How do you structure your attention?
Exploring 'yama' and 'niyama'
Have you observed how in those unconscious moments of pure unfettered distraction, the *contents* of what we are distracted with, hardly matter?
Like a rocky boat swayed by an outlawed wind, our mind flits around aimlessly, unsure of what is worth paying attention to. In his insightful book, "The World Beyond Your Head: How to Flourish in an age of distraction", Matthew Crawford writes,
"One element of our predicament is that we engage less than we once did in everyday activities that *structure* our attention."
What does it mean to structure your attention?
In an era of overworking anxiety fueled by time famine, we work harder to achieve productivity using digital tools- Ever Note, To-Do lists, Bullet Journals and whatnot.
Essentially, to improve productivity, you have two choices.
1) Zoom In
2) Zoom Out
99% of Productivity Gurus/Software/Frameworks out there teach you to get better at zooming out and help you accomplish things that you want to do faster.
But here is the thing. When you zoom out, you HAVE to respond to your context at its incoming speed. You have to deal with
Tasks 2. Twitter/FB/LinkedIn/Instagram Stream 3.Deadlines 4. Commitments
by the speed at which it is thrown at your face.
Now consider what happens when you zoom in.
There are plenty of rituals to zoom in. For me, it's Yoga and Breath. Yoga calls these yama and niyama. Think of them as setting boundaries to structure your attention.
For some, it could be chanting. Or Tai Chi.
It takes a ritual practice to structure my attention and work at a neurobiological level to approach a new day with a fresh sense of perspective.
And that’s ultimately what you discover when you zoom in. You slow down and realize that hands down, it is the fastest way to get things done.
As one wise friend once told me,
"The degree to which you do not believe you have time to spend even ten minutes sitting quietly is the degree to which you desperately need to spend ten minutes sitting quietly."
What rituals do you do every day to structure your attention? How do they help you?
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