Book Titles

Given the way our brains are designed, we actually learn less well when we’re presented with a great deal of information all at once.

Rather than setting and sticking to an agenda of our own, we cede our attention to the most urgent request or demand of the moment.

We’ve normalized a short attention span to such a degree that many of us wear it almost as a badge of honor.

More often than not, we’re not even aware that we’re failing to make conscious and intentional choices about where to put our attention.

Unlike computers, we’re hardwired to undertake tasks sequentially. Our brains are incapable of paying attention to two separate things at the same time.

At considerable cost, we’ve convinced ourselves that we’re capable of doing more than one thing at the same time.

The more attention required for a given task, the less that’s available for another and the longer it takes to shift from one focus of attention to another.

Much as we do with any source of pleasure that begins to provide diminishing returns, our first instinct is to increase the dose.

To be busy and to be connected is to feel alive. But the consequence is we’re over stimulated, over-wound and unfulfilled. – Linda Stone

Ironically, multitasking often leaves us feeling emptier and more disconnected. Partly, that’s because divided attention makes each interaction more superficial.