by a new need for endless nuggets of electronic information.
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While we tap, tap away at our search engines, it appears we are stimulating the same system in our brains that scientists accidentally discovered more than 50 years ago when probing rat skulls.
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Distracted Driving Game - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com
Gauging Your Distraction
New studies show that drivers overestimate their ability to multitask behind the wheel. This game measures how your reaction time is affected by external distractions. Regardless of your results, experts say, you should not attempt to text when driving.
[video] Howard Rheingold on essential media literacies
He also talks about focused attention vs. multitasking and the importance of being able to handle an array of tasks simultaneously.
Iran, citizen media and media attention | Ethan Zuckerman
So, given the wealth of commentary on the questions above by folks smarter than me, let me weigh in on some of the questions I haven’t heard asked.
Naomi Alderman: Why do we let email rule our day? | Technology | guardian.co.uk
But an idea suggested by Tim Ferriss is gaining popularity – let people know that you'll be checking your email only once or twice a day.
The Benefits of Distraction and Overstimulation -- New York Magazine
It’s too late to just retreat to a quieter time. Our jobs depend on connectivity. Our pleasure-cycles—no trivial matter—are increasingly tied to it. Information rains down faster and thicker every day, and there are plenty of non-moronic reasons for it to do so. The question, now, is how successfully we can adapt.
Why can't we concentrate? | Salon Books
Winifred Gallagher's new book, "Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life" argues that it's high time we take more deliberate control of this stuff. "The skillful management of attention," she writes, "is the sine qua non of the good life and the key to improving virtually every aspect of your experience, from mood to productivity to relationships." Because we can only attend to a tiny portion of the sensory cacophony around us, the elements we choose to focus on -- the very stuff of our reality -- is a creation, adeptly edited, providing us with a workable but highly selective version of the world and our own existence. Your very self, "stored in your memory," is the product of what you pay attention to, since you can't remember what you never noticed to begin with.
Ear Plugs to Lasers - The Science of Concentration - NYTimes.com
recognize your brain’s finite capacity for processing information, accentuate the positive and achieve the satisfactions of what Ms. Gallagher calls the focused life.
Linda Stone: Just Breathe: Building the case for Email Apnea
I wanted to know - how widespread is "email apnea*?" I observed others on computers and Blackberries: in their offices, their homes, at cafes -- the vast majority of people held their breath, or breathed very shallowly, especially when responding to email. I watched people on cell phones, talking and walking, and noticed that most were mouth-breathing and hyperventilating. Consider also, that for many, posture while seated at a computer can contribute to restricted breathing.\n\nDoes it matter? How was holding my breath affecting me?
Freedom to surf: workers more productive if allowed to use the internet for leisure : News : The University of Melbourne
Surfing the net at work for pleasure actually increases our concentration levels and helps make a more productive workforce, according to a new University of Melbourne study.
Teaching With Bayley - Attention Seekers | Teachers TV
Bayley tells Jane that the disruptive pupils want her attention, and encourages her to replace negative with positive attention. Jane gives it a go in a follow up lesson and is surprised to find these techniques engage the more difficult pupils in the class, and a lot more learning is able to take place.
Attention Literacy | City Brights: Howard Rheingold
I wasn't trying to control them. I was trying to draw their attention to how little control any of us seem to have over where we let the screens on our laps and in our pockets lead our thoughts.
Billboards versus the attention economy: critical essay from 1960 - Boing Boing
Outdoor advertising is peddling a commodity it does not own and without the owner's permission: your field of vision. Possibly you have never thought to consider your rights in the matter. Nations put the utmost importance on unintentional violations of their air spac
Six Ways to Boost Brainpower: Scientific American
Scientists are finding that the adult human brain is far more malleable than they once thought. Your behavior and environment can cause substantial rewiring of your brain or a reorganization of its functions.
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