Open Thread: How Do You Cope with Web-Induced Attention Deficit Disorder?
March 1st, 2007 (9:34am) Anne Zelenka 19 Comments
Working online can sure make a person feel scatter-brained. Too much information and too many possibilities overwhelm our ability to focus. Psychiatrist Edward Hallowell thinks many of us are suffering from culturally induced attention deficit disorder.
Business Week’s Working Parents blog lists some tips that Hallowell offers in his book CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap – Strategies for Coping in a World Gone ADD:
1) Set aside time to work before you check your e-mail or snail mail or voice mail, before you allow the world to intrude on your fresh and focused state of mind.
2) Do not allow the world to have access to you 24/7. Turn off your BlackBerry and cell phone. Stretch or have a five-minute conversation. When you sit down again, you’ll be focused.
3) Prioritizing is crucial. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself spread so thin you’ll only be able to see your good friends on the first Tuesday in February.
4) Give yourself permission to end relationships and projects that drain you.
5) Do what you’re good at and delegate the rest. This is important, because when we do what we’re good at, the work can take on the quality of play.
6) Keep in mind that some of our best thoughts come when we’re doing nothing. Downtime is a forgotten art.
I’d also like to know what tools and techniques I can use online to better control my attention. GreaseMonkey scripts that turn off access to Google Reader, full-screen text editors, email filters and rules that direct less important messages to a folder rather than into the inbox, web pages that tell you to get back to work… there must be a bunch of ways to do this. I’m too overloaded right now to figure them out, so I’m acting on Hallowell’s tip #5 and delegating it to you, WWD readers.
What tools and techniques do you use to control your attention online?
19 Comments Post your own comment
Webbie says: March 1st, 2007 12:59pm
I don’t suffer from attention deficit…. Hey somebody just sent me an email…
Sorry where was I…?
I think it is more of a case of shorter attention spans.
As you mention we have too much information and too many options now and there is.. for wont of a better word… too much competition ? from everywhere for us to read/do/act on everything.
With blogs (including this one too. Maybe) looking to get people to read their latest posts, they are usually short and snappy to make sure that the content takes less of a minute to read so you can move onto the next thing.
Ah another email…
Jammy says: March 1st, 2007 3:28pm
really liked it
Robert Andrews says: March 2nd, 2007 2:21am
Oh god, it’s got so bad now that… hmmm… Flickr’s nice…
D’oh!
Seriously.
ajaxus says: March 2nd, 2007 3:00am
Great article, but some things for me are too hard to handle.
For example “Do not allow the world to have access to you 24/7″ its hard to achieve…
Douglas Hanna says: March 2nd, 2007 8:18am
These tips are all good. I definitely suffer from computer ADD. I can start with an email that takes me to a website on internet marketing and then think of something I need to do on one of my websites and on and on. Before I know it, an hour or more has elapses. I guess I just need to turn off email for several hours and try to do a better job of disciplining myself.
Adam Ostrow says: March 2nd, 2007 10:41pm
Buffett, Greenspan, Internet ADD – Links for 3/2
How to Cope with Internet ADD – Good discussion on Web Worker Daily about how to avoid the trap of excessive multi-tasking that many Internet workers (including myself!) fall victim to. However, I don’t agree with the idea to turn
Blog of Leonid Mamchenkov » Keeping up says: March 3rd, 2007 3:31am
[...] Workers Daily runs an excellent post, asking the question: What tools and techniques do you use to control your attention [...]
Beth says: March 3rd, 2007 8:34am
It’s rapid attention shifting, not ADD. You’re still getting things done.
My techniques are totally low tech.
With that said, my best strategy is to stay phyiscally fit. I do extreme cardio 5-7 hours a week, plus another 3 of yoga or strengthening. I eat a healthy diet and drink lots of water. When I’m at my physical peak, I can stay focused. Something about the endorphins gets rid of that overwhelmed feeling.
I make lists on paper – I’ve stopped using my email program inbox as my to do list.
I keep a master list (on paper) of everything I have to do in a notebook. Then, every morning, I take out 3 important tasks that I must complete. I block out the tasks according to my peak concentrations tims – for example – if it is writing and requires focus – I know what time of the day is my peak for that. So, once I schedule in the critical tasks. I also schedule several small bursts of time to attack email or my reader.
B.
People Over Process » Blog Archive » Tips on Working at Home says: March 3rd, 2007 9:59am
[...] Keep up with introspective people to figure out just what the hell it is your new type of job is and for operative tips. For example, Anne & co.’s Web Worker Daily. WWD (and other sources I assume) are a good version of the self-help magazines of hold where you can actually learn new ways to make your work better but also get the sort of camaraderie of knowing you’re part of a larger group. And, at times, there’s even counseling for common problems. [...]
iDevLabs.com says: March 3rd, 2007 10:34am
Step 5 is the only way I get anything done.
trav himself says: March 3rd, 2007 11:51am
When I really need to focus on getting something done, I get myself situated and try to find my “zone”. This usually means putting on some quiet background music, closing any apps that I don’t absolutely need for the task at hand (this makes it much less convenient to command-tab to my email client, or some such), and closing my office door.
Then, when I find myself losing focus, I don’t fight it. I get up, wander around the building, talk to some co-workers, read some email, and loosen up a bit. Then I start all over again. These mini-breaks do wonders for keeping my mind fresh. If I force myself to sit and work, I become stale, and my total number of work hours increases.
I can get more done in 3 solid 2-hour time blocks (with 10 minute breaks in between), than I could in one big 8-hour block.
lo-fi librarian» Blog Archive » Sorry, What Was That? says: March 4th, 2007 3:45am
[...] Web Worker Daily How do you cope with web induced attention deficit disorder? [...]
babyboomerqueen says: March 5th, 2007 2:28am
Try drinking lots of water and/or get a dog…trust me…one of ya is going to have to go to the bathroom!
Ahhhhhhhhhhh the simple solutions..are always the best!
Smiles,
Sharon
http://www.BabyBoomerAdvisorClub.com
Anne 2.0 » Blog Archive » Incrementing My Version Number: Announcing Anne 2.1 says: March 5th, 2007 12:00pm
[...] few things precipitated this including a piece I wrote on Web Worker Daily about dealing with web-induced attention deficit disorder. I quoted tips from Edward Hallowell’s CrazyBusy book [via Business Week’s Working [...]
popwheel says: March 5th, 2007 7:06pm
I don’t know about WIADD. I sometimes feel more like I’m suffering from Web-induced Multiple Personality Disorder. The web has given me the ability to carry on so many tasks as once that often I feel like I hold down multiple jobs. I work as a Linux Admin-slash-Perl Developer-slash-Wiki Admin(so many slahes in my title should tell you something right off)-slash-Corporate Monkey. I work on multiple systems scattered about in different locations which I know nothing about and that I’ve never actually set foot on.
==I’m a world traveler! My head is spinning!==
All this whilst drinking a latte and never spilling a drop!
Jono Cono says: March 6th, 2007 7:21pm
It can be difficult at times to focus on your main objective. I find the worst thing is when your looking for information and find tons of other right interesting information that could sidetrack you for days. I’ve pretty much gotten into the practice of bookmarking those sites for later and keep on with the main objective.
It is interesting when you think of the information we absorb on a daily basis and how non-linear that information is. We must be the ultimate multi-taskers which by default means we’re required to be scatterbrained anyhow.
It seems apparent to me that it’s not only how much knowledge you have but how well you can piece together what you know to form a coherent picture.
Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive Before You Declare Email Bankruptcy « says: April 25th, 2007 4:19pm
[...] if they really need to. You can wrap around it any excuse you like: your overscheduled life, web-induced attention deficit disorder, or the vagaries of spam [...]
MontyHerb says: June 15th, 2007 7:49pm
I have to agree!
http://www.montrealherbalist.com
Kathy says: July 25th, 2007 10:45am
Question. Do you know of any automatic, on-line Tips of the Day (of sorts) for ADDers to remind them to slow down, or eat protein for breakfast, or get up with the alarm on time, etc.?