How To RECLAIM Your Attention Span - 4 Mindsets to Deepen Focus

00:22:15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtQ27HQsROw

Summary

TLDRThis week's episode continues the discussion on the declining attention spans of young people, focusing on solutions rather than causes. The previous episode covered the theoretical aspects; this one is practical, offering actionable tips to regain attention skills. The speaker, a member of Generation Z, advocates for four mindset shifts: developing attention as a skill, viewing it as pleasurable rather than a chore, dividing reading programs, and creating technology-free zones. Attention is likened to a muscle that can be strengthened, and engaging in immersive tasks can enhance personal satisfaction. The speaker also stresses setting positive environmental cues to build consistent reading habits. This approach does not dismiss older generations' experiences but acknowledges the unique challenges faced by those born into the digital age. Implementing these strategies can help anyone keen on improving their focus, regardless of age.

Takeaways

  • 🧠 Attention is a skill that can be developed and cultivated.
  • 💡 Reframe attention as something pleasurable, not a chore.
  • 📚 Divide and conquer long reading materials for consistent progress.
  • 📵 Create technology-free zones to enhance focus.
  • 🌟 Achieving 'flow' can lead to greater happiness and satisfaction.
  • 🏋️‍♂️ Consistent practice is key to building attention muscles.
  • 📅 Set environmental cues and routines for effective reading habits.
  • ⏳ Attention spans have been weakened by constant technological distractions.
  • 🪟 Recollect past moments of deep focus for motivation.
  • 🔄 Viewing attention as a delightful challenge can improve engagement.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    In this episode, the focus shifts from discussing the philosophical implications of declining attention spans in young people to proposing actionable solutions for regaining attention. The speaker intends to provide practical tips applicable not just to students, but to anyone wanting to improve their focus. The motivation stems from addressing societal narratives that Generation Z cannot escape diminishing attention spans and advocating for individual agency against these sweeping generalizations.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The discussion emphasizes that attention is a skill that can be cultivated, even for digital natives who grew up with technology. The speaker argues that previous generations take focus for granted, not recognizing the unique challenges faced by younger people today. He suggests approaching focus and immersion as trainable skills, akin to learning to cook, and emphasizes the importance of viewing attention as essential, particularly in the digital age.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The speaker introduces the idea of associating attention with pleasure, citing Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of 'flow,' where challenging tasks lead to satisfaction. He suggests recalling instances of deep engagement to rewire one's perception of attention from a burdensome task to a source of enjoyment. This reframe positions attention as a rewarding, pleasurable state when fully immersed in a task, contrary to the perception of it being arduous or stressful.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:22:15

    Lastly, the speaker highlights practical methods for cultivating attention: dividing reading material into manageable portions, maintaining environmental cues conducive to focus, and prioritizing consistency over duration. He stresses that setting a routine, such as reading at the same place and time daily, helps establish better attention habits. These structured approaches aim to enhance focus over time, debunking the generational myth that young people can't concentrate for extended periods.

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Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is the topic of the video?

    The video focuses on addressing the declining attention span in young people and offers solutions to improve it.

  • What does the speaker propose?

    The speaker proposes four actionable and simple strategies to improve and regain attention.

  • Who can benefit from this video?

    While aimed at young people, anyone seeking to improve their attention span can benefit.

  • Why might young people struggle with attention?

    The speaker argues that young people lack a clear roadmap to develop their attention skills.

  • What are the four key strategies mentioned?

    1. Develop attention as a skill. 2. Reframe attention as pleasurable. 3. Divide and conquer reading materials. 4. Create technology quarantine zones.

  • What role do environmental cues play in attention?

    Positive environmental cues are crucial for establishing a consistent reading habit, making it easier to focus.

  • What does 'flow' refer to in the context of this video?

    'Flow' refers to a state of deep immersion and focus where time passes unnoticeably, often leading to higher satisfaction.

  • How does the speaker suggest handling long reading materials?

    By dividing them into smaller, manageable segments and focusing on consistency rather than intensity.

  • Can older generations also find these methods useful?

    Yes, the methods are applicable to anyone looking to improve their focus and attention span.

  • How does reframing attention as pleasurable help?

    It encourages seeing focus and immersion as rewarding and satisfying, facilitating better engagement.

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  • 00:00:00
    all right welcome back and this week's
  • 00:00:03
    episode is going to be a continuation of
  • 00:00:04
    last week's episode on this topic of the
  • 00:00:07
    declining attention span in young people
  • 00:00:10
    and instead of diving to some of the
  • 00:00:11
    philosophical ramifications and instead
  • 00:00:13
    of trying to figure out what's going on
  • 00:00:15
    because I think I articulated uh 90% if
  • 00:00:18
    not 95% of everything that I wanted to
  • 00:00:20
    talk about in last week's episode so if
  • 00:00:22
    you want to dive into some of the
  • 00:00:24
    discussions and some of the theoretical
  • 00:00:26
    stuff I recommend you to check out last
  • 00:00:29
    week's episode but in this episode I'm
  • 00:00:31
    purely speaking from a place of um this
  • 00:00:34
    is a problem that needs to change and
  • 00:00:36
    here are some proposed solutions that I
  • 00:00:38
    see that are pretty uh pretty actionable
  • 00:00:41
    and pretty simple to apply for you to
  • 00:00:42
    retain or regain your attention as a
  • 00:00:45
    young person so so even if you're not a
  • 00:00:48
    young person even though if you're not
  • 00:00:49
    like a university student and if you
  • 00:00:51
    want to recapture your attention this
  • 00:00:52
    video will be very helpful for you as
  • 00:00:54
    well so let's start from the very
  • 00:00:56
    beginning what prompted me to make this
  • 00:00:58
    video and what is the kind of like
  • 00:01:00
    motivation that's behind this video
  • 00:01:02
    because I feel like that's quite
  • 00:01:03
    important one of the main limitations of
  • 00:01:06
    Sociology uh and one of the main
  • 00:01:08
    limitations within um one of these
  • 00:01:10
    overarching explanations is that it
  • 00:01:12
    deprives the agency from the subjects
  • 00:01:15
    who are being studied so that's quite a
  • 00:01:17
    mouthful so let's break it down so
  • 00:01:19
    whenever we make a broad sweeping
  • 00:01:20
    statement of like this provocative title
  • 00:01:23
    something like the elite college
  • 00:01:25
    students who can no longer read books or
  • 00:01:27
    who can't read books where the declining
  • 00:01:29
    attention span of Generation Z there's
  • 00:01:31
    always the sense of like this is
  • 00:01:34
    something we cannot escape from this is
  • 00:01:36
    something that's ingraining this
  • 00:01:37
    generation there's some hidden social
  • 00:01:39
    force that are out to get us and
  • 00:01:42
    sometimes you know for the people who
  • 00:01:43
    are Conjuring out these explanations and
  • 00:01:45
    theories there's a sense of like this
  • 00:01:47
    generation's hopeless they can never
  • 00:01:49
    ever regain their attention and for
  • 00:01:51
    those of us so I'm Generation Z I was
  • 00:01:54
    born in 2001 for those of us who are
  • 00:01:57
    listening to these overarching
  • 00:01:58
    explanations there's a sense of like are
  • 00:02:01
    we really up or can we do certain
  • 00:02:04
    things to counteract this explanation or
  • 00:02:07
    can we uh take back our agency to do
  • 00:02:09
    something about this problem so in a
  • 00:02:11
    sense today's video was prompted by this
  • 00:02:13
    kind of um should I say righteous
  • 00:02:15
    indonation once again because I see a
  • 00:02:17
    lot of people talking about like look
  • 00:02:19
    young people are up they can
  • 00:02:21
    never recover their attention you know
  • 00:02:22
    reading uh isn't what it used to be like
  • 00:02:25
    you know back in my days we used to sit
  • 00:02:26
    down and rewarm peace around o clock
  • 00:02:28
    around uh around fire uh that kind of
  • 00:02:31
    stuff so in this video I simply want to
  • 00:02:33
    give you guys four major mindset shifts
  • 00:02:36
    or four things that I Ed to use uh as a
  • 00:02:39
    part of my degree to complete some
  • 00:02:41
    pretty long readings and yes I am gen Z
  • 00:02:44
    and I didn't manage to complete a this
  • 00:02:46
    long readings so I think um if you want
  • 00:02:48
    to use me as an anomaly or if you want
  • 00:02:51
    to Simply use some of the some of the
  • 00:02:53
    tips that I had to help me get through
  • 00:02:55
    those long readings in this climate in
  • 00:02:57
    this technological climate follow along
  • 00:02:59
    the video and I think you have a lot to
  • 00:03:01
    gather from this video so the four key
  • 00:03:04
    reframes I'm going to give you I'm just
  • 00:03:05
    going to give you a brief summary which
  • 00:03:07
    is first you have to realize attention
  • 00:03:09
    is a skill that you can develop and
  • 00:03:11
    second you need to reframe attention not
  • 00:03:13
    as a chore but as something pleasurable
  • 00:03:16
    third you need to divide and conquer
  • 00:03:19
    your reading programs and number four
  • 00:03:21
    you need to create technology quantin
  • 00:03:24
    zones so let's go into detail of each
  • 00:03:28
    one of these four points number one
  • 00:03:30
    attention is a skill that can be
  • 00:03:32
    developed attention is a skill that can
  • 00:03:35
    be developed and cultivated so just like
  • 00:03:38
    what we've talked about in last week's
  • 00:03:39
    episode you know a lot of people don't
  • 00:03:41
    don't read books anymore so there's um
  • 00:03:44
    nric reaction to blame young people for
  • 00:03:45
    not seeing the value of literature or
  • 00:03:48
    not seeing um the kind of inherent uh
  • 00:03:51
    exhilaration in Reading longer books
  • 00:03:53
    well my argument is simply we weren't
  • 00:03:55
    presented with a road mapap to get there
  • 00:03:57
    we weren't presented with the steps or a
  • 00:03:59
    knowhow or the kind of value proposition
  • 00:04:02
    that some people might think it's
  • 00:04:04
    inherent but for a lot of people it
  • 00:04:06
    deserves some kind of explanation so I
  • 00:04:08
    think it's the same thing with this kind
  • 00:04:10
    of developing this act of De developing
  • 00:04:12
    attention and focus there simply isn't a
  • 00:04:14
    road map out there we're boring to the
  • 00:04:17
    generation where fracturing attention in
  • 00:04:19
    some cases might actually be more
  • 00:04:21
    beneficial than maintaining focus and
  • 00:04:23
    because our curriculum is designed in
  • 00:04:25
    such a way that we need to constantly
  • 00:04:27
    switch our attention from different
  • 00:04:28
    subjects there's there are very little
  • 00:04:31
    corners for immersion in our cour workor
  • 00:04:33
    as a part of our high school curriculum
  • 00:04:35
    and sometimes University curriculum so
  • 00:04:37
    by the time we get to a stage where we
  • 00:04:39
    need to use the skill of attention and
  • 00:04:41
    focus we tend to struggle a lot so here
  • 00:04:44
    here's the main problem that I see is
  • 00:04:46
    that a lot of people who are born in the
  • 00:04:48
    older generation Millennials in some
  • 00:04:51
    cases generation x they sort of take the
  • 00:04:53
    skill of focus for granted they think to
  • 00:04:56
    themselves you know if we can do it you
  • 00:04:57
    guys can do it too without realizing
  • 00:04:59
    that we're growing up on radically
  • 00:05:02
    different timelines we were in a Sense
  • 00:05:04
    Digital Citizens We're digital natives
  • 00:05:07
    we were born into this world already
  • 00:05:09
    surrounded by these Technologies and I
  • 00:05:12
    remember I had my first iPad you know
  • 00:05:14
    when I was fairly young maybe when I was
  • 00:05:16
    eight or nine I had an iPad already and
  • 00:05:18
    that was really scary to reconcile with
  • 00:05:21
    and it was very scary to kind of develop
  • 00:05:22
    the focus skills necessary to still read
  • 00:05:25
    books in this age where everything's
  • 00:05:27
    kind of trying to distract us away from
  • 00:05:28
    the physical page so I think some of the
  • 00:05:30
    challenges that we're facing right now
  • 00:05:32
    are simply unprecedented and it's really
  • 00:05:35
    really difficult to use the old tools to
  • 00:05:37
    counteract new problems and in fact a
  • 00:05:40
    lot of you guys who are a little bit
  • 00:05:41
    older you guys have also let me comments
  • 00:05:43
    saying stuff like you know you guys used
  • 00:05:46
    to read a lot more books until
  • 00:05:48
    technology rolled in so you know if even
  • 00:05:52
    you guys find it really difficult to do
  • 00:05:54
    uh to maintain focus when technolog is
  • 00:05:56
    here you know think about how difficult
  • 00:05:58
    it is for us when we're kind of brought
  • 00:06:00
    up with these Technologies and when we
  • 00:06:03
    didn't even have the chance to really
  • 00:06:05
    get a sense of what you guys are talking
  • 00:06:06
    about when you talk about long stretches
  • 00:06:08
    of focus so I think um it's rather
  • 00:06:11
    unfair to straight away shut the door in
  • 00:06:14
    our faces and say look um you guys are
  • 00:06:16
    just bad at focusing and there's nothing
  • 00:06:18
    we can do about it and I think that's
  • 00:06:20
    quite unfair and I think what needs to
  • 00:06:22
    be done is that we need to open up the
  • 00:06:24
    discussion again to treat attention and
  • 00:06:26
    focus as a muscle that even people who
  • 00:06:29
    are brought up in the digital age even
  • 00:06:31
    people who are digital natives we too
  • 00:06:33
    can Implement some of these strategies
  • 00:06:35
    to develop Focus uh to develop or to
  • 00:06:38
    recover that sense of attention because
  • 00:06:40
    I think um this might be one of the most
  • 00:06:42
    important skills that we can learn in
  • 00:06:44
    the 21st century and as we dive deeper
  • 00:06:48
    into this video it does have certain
  • 00:06:50
    benefits or psychological benefits and
  • 00:06:52
    it will transform your life it's one of
  • 00:06:54
    these life skills like cooking um at
  • 00:06:57
    first you kind of suck at it you don't
  • 00:06:58
    really know how to do it well but over
  • 00:07:01
    time as you go through certain periods
  • 00:07:02
    of trial and error you get better at it
  • 00:07:05
    and it's okay not to do it perfectly and
  • 00:07:08
    it's okay if if older people yell at you
  • 00:07:11
    for not doing it perfectly it's fine
  • 00:07:13
    just as long as you have that commitment
  • 00:07:15
    make a commitment to train up your
  • 00:07:17
    attention or to view attention and focus
  • 00:07:20
    as an essential life skill and I think
  • 00:07:22
    we are going to be on the right
  • 00:07:24
    track so reframe number two key reframe
  • 00:07:28
    number two
  • 00:07:30
    and I'm mainly going to talk to my
  • 00:07:33
    generation here which is Gen Z and I
  • 00:07:35
    think some of us we did have some
  • 00:07:38
    windows of being fully immersed in a
  • 00:07:41
    book when we were younger we did have
  • 00:07:43
    some sort of faint memories of you know
  • 00:07:45
    it was a rainy day we're sitting at home
  • 00:07:48
    and maybe it's a novel or maybe it's a
  • 00:07:50
    science science uh Illustrated science
  • 00:07:52
    book or maybe it's one of these really
  • 00:07:54
    captivating comic books you know we had
  • 00:07:57
    some sort of inkling of being completely
  • 00:07:59
    immersed in one thing for Pearl on hours
  • 00:08:02
    so step number two is simply get simply
  • 00:08:05
    to get you to reassociate attention with
  • 00:08:08
    pleasure so in the 1980s a uh
  • 00:08:11
    psychologist by the name of mahale
  • 00:08:14
    chisay conducted a series of research
  • 00:08:17
    around this phenomenon called flow so if
  • 00:08:19
    you are kind of in this kind of
  • 00:08:20
    productivity uh if you're a bit of a
  • 00:08:22
    productivity junkie or if you're a
  • 00:08:23
    self-help junkie you think you know I
  • 00:08:25
    think you're you're already pretty
  • 00:08:27
    familiar with this concept of flow so
  • 00:08:29
    the Paradox that he discovered with flow
  • 00:08:32
    is that actually what we would
  • 00:08:34
    traditionally think as really difficult
  • 00:08:36
    things that would cause a lot of strain
  • 00:08:38
    on a human mind they actually ended up
  • 00:08:40
    being more satisfying to the human mind
  • 00:08:42
    than low effort tasks so his conclusion
  • 00:08:45
    was the human mind on some level needs
  • 00:08:48
    that sort of Challenge and it needs that
  • 00:08:50
    sort of uh needs to stretch itself to
  • 00:08:53
    its Max ability and that's what actually
  • 00:08:55
    creates more happiness and that's
  • 00:08:58
    actually going to facilitate a um
  • 00:09:00
    renewed sense of well-being so in a
  • 00:09:03
    sense if we argue from that point of um
  • 00:09:05
    the human brain needs constant challenge
  • 00:09:07
    then we can simply uh we can simply
  • 00:09:10
    reason to the fact that maybe attention
  • 00:09:12
    itself is not bad for the human brain or
  • 00:09:15
    maybe we can rewire our attitude toward
  • 00:09:17
    attention from it being something
  • 00:09:20
    arduous and really difficult to achieve
  • 00:09:23
    or something that's torturous or
  • 00:09:25
    something that's really just just like a
  • 00:09:28
    chore that you have to do to something
  • 00:09:31
    that you can actually derive a lot of
  • 00:09:32
    pleasure from so I want you to recall a
  • 00:09:35
    a piece of memory I want you to recall a
  • 00:09:39
    time that you've done something really
  • 00:09:41
    difficult for a long stretch of time
  • 00:09:43
    maybe assembling it's assembling a new
  • 00:09:45
    bike maybe it's putting together a new
  • 00:09:47
    Lego model maybe it is diving into one
  • 00:09:50
    of your favorite science fiction books
  • 00:09:52
    that attention would was so immersive
  • 00:09:55
    that you would end up walking out of
  • 00:09:56
    your room or walking out of the house
  • 00:09:58
    steal feeling dazed from that immersive
  • 00:10:02
    engagement with that one
  • 00:10:04
    thing just recall how good that felt and
  • 00:10:08
    just recall that once you've done that
  • 00:10:11
    thing attention didn't really feel like
  • 00:10:13
    a chore attention didn't really feel
  • 00:10:16
    like this massive thing that you need to
  • 00:10:17
    struggle against or attention didn't
  • 00:10:19
    really feel like forcing yourself to
  • 00:10:22
    complete a task from school because I
  • 00:10:24
    think over time in a high school
  • 00:10:25
    education system that sort of immersive
  • 00:10:28
    Dimensions beaten out of us because
  • 00:10:29
    we're constantly being told to do
  • 00:10:31
    something else instead of indulging the
  • 00:10:33
    things that really demand our attention
  • 00:10:35
    so over time we've learned how to
  • 00:10:37
    fracture our attention to complete a
  • 00:10:39
    history essay here to work on that
  • 00:10:41
    science paper there to study for this
  • 00:10:44
    exam here so we really never get this
  • 00:10:46
    Windows of of opportunities to get fully
  • 00:10:49
    immersed in one thing get stuck into one
  • 00:10:51
    thing and completely access that flow
  • 00:10:53
    which is um which is a shame so I think
  • 00:10:57
    the second step towards recapturing your
  • 00:10:59
    attention
  • 00:10:59
    is actually to bring back a time when
  • 00:11:02
    you did feel like you're completely
  • 00:11:04
    engaged in a thing where you did feel
  • 00:11:06
    like you're sort of um you're sort of
  • 00:11:09
    flowing with the time you get completely
  • 00:11:11
    absorbed in a moment and hours pass by
  • 00:11:14
    without you even realizing it and to
  • 00:11:16
    realize that that is actually the peak
  • 00:11:18
    of attention not some kind of uh
  • 00:11:20
    Boogyman or not sort some not some kind
  • 00:11:24
    of Boogie phenomena where you have to
  • 00:11:26
    you know string real hard to read one
  • 00:11:28
    thing you know that's what what
  • 00:11:29
    attention feels like in reality it feels
  • 00:11:32
    quite pleasurable and that state of flow
  • 00:11:34
    is actually going to make you a happier
  • 00:11:36
    person so that ties back to point number
  • 00:11:38
    one if you practice attention
  • 00:11:40
    sufficiently you will actually be
  • 00:11:42
    opening up more periods in your life
  • 00:11:44
    where you could tap into that higher
  • 00:11:46
    heightened state of mental
  • 00:11:48
    well-being so after we've kind of talked
  • 00:11:51
    about the sort of um why attention is
  • 00:11:54
    important and why it's a scope that you
  • 00:11:55
    can develop and second of all why
  • 00:11:57
    attention is supposed to be pleasurable
  • 00:11:58
    point Point number three is that if you
  • 00:12:01
    ever want to tap into the state of
  • 00:12:03
    attention if you really want to maximize
  • 00:12:06
    the possibility of flow when it comes
  • 00:12:08
    down to your reading and when it comes
  • 00:12:09
    down to um reading longer books you
  • 00:12:13
    really have to divide and conquer so for
  • 00:12:16
    example right now um I don't have it
  • 00:12:18
    with me currently but uh currently I'm
  • 00:12:21
    reading the ilad and on as side I'm
  • 00:12:23
    reading this book by the name of
  • 00:12:25
    overstory by Richard Powers it is a
  • 00:12:28
    pretty long book it is about 600 pages
  • 00:12:31
    and normally if you buy a 600 page book
  • 00:12:34
    you're in your head you're thinking to
  • 00:12:35
    yourself my God this is going to take me
  • 00:12:36
    a year to finish for most people most
  • 00:12:39
    Americans and most Australians they
  • 00:12:41
    don't finish Beyond two to three books a
  • 00:12:43
    year as statistics show and I think um I
  • 00:12:47
    I think that's a very intuitive reaction
  • 00:12:49
    if you see such a long and difficult
  • 00:12:52
    book it's really hard to imagine how you
  • 00:12:54
    would ever devise a plan to finish it so
  • 00:12:58
    here's where dividing and conquering
  • 00:13:00
    books here's the trick with dividing it
  • 00:13:02
    up so on a Surface this piece of advice
  • 00:13:05
    might contradict with what I said before
  • 00:13:08
    what I said before is like you know
  • 00:13:09
    immersing yourself in a thing could be
  • 00:13:11
    very pleasurable you know you need to
  • 00:13:13
    maximize the time span uh the time that
  • 00:13:16
    you spend on immersing yourself in a
  • 00:13:17
    book but actually because our attention
  • 00:13:19
    spans are a little bit weakened right
  • 00:13:21
    now by technology we need to set
  • 00:13:23
    realistic expectations and setting that
  • 00:13:26
    realistic expectation is all about
  • 00:13:28
    turning reading into a habit turning
  • 00:13:30
    reading into a consistent habit instead
  • 00:13:33
    of instead of investing all your energy
  • 00:13:35
    into a few chunks of hourlong time and
  • 00:13:38
    burning yourself out and continue not to
  • 00:13:40
    read for a few weeks straight so I think
  • 00:13:43
    I covered this in a few videos before
  • 00:13:45
    especially in the one um recently that I
  • 00:13:47
    published recently called how to finish
  • 00:13:49
    every book you start so check that video
  • 00:13:51
    out if you want more explanations on
  • 00:13:53
    this idea of prizing consistency over
  • 00:13:56
    the amount of pages write every day so
  • 00:13:58
    essentially what you need to do is to
  • 00:14:00
    realize that dividing your book up to
  • 00:14:02
    Tiny chunks uh will result in the most
  • 00:14:06
    Optimal Reading experience down the line
  • 00:14:09
    because the maths does not lie if you
  • 00:14:11
    read 20 Pages a day uh a week that's
  • 00:14:14
    simply 140 pages and you can finish uh a
  • 00:14:17
    pretty standard sized novel in two weeks
  • 00:14:19
    and you can finish one of these really
  • 00:14:21
    long novels in under a month so that
  • 00:14:24
    doesn't really take that long for you to
  • 00:14:26
    finish those books and I think rather
  • 00:14:28
    than having a long stretch of time for
  • 00:14:30
    you to read every single day if you can
  • 00:14:32
    do 20 minutes or even 10 minutes a star
  • 00:14:35
    if you can pay total attention to a
  • 00:14:36
    piece of literature for 10 minutes a day
  • 00:14:39
    that's already going to train your
  • 00:14:41
    attention muscle that's already going to
  • 00:14:43
    uh put you back in that state of
  • 00:14:45
    immersion and chances are sometimes
  • 00:14:48
    you're going to read Beyond 20 Pages
  • 00:14:49
    sometimes you're going to read Beyond 10
  • 00:14:50
    minutes and and those are pieces of
  • 00:14:53
    evidence that your attention is is
  • 00:14:55
    indeed growing and it's all about
  • 00:14:58
    putting to putting into a consistent
  • 00:14:59
    effort 10 minutes every day and to watch
  • 00:15:02
    that daily uh time grow and without
  • 00:15:05
    really setting a longer stretch of time
  • 00:15:08
    so priz consistency not the amount of
  • 00:15:11
    hours read every single day and don't
  • 00:15:13
    set up artificial limit like I'm going
  • 00:15:15
    to read for an hour today because
  • 00:15:17
    chances are you will burn out and
  • 00:15:18
    chances are you won't touch a book for
  • 00:15:20
    for at least a few weeks straight that's
  • 00:15:22
    not what we want instead I would
  • 00:15:24
    recommend you to underere so instead of
  • 00:15:27
    reading 30 pages you read 20 pages
  • 00:15:29
    instead of reading for 20 minutes you
  • 00:15:31
    read for 15 minutes so then again I
  • 00:15:33
    cover a lot of these Concepts in um the
  • 00:15:36
    video on how to finish every book you
  • 00:15:39
    start so go to that video check it out
  • 00:15:41
    and the third principle is simply to
  • 00:15:43
    divide and conquer your reading
  • 00:15:45
    program and the last step toward
  • 00:15:48
    developing your attention is to set up
  • 00:15:50
    the right environmental cues to set up
  • 00:15:54
    the things that you're going to really
  • 00:15:56
    um that you're going to really Vibe
  • 00:15:58
    within your environment because a lot of
  • 00:16:00
    the times when we struggle to crack open
  • 00:16:02
    open a book to read it when we struggle
  • 00:16:05
    to get down to our reading programs it's
  • 00:16:07
    not because well we lack willpower it's
  • 00:16:10
    not because we simply don't want to do
  • 00:16:11
    it that might be a part of it but it's
  • 00:16:13
    simply because our environment is wrong
  • 00:16:16
    so I see a lot of people try to read on
  • 00:16:18
    trains I personally can't really read on
  • 00:16:19
    trains I prefer audiobooks on trains or
  • 00:16:22
    a podcast during my train rides because
  • 00:16:24
    there's simply too many environmental
  • 00:16:26
    cues that try to pull you away from the
  • 00:16:28
    reading experience there simply too many
  • 00:16:31
    things that could potentially serve as
  • 00:16:33
    distractions so um I think this this
  • 00:16:37
    mechanism of habit formation maybe this
  • 00:16:39
    has been floating around on the internet
  • 00:16:41
    for ages but a habit is formed from uh
  • 00:16:45
    one of three mechanisms first you need
  • 00:16:47
    it you need this environmental queue and
  • 00:16:50
    it followed by a routine and followed by
  • 00:16:52
    a reward and that completes an entire
  • 00:16:55
    habit Loop so a lot of people uh they
  • 00:16:58
    struggle to get down read including
  • 00:16:59
    myself because we don't have to write
  • 00:17:01
    environmental cues and if I trace back
  • 00:17:04
    to some of the most productive years of
  • 00:17:06
    reading or university is that I've had
  • 00:17:09
    those really stable environmental cues
  • 00:17:11
    like I would arrive at a cafe at 10:
  • 00:17:13
    a.m. straight order a coffee and sit
  • 00:17:15
    down and get to reading so if I have
  • 00:17:17
    those cues around if I make myself a
  • 00:17:20
    coffee that actually makes it easier for
  • 00:17:22
    me getting to the reading that actually
  • 00:17:24
    makes it easier for me to follow one
  • 00:17:25
    Habit to the next and to get down to
  • 00:17:28
    doing my daily reading so but a lot of
  • 00:17:30
    the times we try to as we try to squeeze
  • 00:17:33
    reading in the gaps of our schedules uh
  • 00:17:36
    there's simply too much resistance there
  • 00:17:38
    there's simply too much too many
  • 00:17:40
    distractions your phone's on your desk
  • 00:17:42
    there's someone calling you from the
  • 00:17:43
    Next Room uh just like outside there's
  • 00:17:46
    someone like trying to trying to get in
  • 00:17:48
    to your house from the outside and um
  • 00:17:50
    people calling each other on a train and
  • 00:17:53
    you know people's children screaming in
  • 00:17:54
    a carriage so all these things are
  • 00:17:57
    external environmental factors so if you
  • 00:17:59
    want to really optimize your reading and
  • 00:18:01
    retrain your attention make sure to pair
  • 00:18:05
    your reading habit with a pre-reading
  • 00:18:08
    ritual is it making a coffee for you is
  • 00:18:11
    it sitting alone in a quiet room or is
  • 00:18:15
    there a location where you prefer to do
  • 00:18:16
    most of your reading do you prefer a
  • 00:18:19
    quiet space or a space with some kind of
  • 00:18:21
    white noise in the background so find
  • 00:18:23
    these out for yourself and curate the
  • 00:18:26
    precise environmental cues where you
  • 00:18:28
    feel like I can really get down to some
  • 00:18:30
    good reading here and don't think of
  • 00:18:33
    these cues as superflous because if you
  • 00:18:36
    get these cues right uh these cues will
  • 00:18:39
    become your doorway toward establishing
  • 00:18:41
    a more consistent daily reading habit
  • 00:18:43
    they will guide you into your reading
  • 00:18:46
    effortlessly instead of like trying to
  • 00:18:48
    like really you know uh whip yourself
  • 00:18:50
    into a frenzy telling yourself I need to
  • 00:18:52
    read today I need to train my attention
  • 00:18:54
    today it makes it easier for you to slip
  • 00:18:56
    into that state of flow where you can
  • 00:18:58
    actually one enjoy the book that you're
  • 00:19:00
    reading and two access some of the
  • 00:19:02
    benefits of being in a state of
  • 00:19:05
    flow so those are the four tips very
  • 00:19:07
    briefly four tips on how to develop your
  • 00:19:10
    attention uh number one you need to
  • 00:19:13
    reframe uh attention as a skill that you
  • 00:19:16
    can develop you're not hopeless um even
  • 00:19:19
    if you're young uh if you are genen Z or
  • 00:19:23
    if if people have told you that your
  • 00:19:24
    generation's you can never ever
  • 00:19:26
    focus on a book for for an extended
  • 00:19:28
    period of time simply ignore those
  • 00:19:30
    people because in my experience um you
  • 00:19:32
    can absolutely develop attention to a
  • 00:19:34
    very great degree um and second of all
  • 00:19:37
    you have to reframe attention from a
  • 00:19:39
    chore to something that is innately
  • 00:19:42
    pleasurable and recall a memory from
  • 00:19:46
    your past or try to find a period a
  • 00:19:49
    period in your life where you did enjoy
  • 00:19:51
    extended periods of immersive attention
  • 00:19:54
    and go from there recall that sensation
  • 00:19:56
    and to realize that hey the end goal of
  • 00:19:59
    paying attention to something is not to
  • 00:20:01
    you know is not to kind of suck out a
  • 00:20:03
    boring dry details out of a thing but is
  • 00:20:06
    actually to experience this very
  • 00:20:07
    pleasurable state of flow so reframe
  • 00:20:09
    that in your mind and move on to tip
  • 00:20:12
    number three which is to divide and
  • 00:20:14
    conquer your reading material prize
  • 00:20:17
    consistency not reading for a long
  • 00:20:19
    stretch of time every single day and
  • 00:20:21
    consider under reading for you to ensure
  • 00:20:23
    that you get quality uh or burst of
  • 00:20:25
    quality reading done and watch your
  • 00:20:28
    daily reading time expand over time as
  • 00:20:30
    evidence for your stretching attention
  • 00:20:33
    and number four is to set up the writing
  • 00:20:35
    vial cues and to not regard these cues
  • 00:20:38
    as superflous not everyone can just whip
  • 00:20:40
    out a book and a train and read and if
  • 00:20:43
    you expect yourself to read anywhere any
  • 00:20:45
    time you're simply going to really
  • 00:20:47
    overwhelm yourself you're always going
  • 00:20:48
    to walk around with the silent guilt of
  • 00:20:50
    like I should be reading right now
  • 00:20:52
    whereas if you set up strict
  • 00:20:53
    environmental cues I'm going to read at
  • 00:20:56
    this Cafe at 10:00 a.m. from 10: to
  • 00:20:57
    11:00 that's my reading time and I'm
  • 00:20:59
    going to leave and do something else
  • 00:21:00
    those are powerful powerful gateways for
  • 00:21:03
    you to instill reading into your life to
  • 00:21:06
    have those Asing movable fixtures in
  • 00:21:08
    your life and it will make it easier for
  • 00:21:10
    you to tap into that state of flow so I
  • 00:21:12
    think if you practice these four re
  • 00:21:15
    reframes and these four principles in
  • 00:21:17
    conjunction with one another you should
  • 00:21:19
    be able to see an increasing your
  • 00:21:20
    attention span over the course of a
  • 00:21:22
    month or two months at least in my
  • 00:21:24
    experience I put this I put these four
  • 00:21:26
    tips um to um active use during my
  • 00:21:29
    honors year when I had to do a lot of
  • 00:21:31
    reading and it really really worked for
  • 00:21:34
    me and during that semester I've read
  • 00:21:36
    more than ever and I've achieved a
  • 00:21:38
    pretty pretty good Mark for my thesis uh
  • 00:21:40
    and this is simply me sharing some of
  • 00:21:41
    those tips with you guys and I would
  • 00:21:44
    really uh I really look forward to
  • 00:21:46
    hearing back from from some of you guys
  • 00:21:48
    after you've implemented some of these
  • 00:21:50
    tips so leave me a comment down below
  • 00:21:52
    and leave me your thoughts down below
  • 00:21:54
    and I want to leave you with a good luck
  • 00:21:56
    for training your attention then again
  • 00:21:59
    Robin W here uh another video video this
  • 00:22:01
    week on attention thank you for watching
  • 00:22:03
    and if you have any questions leave me a
  • 00:22:04
    comment down below um for now enjoy your
  • 00:22:07
    week enjoy your weekend enjoy the week
  • 00:22:09
    ahead and I will see you in the next one
  • 00:22:12
    take care and goodbye
Tags
  • attention span
  • young people
  • focus
  • solutions
  • mindset
  • reading habits
  • flow state
  • technology
  • environmental cues
  • digital age