Investing in your brain: 7 reasons to learn how to learn

Forget investing in gold bars, bitcoin or the stock market.

Consider investing in the biggest and best asset that you already own: your brain. Upgrade that glorious system of neural networks by learning how to learn.

When you learn how to learn, new worlds and opportunities open up to you. Things that you thought you couldn’t or would never be able to do, suddenly become possible.

Here are 7 reasons why you want to consider learning how to learn.

1. It makes life easier

Trying to shift information into your long-term memory without an understanding of how you learn best is like trying to dig a hole with a toothpick. It’s excruciating work!

But once you start utilising a collection of simple study strategies and tools, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and unnecessary frustration when it comes to learning.

2. You can have more free time

Say goodbye to reading your books over and over again for hours on end. When you know how to learn effectively, you can learn information quickly and efficiently. This frees you up to have more time for the things you really want to do.

3. You can have more fun

Let’s face it, reading your books passively and highlighting information is boring and ineffective. There is a whole world of creative study strategies you can use to become more engaged and immersed in the learning process.

4. Your grades improve

When you actually understand the information (rather than just rote memorisation), you will see your grades dramatically improve. But good grades are really just a byproduct and extra bonus. When you’re intrinsically motivated to learn, you feel more satisfied, more in control and you have more fun (see point 3).

5. You can master new skills quickly and efficiently

Want to learn how to make the perfect lasagna? Want to master conversational German in less than 6 months? Or perhaps learn to code?

When you know how to learn, you can pick up new skills quickly and efficiently on your own. You don’t need your hand held every step of the way. There’s nothing you can’t or won’t be able to do. Knowing this gives you a tremendous sense of power, confidence and agency.

6. It gives you more options

They say most young people will change careers five times in their lifetime. Long gone are the days where you trained up in one area, got a job and stayed in that job for the rest of your life.

Many of the jobs that exist today didn’t exist 10-20 years ago (think app developer, solar energy engineer and social media analyst). And many jobs that existed in the past are no longer around today (Think video and CD store clerk). With job obsolescence, it pays to be able to learn new skills. It pays to have a second-skill. This makes you mentally flexible so you can move with the times and not stay rigidly stuck in the past.

When you learn how to learn, you future-ready yourself.

7. You can remember information for months and years (rather than just days or weeks)

When you rote-learn, information doesn’t tend to stick. Sure, you know it for the test, but after that? It’s gone.

But when you have ways to deeply understand the content, this is a game changer. When you can connect information to something you already know and see how it fits in the real world around you, you can easily retrieve that information for many months and years to come.

To sum up

Learning how to learn opens up new worlds for people. It certainly did for me (you can read my story here). Like any skill, learning to learn requires an investment of time and energy. But don’t let that put you off. You’ll get that time back (plus more) through being an efficient, savvy learner.

Want to take the next step to learn how to learn? Check out my free resource The Mindmappers’ Toolkit and my latest book Study Hacks.

Share This:

Facebook
X
LinkedIn

Related Posts

The magic of tiny experiments

At the start of a new year, I usually feel pressure to set goals.

We are sold this idea that, if you want to go places in life, goal-setting is absolutely essential.

For many years, I enthusiastically attended workshops with other goal-setting enthusiasts, where I wrote long (and overwhelming) lists of goals.

But towards the end of last year, instead of feeling delight at the idea of setting goals, I felt dread.

When I thought about setting goals, there was a little voice in my head that screamed, “Please don’t make me do this!”

So I stopped, and I listened to that little voice.

I’ve learnt that just as you shouldn’t force yourself to wear tight shoes, it’s not always helpful to force yourself to do certain things.

Sometimes you need to try a different approach, which is exactly what I’m doing this year.

I’ve decided to shift my focus from setting goals to running tiny experiments.

It’s a subtle mental shift that takes me from feeling fixed and rigid to curious and playful.

If you’ve ever created a list of goals or New Year’s resolutions, only to abandon them shortly after (and felt demoralised), tiny experiments may be for you.

In this blog, I’ll share what tiny experiments are and how you can use them to have more fun and experience more growth and learning.

Breaking free from traditional goal-setting methods

In her excellent book Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World, neuroscientist Dr Anne-Laure Le Cunff argues that traditional goal-setting approaches no longer work in these uncertain times. She states:

“The linear way is wildly out of sync with the lives we live today. The challenges we’re facing and the dreams we’re pursuing are increasingly hard to define, measure, and pin to a set schedule. In fact, a common challenge for many people these days is feeling stuck when it comes to their next steps: instead of providing a motivating force, the idea of setting a well-defined goal is paralysing. When the future is uncertain, the neat parameters of rigid goal-setting frameworks are of little help; it feels like throwing darts without a target to aim at.”

Dr Le Cunff argues that the way we set goals is broken. Not only does traditional goal-setting encourage toxic productivity, but it can also leave us feeling dissatisfied, as if we are constantly failing. She states:

“…they [traditional goal-setting methods] create a discouraging perspective where we are far from success. Our satisfaction – the best version of ourselves – lies somewhere in the future.”

She argues a new approach is required that takes us away from “rigid linearity to fluid experimentation”.

Enter Tiny Experiments

Tiny experiments

A tiny experiment is a fun, low-stakes way to test out a new behaviour and see if it’s for you.

This may not sound revolutionary, but the power of tiny experiments lies in the mental shift they bring.

Instead of pursuing fixed and rigid goals, when you run a tiny experiment, you open yourself up to exploring new possibilities and stepping into the unknown.

In the book Tiny Experiments, Dr Le Cunff lays out a simple process for designing your own tiny experiments.

The process begins by playing a game of ‘self-anthropology’. In other words, you observe your own life and capture those observations by making field notes.

Here are some things to capture in your field notes:

  • Things that spark your interest and curiosity
  • Things that give you energy and deplete your energy
  • Things that bring you joy
  • Social interactions and any insights that come from them

 

For instance, yesterday I went to stock up on supplies from a small bulk foods store. I got talking to the sales assistant, who mentioned that she worked at two bulk food stores in different areas. I asked her if she noticed any major differences in the customers between the two stores. Her answer surprised me. She said:

“The customers up in the hills are less rushed. They are more willing to chat. People here seem in a hurry… a bit more fast paced.”

This five-minute conversation made me realise I don’t want to feel rushed or give the impression I’m in a hurry and have no time for a chat. I want to experience more calm in my life.

That’s the first step when it comes to designing a tiny experiment: gathering a rich source of observations.

The next step is to come up with a research question and a hypothesis (i.e. an idea you want to put to the test).

I know this part may sound serious and scary, but trust me, you don’t need to be a scientist to come up with a research question and a hypothesis to test.

There’s a magical word that can help to kick-start the process: Maybe.

Get curious

Maybe if I checked my phone only at certain times in the day, I’d feel calmer?

Maybe if I put my phone away 30 minutes before going to bed, I’d sleep better?

Maybe if I exercised for 30 minutes each morning, I’d feel calmer and less stressed?

Maybe if I got up and walked on my treadmill every 30 minutes for 5 minutes, I’d have more energy?

Maybe if I rode my bike and walked more (instead of driving), I’d feel more relaxed and less busy?

These are examples of potential research questions I’ve brainstormed.

The word Maybe is incredibly powerful. When you use the word Maybe in this way, it sparks your curiosity and opens you up to exploring new possibilities.

Once you’ve come up with a question, you then turn it into a hypothesis.

Below is a figure from the book Tiny Experiments that illustrates how to turn an observation into a research question and a hypothesis.

Figure from Tiny Experiments

My tiny experiments: Real world examples

Last year, I ran various tiny experiments, several of which focused on cultivating calm.

I had noticed that my days often felt hamster wheely, rushing from one activity to the next. I wanted to feel calmer and more grounded.

With this in mind, I designed the following tiny experiment:

After I finish delivering a presentation, I will lay flat on the couch for 15 minutes and do nothing. I’ll do this for the next 5 days.

Laying flat experiment

So, for the next five days, I conducted my lying flat tiny experiment.

After lying flat for 15 minutes, I’d check in with myself: How do I feel? Do I feel less stressed? More grounded? I also reflected on how I felt at the end of the day.

By doing these quick check-ins, I was collecting data on my tiny experiment.

After I’d completed this tiny experiment, I took a step back and asked myself, “How did that tiny experiment go? Was it a success? Do I want to continue doing this?”

I concluded that the experiment had been a success. I discovered that forcing myself to do nothing was a good way to regulate my nervous system and feel calmer.

But not all of my tiny experiments have been quite so successful.

A tiny experiment that went off the rails

Last year, I ran a tiny experiment that completely backfired.

If I had taken a traditional goal-setting approach, I would have said I had failed dismally and hung my head in shame.

But there is no failure when it comes to running tiny experiments, only growth and learning.

This tiny experiment involved selling clothing on Depop (an online fashion marketplace for buying and selling secondhand clothes).

Tiny Experiment:

I will put up one item of clothing on Depop every day for the next 30 days.

My hope was to earn some extra cash, declutter my wardrobe and extend the life of some of the clothes I no longer wear.

But as I ran this tiny experiment, it became clear it wasn’t working: I was buying more clothes than I was selling!

On the consumer treadmill

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but it was Winter time, and I became obsessed with cashmere jumpers (I loved the warmth and soft feel against my skin).

After listing an item for sale, I found myself scrolling through Depop, searching for more cashmere jumpers to buy. I would enter a trance-like state, as if I was using a poker machine.

If I had been selling more items, maybe I could have justified this behaviour, but I was selling very few items. Once postage and fees were factored in, I was earning only $1–$2 per item!

It wasn’t until I bought and put on a jumper that had clearly shrunk in the wash, revealing my belly button in all its glory, that I quickly came to my senses and said, “Enough!”

It was time to get off the consumer treadmill!

Aborting tiny experiment

I quickly aborted this tiny experiment and deleted my Depop account.

You could say this tiny experiment was a flop. But I didn’t beat myself up about it. As I mentioned earlier, there is no failure when it comes to tiny experiments (only growth and learning), and I had learnt something valuable from this experience.

What did I learn?

I learnt that selling clothes online was a trap for me. It exposed me to all these other beautiful items that were really hard to resist.

I also discovered that taking photos of my clothing items made me appreciate each piece a little more. In the end, I decided to hold on to and wear several items I had taken for granted.

I also learnt that it was okay for me to quit the experiment and try something else. There was no shame in quitting. In fact, quitting was the right thing for me to do.

You always have options when it comes to your tiny experiments. You get to be flexible because nothing is set in stone.

Designing your own tiny experiments

When you are new to tiny experiments, it can feel daunting to design your own experiments from scratch.

I find it helpful to see examples of other people’s tiny experiments. This is why I belong to Dr Le Cunff’s Ness Labs community: a community of people excited about growth, learning, and running tiny experiments.

In this online community, people share their tiny experiments with each other.

Here is a small selection of tiny experiments people have shared with me:

  • I will do 10 minutes of tai chi for the next 7 days.
  • I will aim to publish one article every month on topics that interest me for the next 6 months.
  • I will journal by hand for 10 minutes every morning for the next 7 days.
  • I will draw every Sunday afternoon for 3 months.
  • I will read for 15 minutes each day for the next 7 days.
  • I will attend group fitness classes on the beach from Monday to Friday this week.
  • I will write down 3 wins every day for the next 30 days.
  • I will not look at social media or doomscroll after 7pm for the next 7 days.

 

As you can see, these are all small behaviours performed over short time periods. Most of them can be slotted into even the busiest of schedules. This is the power of tiny experiments.

Once you’ve completed your tiny experiment, what’s next?

After you’ve conducted your tiny experiment for the specified duration, you have three choices:

  • You can keep doing the behaviour (make it a tiny habit)
  • You can stop doing the behaviour (call it quits)
  • You can tweak the behaviour

 

What to do once you finish a tiny experiment

For example, in my experiment of doing nothing, I scaled the 15 minutes on the couch back to just 10 to see if I could still get the same benefits. To my delight, 10 minutes seemed to work just as well as 15 minutes.

To sum up        

When you run a tiny experiment, you’re constantly tweaking and refining what you do, which means you’re continuously learning and growing as a person. This helps build momentum and a feeling of success.

At the end of the day, tiny experiments are a fun, low-stakes way to improve your life. With your sights no longer fixated on some far-off destination, you have the freedom to experiment and see what works best for you.

This year, I started lifting heavy weights.

After falling out of the habit of weight training, it feels good to pick up my weights and challenge my body.

At a time of increasing uncertainty, this simple practice helps me to feel strong and powerful. As Professor BJ Fogg says:

“When you feel physically stronger, this feeling ripples out into many other areas of life.”

My muscles were growing, but one part of my body was slowly getting weaker.

What part am I talking about?

I’m talking about my brain, specifically my ability for deep learning and thinking.

A couple of months ago, it dawned on me that my brain had seen better days. When I confided in my husband about this, he said he felt the same way about his brain.

But it wasn’t always like this.

When I was a university student, it was normal to spend several hours each day reading and mind mapping.

Most days, I’d feel confused about a new concept or how one idea was connected to another. I didn’t know the answers to a lot of questions.

But I sat with the discomfort, knowing it was a normal part of the learning process.

By the time I submitted my PhD thesis (nearly 10 years ago), I was at the peak of my mental fitness. My brain was sharp and strong.

These days, it feels much harder to think and learn. Too often, I notice that I’m impatient like a toddler. I want the answers quickly.

What’s changed in the last 10 years?

While learning has never been easy for me, deep learning felt easier 10 years ago because:

  • I had a basic flip phone that could only make calls and send texts (I resisted getting a smartphone for as long as possible).
  • I had lots of time and space to learn.
  • I was surrounded by other people who were constantly learning (other PhD students and academics).

 

Contrast those conditions to the modern environment most of us find ourselves in today:

  • We carry smartphones in our pockets containing addictive social media apps that hijack our attention.
  • This tech leaves us feeling increasingly isolated and disconnected from one another.
  • Many of us have been repeatedly infected with an airborne virus (COVID-19) that has been shown to cause cognitive impairment and damage to our immune systems.
  • Then there’s the new kid on the block: generative AI. Instead of being used as a study tool, generative AI is doing the work for us.

 

If you wanted to create a recipe to diminish a person’s ability to learn and think deeply, those would be the perfect ingredients.

Students today find themselves in an environment that actively works against deep learning. In this environment, we are pushed to learn in superficial ways, if at all.

A recent Guardian piece explored how AI is having a negative impact on students’ ability to study. Survey research conducted in the UK found a staggering 62 per cent of students agreed with the statement, “It’s too easy to find the answers without doing the work myself.”

Only 2 per cent of students said they did not use AI.

AI has become a crutch for many people

As humans, we tend to live for the short-term. Thinking about the future and long-term planning are not strengths for most of us, especially teenagers whose brains are still developing.

Now, imagine you’re a young person who finds high school incredibly boring. You’re a little insecure, and you lack confidence in your ability to learn. To make matters worse, you can’t see the point of your subjects and how what you’re learning is going to help you later in life.

Suddenly, a free tool appears in your world that can help you avoid the pain, suffering, and potential humiliation of failure with your school subjects. It can also save you a lot of time.

This tool effortlessly pumps out an essay within seconds when it would take you many hours to write.

Would you be able to resist using this tool?

I’m almost certain I wouldn’t have been able to as a young person.

ChatGPT is like candy. It’s hard to resist. But resist we must because too much is at stake, especially for young people.

Resisting the temptation of AI

Many people I respect and admire speak enthusiastically about generative AI. There’s this palpable sense that if you don’t get on board the AI train, you’re going to be left behind.

But not everyone thinks this way.

A number of people, including Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin from the Center for Humane Technology, argue that those who become too dependent on AI for support and validation may suffer in the long run.

The use of AI is resulting in unbuilt skills remaining that way and already built skills diminishing.

For example, a group of researchers from MIT recently released a working paper called Your Brain on ChatGPT. This study took 54 students and asked them to perform a specific task over four sessions: writing an essay.

 

The students were split into three groups:

  • LLM (large language model) group: They were allowed to use ChatGPT to write their essays
  • Search engine group: They could use a search engine to write their essays
  • Brain-only group: They had to rely on their brains to write their essays

 

The researchers examined students’ brain activity as they worked on their essays to assess cognitive engagement and cognitive load. They found that the brain-only group had higher levels of neural connectivity, which was associated with stronger memory and firmer ownership of the written work.

The researchers stated in the discussion section of their working paper:

“[AI tools] may unintentionally hinder deep cognitive processing, retention and authentic engagement with written material. If users rely heavily on AI tools, they may achieve superficial fluency but fail to internalize the knowledge or feel a sense of ownership over it.”

The researchers did something really interesting in the fourth and final essay writing session: they switched the groups.

The students in the brain-only group could now use ChatGPT to write their essays and the LLM group had to rely on their brains (no more ChatGPT for them).

How did each group do?

The brain-only group performed better when using ChatGPT. These students had already engaged with the ideas more deeply and therefore seemed able to critically examine the information ChatGPT brought up.

In contrast, the LLM group struggled when it came to just using their brains after using AI to write their essays for the first three sessions.

The lead researcher of this study, Dr Nataliya Kosmyna, summed it up nicely when she said in a TV interview, “Use your brain”.

What I take from this working paper is that if you want to have a deeper learning experience and create more original work, it’s best to avoid using generative AI. But if you must use AI, hold off on using it in the early stages of a writing project.

Freeing yourself from AI dependence 

If you feel like you’ve become dependent on AI, it’s not too late to turn things around.

The human brain is incredibly resilient. You can learn to work differently. You can learn how to learn.

In the book The Disengaged Teen, Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop state:

“More than ever before, what kids need now is to become better at learning. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating rapidly, and everyone agrees that the pace of change will continue to be dizzying. Uncertainty is the new norm. No one knows exactly what shifts in jobs and society are in store. What can best protect and prepare our kids? Rose Luckin, a British professor and AI expert is blunt: Make them “good at learning.” The only thing that can insulate them from rapid change and give them the confidence to move forward is the ability to learn and adapt.”

It’s not too late to reclaim your cognitive power. But you’ll have to push your brain to the point of discomfort without using AI.

Just like you can’t build muscle by getting an exoskeleton to lift heavy weights for you, you’ll have to do the work and resist the temptation to outsource tasks to generative AI. But it’s important to get clear on why you want to build cognitive power and resist the allure of AI.

My reasons for building cognitive power and resisting AI

When a man I used to train at the gym with told me he was using AI to write his blog posts, my first thought was, “Why would you want to do that?”

I refuse to use generative AI to write any of my blogs. Why? Because for the most part, I get a lot of satisfaction from writing.

Yes, it can be frustrating and painful to write.
Yes, I usually always feel awkward and clumsy as I put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.
Yes, it can take a lot of time to write an article.

But writing is a form of thinking. It helps me to make sense of the world. It also gives me a sense of purpose.

When I put a piece of my own writing out into the world, I feel good about it. I wrestled with ideas and, as a result, learnt something new.

If I offload all of my work to ChatGPT, I’ve robbed myself of a valuable opportunity to think, learn, and grow.

As Dr Nancy Colier states in her book The Power of Off:

“We are conditioned to believe that easier means better, that the less we have to do, the happier we will be. But often this is not in line with people’s actual experiences. We feel good when we are productive and engaged, which requires effort.”

To sum up

It’s only natural to be amazed by the things AI can do. But it’s also important to be fully aware of what this technology has the potential to do to our brains, relationships, and the quality of our lives.

Based on the research I’ve read so far, I’m not convinced this technology is good for young people to use. It’s too easy to become dependent on using generative AI, to fall for its hallucinations, and for cognitive skills to atrophy or not develop at all. Let’s also not forget how energy-intensive all those data centres are.

This is why I’m resisting using generative AI as much as possible.

If you care about your brain, people, the health of the planet, and all the things that make life rich and wonderful, stop and think twice before turning to an AI chatbot. Be brave: use your brain and trust your thinking.

 

Image Credit:

Toddler (featured in image 2): “Skeptical” by quinn.anya is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Do one thing at a time

Over 10 years ago, I interviewed a woman who was addicted to her phone.

For context, she was a sales manager who used a BlackBerry phone for work (a fancy, expensive device at the time).

Every minute of the interview, her phone pinged with a notification or she received an email alert on her laptop. She’d glance at one of her devices and, with a panicked look, say, “I need to answer this!”

It was an awkward and disjointed conversation, full of stops and starts. I have to admit, her behaviour annoyed me. I soon realised I wasn’t the only person feeling this way.

The sales manager mentioned that she had a 4-year-old daughter who would get upset with her.

She told me that her little girl would beg her to put her phone and computer away. She’d tug at her clothes and cry, “Mummy! Mummy! Put your phone away!”

Put your phone away!

I appreciated this woman’s honesty, especially when she said to me:

“On the weekend, I’m with my kids but not truly with them… if you know what I mean”.

I knew exactly what she meant.

That was over 10 years ago. Fast forward to today, and we’re all a bit like that sales manager. But things are a lot worse now.

Instead of being overwhelmed and distracted by phone calls and work emails, we’re dealing with powerful Big Tech companies that hijack our time, energy, and attention.

They’ve made us weak-willed and impulsive.

We’re now in a position where distraction is something we crave rather than put up with.

When we have a gap in our schedule or we have to wait in line, what do most of us do? We reach for our phones without even thinking.

Rather than be alone with our thoughts, we desperately try to fill the space with ‘phone snacks’.

When we feel confused, frustrated, or bored, we run to our devices to escape the discomfort and our brains reward us for doing so.

Every time we switch tasks, our brain releases a little shot of dopamine.

It’s these quick hits of dopamine that train us to crave checking our phones and, ultimately, multitasking.

In an environment of unrestricted tech use, my brain is like a wild monkey. It wants to run around, make a mess, and explore many different things all at once.

Wild monkey brain

I can relate to Dr Nancy Colier when she writes in The Power of Off, the mind on technology is like a “wild, locked-up monkey that’s drunk two bottles of wine chased by a shot of Scotch and been stung by a whole swarm of bees”.

When I start multitasking (and it doesn’t take much to get me going), I feel amped up, frenzied, and agitated. My energy feels a little crazy.

Research shows that as we quickly switch from one task to another, we rapidly deplete our finite mental resources and put our brains under a lot of stress.

But it gets worse . . .

When we multitask, we also experience what researcher Sophie Leroy calls Attention Residue.

In a research paper called Why is it so hard to do my work? Leroy explains Attention Residue as the extent to which your attention is only partially focused on the current activity because a prior activity (the task you rapidly switched from) is still holding part of your attention.

Attention residue paper

Why does this matter?

Leroy’s research found that when you experience Attention Residue, your performance suffers.

It’s as if you’ve taken a big dollop of the previous task and put a thick slather of it all over the current task, thereby making a mess of the present moment.

The quest to be (and stay) present

The good news is we can stop messing with our precious moments by focusing on one task at a time.

In his excellent book Time Surfing, Zen Monk Paul Loomans encourages us to focus on one task at a time, with minimal interruptions, and do it until completion. He says if we do this, we will experience a sense of calm and pleasure in everything we do.

Time Surfing by Paul Loomans

Even tasks we consider boring or mundane (e.g., peeling potatoes or cleaning your room) can be transformed into artistry when you are truly present.

Part of the problem is that we’re often in a rush to get to the next thing on our to-do lists. But as Loomans warns, “Rushing is like gulping down time. You’re not living for now but for later”.

To counter this frenetic urge to race ahead, Loomans suggests that we accept whatever we are doing as “the activity of the moment”. In other words, we view the task before us as the most important thing we can be doing in this moment and we forget the rest.

It’s a simple but powerful mental shift.

I’ve noticed that when I accept whatever I am doing as the thing I should be doing right now, I no longer feel the urge to work with such intense energy. I feel calmer. An added bonus is that when I slow down, I make fewer mistakes and tend to do a better job.

At the heart of it, doing one thing at a time means showing up to life and being present, to the good stuff but also the painful, boring bits.

If you find yourself reaching for your phone more than you’d like, ask yourself this question:

“Am I reaching for my phone to escape the present moment?”

For me, the answer is usually yes. I’m trying to avoid the discomfort of life. But life tends to be more meaningful and enjoyable when I stay fully present to what’s happening around me, with my phone out of sight.

Strategies to help you live with greater intention and focus

Technology will dominate your life, and multitasking will be an issue unless you have strategies to protect your time, energy, and attention.

What motivates me to set limits on my tech use (specifically my phone) is a desire to feel calm, grounded, and focused. I also want to live a life of substance, not one in which I am constantly chasing instant gratification.

Here are the strategies that I am currently practising to help me decrease multitasking and cultivate calm:

1. My phone is out of sight for most of the day

My phone is not within arm's reach

When I’m with someone or working on an important task, I put my phone away and keep it out of sight. I want to be fully present with the person I’m with or the task at hand. Why?

Because attention is how we show others they matter.

When someone is checking their phone in a social situation, it communicates “I’m more interested in what’s happening on this screen than I am in you”.

When I think back to the interview with the sales manager, it would have been a better experience for everyone if she had put her phone on silent, left it in her bag, and closed her laptop.

There would have been fewer times saying “What was the question again?” and “Sorry, I can’t remember what we were talking about”.

We probably would have felt more connected, too.

Note: Even when my phone isn’t within arm’s reach, I can still catch myself rapidly switching between web browsers and tasks. However, I’ve noticed that my multitasking significantly increases when my phone is within arm’s reach.

2. I do intermittent phone fasting

You’ve probably heard of intermittent fasting, where you have a window for eating (e.g., 10am to 6pm). But have you heard of phone fasting?

Phone fasting is a period during the day when your phone is not within reach.

As TJ Power states in The Dose Effect:

“A phone fast enables your dopamine to replenish and creates the opportunity for connection and restoration.”

So, as an experiment, for 30 days, I phone fasted from 8pm until 12noon the next day (allowing myself to make urgent calls if needed). I discovered that this made a big difference to my ability to focus. I also experienced a sense of calm like never before.

3. I create a wish list at the start of the day

At the start of the day, I create a ‘Wish List’ (another wonderful concept from Paul Looman’s Time Surfing book).

I write down all the things I’d like to do in the day, but there’s no pressure to do all of them. I then put the list away, and depending on how I feel, I listen to my intuition and trust myself to choose the right activity to begin with.

Before I start a work session, I also declare what I intend to do (e.g., “Chop vegetables for curry” or “Write for 45 minutes”). If possible, I also like to share what I plan to do with another human (I use an online coworking community called Cave Day to do this).

4. I take regular movement breaks

Regular movement breaks

After every 25-30 minutes of work, I aim to take a short movement break (usually 2-5 minutes in duration). This helps me to stay energised and alert. But most importantly, it gives me a brain boost.

What I wish I had understood when I was younger is that you can’t focus for hours on end. It’s not humanly possible because your brain has a finite amount of attentional resources. This means as you focus on doing a task, your attentional resources get depleted (and if you multitask, you accelerate the depletion even more!).

However, research shows you can boost your attentional resources by taking short breaks or, as Paul Loomans likes to call them, ‘breathers’.

A ‘breather’ is any activity that allows you to get out of your head and grounded in your body.

Some of my favourite breather activities include going for a short walk, chopping vegetables, or riding my bike to pick up a package from the post office. These activities allow my brain and thoughts to roam free.

Although many of us default to checking our phones during breaks, resist the urge. The problem with using your phone on a break is that you’re still in your head. This means you’re churning through your attentional resources instead of replenishing them.

Final thoughts

The sense of calm and pleasure I experience when I stop multitasking and focus on doing one thing at a time is second to none.

But in the age of the Attention Economy, with so many companies trying to hijack our attention, it takes discipline and practice to stay focused.

Without strategies in place to protect your focus, the default will be multitasking and its friends – chaos, stress, and fatigue.

We may not have a 4-year-old child tugging on our clothes when we’re using our phones. But perhaps we should all listen to the wisdom of that little girl and put our phones away.