What we Agree to Attend to
Where's Your Attention Right Now?
You may have heard about the neuroscience research that multitasking is a myth. None of us actually do two things at once; you've been switching back and forth between multiple processes rapidly, giving none of them your full awareness.
I recently experienced this in real time. My best friend joined me on a drive to Philadelphia to deliver a speech I was worried about. I wanted to practice my memorization, but was also driving in heavy traffic. It was interesting to observe both my recall and my driving suffer! Though it ultimately helped improve my memorization, and we got there safely, I don't recommend it as a strategy (unless you really don't like that friend).
So it's probably no surprise that with everything going on the last few weeks, most of my clients are feeling anxious and distracted.
The choices we make create the situations and stimulus that we then attend to.
In moments of challenge it's easy to forget that we have choices and tools at our disposal. We convince ourselves that we're stuck, giving up the power to make decisions about what we'll attend to. Yet, as William James points out: our attention is under our control. You get a say in what you focus on and what you do with it.
"My experience is
what I agree to attend to"
- William James
I'm not saying awareness and self regulation are easy; but they are active processes that you can choose to work on.
How have you been structuring your new reality? By being proactive in setting up your days, your time, and your space you can create opportunities to control your attention. It's easy for a mind to wander when it's under slept, over caffeinated (and maybe a little hung over?), or you've been sitting all day.
One way to influence your mindset is to be aware of the questions you ask yourself.
"What are we going to do?" creates a very different reaction than "How can I use this time?" Developing awareness of how you talk to yourself, and asking more helpful questions, can be one key to creating new outcomes.
Pay attention to what questions you ask yourself today and look for opportunities to reframe. One great cue is "was that a helpful thought?" If the answer is 'no', what would a helpful thought be?
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