My “So much to Think About” posts are, as you know, usually an anthology of notes I have saved to share in “Tweeter-ish” fashion. Occasionally I come across thoughts worthy of more than a “Tweet”. Today’s post is such an occasion.
Mark Manson, a blogger I follow, wrote some thoughts in answer to the question: “What stuff should we pay attention to?” This is personally relevant to me. I am inundated with information. There really is —”So Much to Think About” Much of what I read, and I read a lot, is good stuff , creating a nagging frustration that I need to write, talk, or even pray about it. Manson is helpful: “What stuff should I pay attention to?”
[The following excerpt is from Manson’s article entitled “Attention Diet”, (btw Manson uses adult language)]
…the name of the game is quality over quantity. Because in a world with infinite information and opportunity, you don’t grow by knowing or doing more, you grow by the ability to correctly focus on less.
There are three steps to the Attention Diet:
Correctly identify nutritious information and relationships.
Cut out the junk information and relationships.
Cultivate habits of deeper focus and a longer attention span.
So, how do we define “junk” information and relationships and “nutritious” information and relationships?
Well, without getting all philosophical, let’s keep it simple.
- Junk information is information that is unreliable, unhelpful, or unimportant (i.e., it affects few to no people in any significant way). Junk information is short-form, flashy, and emotionally charged, encouraging addictive consumption patterns.
- Nutritious information is information that is reliable, helpful, and likely important (i.e., it affects you and others in significant ways). Nutritious information is long-form, analytical, and encourages deep engagement and extended thought.
- Junk relationships are people/groups who you have little face-to-face contact with and/or little mutual trust, who bring out your insecurities and consistently make you feel worse about yourself or the world.
- Nutritious connections are people/groups who you have frequent face-to-face contact with and/or a lot of mutual trust who make you feel better and help you grow.
The Attention Diet should be emotionally difficult to implement. Ultimately, junk information hooks us because it is pleasing and easy. We develop low-level addictions to it and end up using it to numb a lot of our day-to-day stresses and insecurities. Therefore, getting rid of the junk information will expose a lot of uncomfortable emotions, trigger cravings, and compulsions, and generally suck for the first few days or weeks.
The goal here is to push yourself to stay more focused on what adds value to your life. If it’s not difficult, then you’re probably not really cutting out all of the junk.
I think this is good advice. I plant to adopt an “Attention Diet” in consuming information that comes my way.
Afterword:
Ruminating on the idea of Attention Diet” I am wondering what would happen in churches
—if leaders vetted information to determine if it is junk or nutritious, before sharing it?
— if congregants vetted their relationships in the same way, junk or nutritious?
So much to think about…
Still on the journey…