This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about where I spend my valuable attention. More than ever, our attention is commodified, scattered, taken advantage of. More than ever, our advertising “eyeballs” are divided among a million ads, disinformation campaigns, and valid, valuable news or bids for connection. And now, it’s more vital than ever to say “Fuck that.”
When we set household budgets, the first step is to be aware of where and how we spend our money. I encourage everyone right now to pay attention to where you spend attention. A little bit of mindfulness will begin to reveal how often we pay attention to things we don’t value. How often we pay attention to things we do not wish to grow.
Yes, it’s no longer possible to ignore the news like I did in 2011. I don’t know if any of us still has that privilege in the US. But self-care is vital for sanity, and for sustainable, long-term effort.
Here’s my Attention Budgeting Plan:
- Real clocks – As I try to distance myself from my phone, I find that having real clocks is critical – both beside my bed and around the house. Josh recently did this in his own effort to reduce screen time, and I found that shift to be very useful. My new alarm clock even has a dimmer on the clock face!
- Curated News Apps – Rather than allow myself to ingest news passively via random feeds or social media, I am creating a more deliberate and curated view using an app. (I’m currently testing both Newsbreak and Flipboard.) I’ve been testing these apps because there isn’t a great single source of news in my rural area, but also because there are certain news sources and topics that it does me no good to read about. By curating these things, I can remain aware when I’m willing and in a good mental space to engage with the news.
- Moving Social Media to “Work” – I’m officially deleting most social media platforms off my phone and moving them to a tab group that I use at my computer during working hours. I still need to engage with and grow social media channels, but I don’t need to spend every second of down-time on them. I’ve found the random intermittent reinforcement has created bad habits, and those are attention-sucks that tend to create anxiety without any actionable outcomes.
- Scheduling Social Posts When Possible – Basically, I’ll use tools like Buffer to schedule out regular posts, then use time during my workday to respond to replies, repost, and interact with my feeds. I’ve been doing this for a while on four platforms already. Now I’m expanding that process to other channels.
- Rethinking my Connections – I try to maintain connections with others via text, email, and closed communities (like Patreon). I have a few neighbors that are only really accessible via actual phone calls (eeeeek!). But I’ve been using the parasocial relationships with the little people in my phone for a long time to feel less isolated, especially when the nights get long and dark up here on my ridge.
What Will I do with the Free Time?
Good question! I know that texts, emails, and those kinds of things will still be a part of my evening downtime.
I’m hoping I’ll be able to do more reading. This time of year, I often build a fire, and set about managing my list of things that need mending and tending. Darning socks, mending old clothes that still have life in them, repairing small things around the house. In December, I have a little advent calendar routine I do each night that I enjoy.
What I usually find when I limit my social media time is that I have a lot more time and energy to create things. I believe that right now, creating things is a huge part of what we should all be doing. (I think I might be putting together a low-cost single session class about this.)