how i fixed my attention span

Summary

El video explora la falta de atención y la tendencia a la distracción en la vida cotidiana, particularmente el impacto del uso excesivo de aplicaciones como Instagram. El creador utiliza una electroencefalografía (EEG) para medir su actividad cerebral y establecer una línea de base para su capacidad de atención. Luego, implementa estrategias para minimizar distracciones y mejora su enfoque, incluyendo la limitación del uso de su teléfono, la organización de su tiempo y la realización de ejercicios de meditación. A pesar de las mejoras, el creador se encuentra con días en los que su enfoque vuelve a decaer, lo que lo lleva a investigar más a fondo el concepto de meditación y su efecto en la atención. Finalmente, el video ofrece una perspectiva sobre la importancia de entender y mejorar la atención a través de la meditación y la gestión de distracciones, en lugar de simplemente controlar el entorno.

Takeaways

• 📉 La falta de atención y la tendencia a la distracción son problemas comunes en la sociedad moderna.
• 🧘 La meditación puede ser una herramienta efectiva para mejorar la capacidad de enfoque y reducir el estrés.
• 📱 El uso excesivo de dispositivos móviles, como Instagram, puede ser una fuente significativa de distracción.
• 🛠️ El uso de tecnologías como el EEG puede ayudar a medir y entender mejor nuestra capacidad de atención.
• 🚫 Limitar las distracciones, como silenciar notificaciones y establecer límites de tiempo para las aplicaciones, puede mejorar la concentración.
• ✅ La organización y planificación, como el time blocking, pueden ser útiles para mantener el enfoque y evitar la multitarea.
• 📈 La meditación ha demostrado mejorar métricas de rendimiento, como el interés y el estrés, según los datos del EEG.
• 🌙 El sueño es fundamental para mantener una buena atención y evitar días en los que se sienta más distraído.
• 🤔 La comprensión de cómo funciona la atención y cómo influye la meditación en ella puede ser crucial para mejorar la concentración a largo plazo.
• 📚 La investigación sugiere que la práctica de la meditación puede aumentar la capacidad de enfoque, aunque los resultados varían.
• 🌟 La combinación de técnicas de productividad y prácticas de meditación puede ser la solución para mejorar el enfoque de manera sostenible.

Q & A

¿Por qué siente la persona que su capacidad de atención está disminuyendo?

La persona siente que su capacidad de atención está disminuyendo porque cada vez que intenta hacer algo, comienza a buscar distracciones y no puede concentrarse en una sola cosa a la vez, incluso en algo tan simple como dormir.

¿Qué herramienta utiliza la persona para medir la actividad eléctrica en su cerebro?

La persona utiliza un electroencefalograma (EEG) para medir la actividad eléctrica en su cerebro, que se relaciona con métricas de rendimiento específicas, como la atención, la excitación y el estrés.

¿Cómo describe la persona su experiencia con la tecnología EEG?

La persona describe su experiencia con la tecnología EEG como interesante y casi como ser un personaje de videojuego con sus estadísticas. Aunque advierte que los datos del EEG pueden ser ruidosos y que el movimiento puede afectar los resultados.

¿Qué acciones tomó la persona para manejar sus distracciones y mejorar su enfoque?

Para manejar sus distracciones, la persona eliminó las aplicaciones de su teléfono que no utilizaba, estableció límites de tiempo para las aplicaciones que usaba en exceso, cambió su pantalla a escala de grises y silenció la mayoría de sus notificaciones. Además, utilizó un programa para hacer un seguimiento de cuántas veces cambiaba de tareas en su computadora y registró cuántas veces lograba su teléfono.

¿Cómo ayudó el meditar en la mejora del enfoque de la persona?

El meditar ayudó a la persona a mejorar su enfoque al enseñarle a su mente a desviarse menos y a poder regresar más fácilmente a la tarea en la que estaba trabajando. Aunque no experimentó una sensación de iluminación o paz, sus métricas de rendimiento, como la atención y el estrés, mejoró y se volvió más constante en su nivel de enfoque.

¿Qué es Headspace y cómo se relaciona con el contenido del video?

Headspace es una aplicación que ofrece música para concentración, ejercicios motivacionales, meditaciones guiadas y más. En el video, la persona utiliza Headspace para aprender a meditar y descubre que la aplicación ofrece una amplia variedad de recursos para ayudar a ser amable con su mente.

¿Cómo influye el sueño en la capacidad de atención y enfoque de una persona?

El sueño tiene una gran influencia en la capacidad de atención y enfoque. La persona descubre que las noches en las que usaba su teléfono pasando la medianoche llevaban a días en los que se sentía más distraída y lo utilizaba con más frecuencia.

¿Cuál fue la conclusión final de la persona después de experimentar con diferentes técnicas para mejorar su enfoque?

La conclusión final de la persona fue que, aunque las técnicas de ciencia popular y productividad pueden ser tentadoras y útiles a corto plazo, el meditar y cultivar el enfoque directamente proporciona una solución más sostenible a largo plazo, especialmente cuando no se puede controlar completamente el entorno.

¿Por qué la persona decidió investigar más a fondo cómo funciona el meditar después de haber mejorado su enfoque?

La persona decidió investigar más a fondo cómo funciona el meditar porque, a pesar de haber mejorado su enfoque, no entendía cómo o por qué su solución había funcionado. Quería entender el proceso y la razón detrás de la eficacia del meditar.

¿Cómo se relaciona el concepto de 'mindfulness' o 'atención plena' con la mejora del enfoque?

El mindfulness o atención plena, que tiene sus orígenes en la meditación y la budismo teraváda, se relaciona con la mejora del enfoque al enseñar a la mente a observar las experiencias en tiempo real sin reaccionar y a concentrarse en algo específico, como la respiración. Esto puede hacer que el enfoque sea más fácil de comandar y resistente a las distracciones.

¿Qué es la principal diferencia entre el enfoque en la productividad y el enfoque en la meditación según el contenido del video?

La principal diferencia es que el enfoque en la productividad se centra en cortar distracciones y construir un entorno que proteja el enfoque, mientras que el enfoque en la meditación trabaja directamente en cultivar el enfoque para que sea más resiliente frente a las distracciones.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Problemas de atención y soluciones tecnológicas

El primer párrafo aborda el problema de la disminución de la capacidad de atención y la tendencia a la distracción. Se menciona el deseo de enfocar en actividades específicas y la facilidad de caer en la tentación de redes sociales como Instagram. Se discute la importancia de recuperar el control sobre nuestras vidas y se presenta un plan para mejorar la concentración. Además, se introduce un electroencefalógrafo (EEG) para medir la actividad cerebral relacionada con la atención y se ofrece una solución patrocinada por Headspace, una plataforma que ofrece contenido para ayudar a la mente.

05:00

🧐 Diferencias entre atención y enfoque

Este párrafo profundiza en la distinción entre la atención y el enfoque. La atención es un concepto amplio que se refiere a nuestra conciencia general, mientras que el enfoque es el proceso que controla esa conciencia y se centra en algo específico. Se aclara que el enfoque es un recurso limitado y que puede agotarse con el tiempo. También se menciona que el enfoque filtra distracciones y que el entrenamiento cognitivo puede aumentar la capacidad de enfoque, aunque los resultados varían.

10:02

📱 Gestión de distracciones y mejora del enfoque

El hablante describe las acciones tomadas para mejorar su enfoque, comenzando por la gestión de distracciones, especialmente el uso excesivo del teléfono móvil. Se implementan estrategias como eliminar aplicaciones no utilizadas, establecer límites de tiempo, silenciar notificaciones y cambiar la visualización a escala de grises. Además, se introduce el uso de un bloc de notas para anotar pensamientos internos distrayentes y se habla sobre la importancia de la planificación del tiempo y la energía en la programación diaria de tareas.

15:03

🧘🏻 Prueba de meditación y sus efectos

Después de aplicar cambios en su rutina diaria y notar una mejora en su capacidad de enfoque, el hablante experimenta un día de falta de motivación y utiliza su teléfono móvil excesivamente. Esto lo lleva a investigar y descubre la relación entre el uso nocturno del teléfono y la calidad del descanso, lo que afecta negativamente su enfoque. Decidiendo probar la meditación como una solución, utiliza la plataforma Headspace para aprender y practicar. A pesar de su escepticismo inicial, encuentra que la meditación mejora sus métricas de rendimiento, incluyendo la atención y el estrés, y proporciona una sensación de normalidad y estabilidad en su vida diaria.

🔍 Buscando respuestas sobre la meditación

El hablante, insatisfecho con los resultados solo a nivel práctico, busca entender el porqué de la eficacia de la meditación. Explora la historia y las prácticas de la meditación, desde sus orígenes en el budismo hasta su adopción en formas seculares en el occidente. Se contrasta el enfoque de la meditación, que promueve la atención y la concentración, con las técnicas de productividad que sugieren eliminar distracciones. Se concluye que la meditación ayuda a fortalecer la capacidad de enfoque内在地, en lugar de simplemente cambiar el entorno para reducir las distracciones.

Keywords

💡Medición de la atención

La medición de la atención se refiere a la capacidad de concentrarse y prestar atención a una tarea o estímulo específico. En el video, se utiliza un electroencefalógrafo (EEG) para medir la actividad eléctrica en el cerebro asociada con la atención, lo que se relaciona con la mejora de la concentración y el control de las distracciones.

💡Distracción

Las distracciones son elementos o pensamientos que desvían nuestra atención de una tarea o objetivo específico. En el video, el protagonista lucha con las distracciones, particularmente el uso excesivo de Instagram, lo que afecta su capacidad para mantenerse enfocado en las actividades que desea realizar.

💡Control de la atención

El control de la atención implica la habilidad para dirigir y mantener la concentración en una sola cosa a la vez. El video explora cómo el protagonista busca mejorar su control de la atención a través de la medición y el análisis de sus hábitos y rutinas diarias.

💡Multitarea

La multitarea se refiere a la práctica de intentar realizar múltiples tareas a la vez, lo que a menudo conduce a una pérdida de enfoque y productividad. En el video, se sugiere que evitar la multitarea y estructurar el tiempo de manera más específica puede mejorar la capacidad de enfoque.

💡Meditación

La meditación es una práctica que implica la concentración y la atención plena en el presente, a menudo mediante la observación de la respiración. En el video, el protagonista descubre que la meditación puede ser un tool efectivo para mejorar la atención y reducir los altibajos en el enfoque, a pesar de que la razón detrás de su eficacia no es inmediatamente evidente.

💡Mindfulness

El mindfulness, o la atención plena, es una práctica de meditación que se enfoca en observar las experiencias en tiempo real sin reaccionar, reconociendo las cosas tal como son. En el video, se menciona cómo el mindfulness puede influir en la capacidad de enfoque, alentando una mayor resistencia a las distracciones.

💡Estrategias de productividad

Las estrategias de productividad son métodos o técnicas que se utilizan para mejorar la eficiencia y el rendimiento en las tareas. En el video, el protagonista experimenta con varias estrategias de productividad, como la eliminación de distracciones y la programación detallada del tiempo, para mejorar su enfoque y productividad.

💡Atención y enfoque

La atención es la conciencia general, mientras que el enfoque es el proceso que controla esa conciencia, concentrándola en algo específico. En el video, se destaca la diferencia entre estos dos conceptos y cómo el enfoque es un recurso limitado y exhaustible que se ve afectado por las distracciones.

💡Carga cognitiva

La carga cognitiva se refiere a la cantidad de información que nuestro cerebro puede procesar en un momento dado. En el video, se sugiere que ciertos tipos de entrenamiento cognitivo pueden aumentar la capacidad de enfoque, lo que implica una mejor gestión de la carga cognitiva.

💡Estructura del día

La estructura del día implica la organización y planificación de las actividades diarias para mejorar la productividad y el enfoque. En el video, el protagonista utiliza herramientas como el calendario y la programación de tareas para estructurar su día y reducir la multitarea, lo que resulta en una mayor concentración.

💡Sueño

El sueño es esencial para la recuperación y el rendimiento cognitivo. En el video, se descubre que los patrones de sueño del protagonista, particularmente el uso del teléfono pasada la medianoche, afectan negativamente su capacidad de enfoque y productividad durante el día siguiente.

Highlights

The individual struggles with a short attention span and a tendency to crave distractions, even when trying to sleep.

The person is tired of feeling like their life is out of control due to constant distractions.

Headspace is introduced as a tool with over a thousand pieces of content to help with focus, including focus music, motivational exercises, and guided meditations.

An electroencephalogram (EEG) is used to measure brain activity associated with attention, excitement, and stress.

The EEG data, although noisy, provides a baseline for the individual's attention span without the influence of guilt or forgetfulness.

The individual tracks their phone usage and computer task-switching to visualize their daily productivity and attention patterns.

Despite being highly engaged in certain moments, the person finds they are only focused for about 12% of their waking hours.

The individual implements strategies to manage distractions, including deleting unused apps and setting time limits on others.

A notebook is used to jot down passing thoughts to address later, reducing internal distractions.

The person adopts a more specific calendar schedule, using time blocking to minimize multitasking and align tasks with energy levels throughout the day.

The use of a Notion template helps automate the process of scheduling tasks, making it more efficient.

Despite initial success, the individual experiences a setback with high phone usage and a lack of motivation.

Analysis of the individual's data reveals that using the phone past midnight leads to more distracted days.

The person turns to meditation as a last resort to improve focus, using Headspace for guidance.

Meditation, even without a clear understanding of how it works, is found to be effective in improving various performance metrics.

The individual experiences a more consistent level of focus without extreme peaks or dips after incorporating meditation.

The person concludes that while productivity tips can help in the short term, meditation offers a more sustainable solution by reinforcing the core ability to focus.

The mindfulness approach to meditation is contrasted with productivity books, highlighting its direct cultivation of focus and resilience to distractions.

The individual suggests a balanced approach, combining thoughtful structuring of the day with meditation to manage distractions effectively.

Transcripts

- I kind of feel like my attention span is dying.

It's just like whenever I try and do anything,

I start craving some sort of distraction.

I can't just focus on one thing at a time,

even if that thing is sleeping.

But I have things I wanna do, things I wanna focus on.

I just don't, because refreshing Instagram

is always gonna be easier.

And it's a problem!

And I'm tired of it.

I am tired of feeling like my life

is so far out of my own control.

So today we are figuring out how to stop scrolling

and how to start paying attention.

Thank you to our patrons for supporting the channel,

and Headspace for sponsoring a portion of this video.

With focus music, motivational exercises,

guided meditations, and more,

Headspace has over a thousand pieces of content

to help you be kind to your mind.

If you wanna see how Headspace might be helpful to you,

you can try it out completely for free for 60 days.

All you have to do is sign up

with our link in the description,

or scan the QR code on screen.

So what's in the box?

This is an electroencephalogram, or an EEG.

It measures electrical activity in the brain,

which are associated with certain performance metrics,

like attention, excitement, and stress.

Does that look good, how do I look?

Now, these things usually look

a little bit more threatening and wiry.

However, I reached out to this brand called EMOTIV

that creates more simplified consumer options.

They gave me a little discount

so I could actually afford this for the video.

And I look like a cyborg.

I think it looks cute!

Okay, so these are my brainwaves,

and if I focus on it really hard,

it should be able to translate these

into more understandable metrics, like attention.

Look at that, you see the building attention

and spike in excitement, that's my brain!

I kind of feel like a video game character

and these are my stats, this is cool.

Now, you should note that EEG data can be pretty noisy

and things like movement can really impact the results.

However, I think that having any level of recording

is an improvement because I basically never pay attention

to my attention.

It only ever really comes up

when I'm feeling guilty about my screen time,

or I realize that I've done nothing all day.

And only having these really infrequent

and negative interactions with my problem

makes it really hard to be objective about the whole thing,

to understand how bad it actually is,

and see if it's getting better or worse.

But now, with the help of this brain scanner,

I finally got to measure a baseline for my attention span

without getting bogged down by guilt

or forgetting to focus on my focus.

I wore the EEG while I worked, ate, exercised, and relaxed.

I did take it off a few times

because it could get pretty uncomfortable

after really long stretches.

But overall, it was pretty easy to ignore

while I just lived my life for the rest of the week.

Alongside the EEG, I installed a program

to automatically track how often

I switch tasks on my computer,

and I recorded how many times I picked up my phone.

Did you know that you can't actually

export your screen time data?

Then I wrote a quick script

to compile all this data and visualize it.

Here is my life for the past three days.

Ooh, the x-axis is the number of hours in a day.

These blue bars represent

the number of times I picked up my phone.

This gray line tracks how productive I was at my computer.

And these colored lines

are the median performance metrics from my EEG.

Now, some highlights include this moment

where I picked up my phone to start debugging the app

that I was using to scan my brain,

and then I ended up opening Instagram

and spending the next two hours on it.

However, during my meetings the next day,

I was like super interested and attentive, right, great?

No, it's because I kept picking up my phone.

I was supposed to be on a call!

I kept opening up Instagram!

But it's not all bad news.

There are these instances where I put down my phone,

I get into the zone and my brain just lights up.

The only issue is that in my eight-hour workday,

it only happens for like an hour.

It's over here at like two o'clock,

or five o'clock, or ten o'clock.

Now, something similar does happen

to my brain when I am working out,

but how often am I doing that?

All this is to say is that

for these 16-ish hours that I am awake,

I'm only engaged and focused for like 12% of it.

The rest of the time, the 88% of the time,

I'm all over the place.

I'm checked out or I'm distracted.

This could be most of the rest of my life

unless we do something about it.

So let's do that.

So I started looking for any books about attention,

focus, and distractions, and I found a lot of them.

There was just one problem:

They're all identical.

They invent different buzzwords,

and they switch up the personal anecdotes

that they blur with legitimate science.

But fundamentally, if you've read one, you've read them all.

Fortunately, you don't need to read any of them

because here are the three things

that you actually need to know

if you want to fix your focus.

One, attention and focus are different things.

Attention is a broad concept

that boils down to our general awareness.

While focus is one process that controls that awareness,

concentrating it on something specific.

Two, focus is a limited and exhaustible resource.

So you can only really focus on one thing at a time,

and your ability to do that

will tire out the further you get from rest.

Three, focus also filters out distractions.

The more there are, the more of your focus is being wasted.

Now, some research exists suggesting

that certain forms of cognitive training

can increase your capacity and ability to focus,

but the type of training

and the effectiveness has varying results.

The brain is complicated

and there's a lot of nuance in the details,

especially when you're trying to find things

that work for you in your specific circumstances.

So to fix my focus, I'm actually only going to do

a handful of very simple things

that support what we know about focus.

Here's the plan.

First, I need to manage my distractions,

starting with the obvious: my phone.

I deleted the apps that I never use,

set up time limits for the apps I use way too much.

Everything except for my wallets.

And muted basically all of my notifications.

I also installed this app that replaces icons with text.

So now I need to put in a little more effort

before I open anything.

I also changed my display to gray scale.

I have never wanted to use my phone less.

Oh, this sucks.

I wasn't kidding.

Almost immediately, my phone pickups

and screen time dropped dramatically.

However, the silence made me notice

the sheer number of internal distractions I have too.

These passing thoughts that just take me off task,

like wondering if I need to buy more toilet paper,

wishing I learned a musical instrument as a kid,

or thinking about what I'm gonna have for dinner.

They were rarely urgent, but often important enough

that I didn't want to ignore or forget them.

So I dedicated a page in my notebook

to quickly write them down for later.

When later came, I sorted through those thoughts

based on action, importance, and time sensitivity.

And kept it in mind when I was building my schedule,

which got way more specific.

Now, I'm usually the type of person

who only puts like events in my calendar, a normal person.

However, a lot of the books that I've been reading

have recommended time blocking or timeboxing.

I don't know,

it's just setting aside time to do individual tasks.

Apparently it helps you avoid the temptation to multitask.

So every morning I took all of my work, chores,

exercises, and hobbies, and plugged them into my calendar.

Now, I found that the secret is that it's not as simple

as just putting an hour aside for each thing.

Since focus is an exhaustible resource,

I need to take into account

my energy levels throughout the day

and how much effort each task is gonna take.

Like reading research papers and writing

takes a lot of focus for me.

It's just really boring.

But listening to audio books, or animating, I'm locked in.

I actually find it really hard to disengage

from the tasks that I really enjoy.

So I find myself thinking about them,

or even continuing to do them past their allotted time,

which means that I should probably

think about those switching costs

when I'm building my schedule out for the day.

Eventually I realized this process

could be a little more automated, so I got Taha

to put the process together in a Notion template.

Now I can input tasks, tag them,

and it'll show me an order that I can drag into my calendar.

I found it useful, and if you wanna give it a try,

I'll include it in our next newsletter.

But once I controlled my external and internal distractions

and built out a schedule that minimized multitasking

optimized for my energy levels,

all that was left was actually focusing.

It was amazing.

I was using my phone less and getting more done.

My brain was lighting up.

I was way more engaged in everything I did.

I found different soundtracks to make it easier

to get in the zone, and life was great,

until it wasn't.

It is 12.

I haven't left bed yet.

I've just been using my phone, full color.

Every 15 minutes, I hit "Remind me in 15 minutes."

And then 15 minutes later I do it again.

Just feels like we're back where we started.

I ended up using my phone for seven hours that day,

more than I had all week prior.

I had things I could do, things I should do,

but I just couldn't bring myself to get up.

I am kind of proud that I managed

to pull up my code on my phone

and see if there were any clues in my data

that could explain what went wrong.

I know, it's pathetic, but it was a small victory

that led to an interesting discovery.

The nights that I used my phone past midnight

led to days where I felt more distracted

and picked up my phone more often.

I learned in an old video

how important sleep could really be.

So I decided to just give up on the day,

get some sleep, and try again tomorrow.

Aargh!

I feel like I'm drowning.

It's like I'm not doing anything hard, right?

I'm just doing my stuff.

I'm just trying to focus on it more,

except I'm trying so hard to focus

that everything is making me on edge.

Like my cat will try and get my attention,

and I'll be annoyed at him for wanting pats.

It's like there's sand falling

and I'm trying to catch all of the sand,

and you can't do it.

Am I making any sense?

I really need to make every grain of sand count

by like doing everything on target,

and even if I'm enjoying something, I can't,

because I need to move and catch different grains of sand.

Hold on, hold on, hold on, what did you just say?

- Have you ever thought about just meditating,

and doing nothing?

Taking a step back away from the thing

that you're working on, and not working,

like taking a break?

- Maybe it was because I was desperate.

Actually, it is totally because I was desperate,

but I decided to try meditation.

The only issue is I have no idea how.

Luckily, I have Headspace.

I should probably turn the color on, just so that you guys

can see what the app actually looks like.

When I asked Headspace to sponsor a portion of this video,

I genuinely thought I was only going to use

their focus music and white noise,

because I love listening to those

to the point that it is ruining

my YouTube recommendations and Spotify wrapped.

So it's just great to have access to Headspace's collection.

But Headspace also has stretches,

workouts, podcasts, and meditation.

They have content specifically for beginners, like me,

who don't know where to start.

It's in their Basics course.

But if you don't wanna commit to that,

they also have shorter exercises,

including my favorite thing I discovered on this app,

which is, "Star Wars: Breathe with Yoda."

It's a one-minute breathing exercise

and Yoda's just sitting there, levitating rocks, I love it.

However, they also have longer, less structured stuff

for people with more experience.

Just the sheer amount of variety

is probably my favorite thing about Headspace.

They bring together so many resources

to help you be kind to your mind.

So even if meditation doesn't end up helping,

maybe movement will.

Or, another cool thing that I found.

This is so sick, they have ASMR,

and there's like a thing at the bottom

that lets you control the balance

between voice and like environmental noise.

Headspace, do more of this!

If you wanna try out Headspace,

completely for free for 60 days,

you can sign up using the link in the description

or scan the QR code.

Okay, let's learn how to meditate.

- [App] Hi, and welcome to session...

- Hi!

My first experience with meditation was strange.

Now, the voice kept telling me to focus on my breathing,

but I might've focused a little too hard

because I was worried I forgot how to breathe.

I should wear my head scanner thing for this.

Back to breathing.

But eventually, I think I got the hang of it.

And, after 10 minutes,

how am I supposed to know if meditation's working?

Is there a light, like what happens?

- I don't think there's an exact science to it, it's just,

you're supposed to just feel better, or feel changed.

Did it do anything?

- I don't know!

Do you just keep doing it?

- That's kind of it.

I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear but...

- So I just trust the process?

So, for the next few days,

I continued with my focus schedule and wore my EEG,

but I also tried to meditate in the morning, or evening,

or just random moments when I felt like it.

And then, something kinda wild happened.

Meditation works!

And I wish that I could tell you this

because I've achieved enlightenment,

or I have a newfound sense of peace.

But, no, I just feel normal,

about as normal as the distribution

of the sample means of my experimental populations,

justifying the use of a two sample T-test,

resulting in these P values.

Ooh, how significant!

This EEG has seriously paid off,

because even though I don't feel that different,

I was able to use its measurements to do some statistics

and find that meditation has improved

basically all of my performance metrics:

engagement, excitement,

interest, also stress.

But that might be because I was wearing this when you guys

sold out our last merch drop in less than 24 hours.

Thank you for that.

So a good stress.

The coolest thing is that all of this

is on top of what I already gained

by minimizing distractions and avoiding multitasking.

At least according to these regressions I ran.

But the benefits of meditation came at a surprising cost.

You see these peaks of intense focus?

Yeah, those stopped happening.

But I also stopped experiencing these huge dips.

Now I'm just...fine.

This whole thing is just...fine.

You know, I started this video

because I wanted to feel more in control of my attention.

I didn't wanna have to rely on being distracted

every single second.

And you know what?

Done.

I am literally, statistically more engaged.

And anecdotally, I was doing the dishes the other day

and I started playing a podcast out of habit,

and then I realized I'd rather just clean in silence.

Who am I?

I know I should be happy.

Happy that, for folks without attention disorders,

fixing your focus is as simple as minimizing distractions,

avoiding multitasking,

and maybe meditating if it all gets too much.

I should be happy!

But I'm not.

Like, I think it's really cool that meditation can work,

even if you don't know how it works.

But I'm me, and I need to know how.

So I guess if you only cared about fixing your focus,

the video's done, you heard my advice.

But, if you are like me and you wanna know why,

come with me, 'cause we're gonna find out.

It was strange getting to the bottom of this,

because I was looking for an answer

when I didn't really have a question.

I just had a sense of unease

because I had solved my original problem

without understanding how or why my solution really worked.

It was only after spending the day in the library,

flipping through any book I could find about meditation,

when I realized my question and its answer.

You see, earlier,

we learned how focus works according to science.

And the tips I found in those productivity books

were in line with that.

They should have helped me stay focused,

but they didn't, not in the long run.

However, when I added meditation to the mix, it all worked.

The question is how?

Specifically, how did meditation influence my focus

differently than productivity tips?

Okay, so meditation, as we know it,

originated in India with Theravada Buddhism.

However, it's since evolved into a wide range of practices

used throughout the world, including more secularized

and instrumentalized forms that became popular in the West,

with books like "Wherever You Go, There You Are."

This approach to meditation

became known as "mindfulness based interventions."

And it has two main forms, open monitoring,

where you observe your experiences

in real time without reacting.

You just recognize things as they are.

And focused attention,

where you concentrate on something specific, like breathing.

Now the interesting thing

is that this religiously informed framework,

with origins from thousands of years ago,

has a lot of surprising parallels

with our modern scientific understanding of attention.

In fact, some Buddhist practitioners

have been found to outperform the norm

at attention-related tasks, suggesting that meditation is,

at least in part, helping them focus.

Now, I should probably say that a lot of this research,

while promising, is still inconclusive.

Meditation, and even attention,

are still kind of nebulous concepts that make it difficult

to achieve rigorous scientific consensus.

However, despite the similarities I found

between religious theory

and these pop science attention books,

I did notice one key difference:

how they manage distractions.

You see, the pop science and productivity books I read

emphasized cutting out distractions

and building walls in your space and schedule

to protect your focus.

This is straightforward in concept,

but really difficult to maintain

if you have a lot of responsibilities

that are outside of your control.

In contrast, the mindfulness approach

targets your focus directly,

cultivating it to be easier to command

and resilient to distractions.

This forms a sort of spectrum,

where you either reshape your environment

to restore your attention,

or reinforce your attention to endure the world.

Now here's the thing, when you feel your attention span

slipping through your fingers,

that pop science productivity approach is really tempting,

not only because it's unavoidable,

like a lot of the content around reclaiming your focus

is for the sake of using it on something else,

but it's also tempting because the advice is so tangible.

You turn off your notifications, you build out a schedule,

you get rid of the distractions,

and see it replaced with things that you do care about.

Compare that to meditation, which is so subtle

that if I wasn't wearing an EEG for three weeks,

I would've just assumed that it did nothing.

However, the average person like you or I

can never fully control our environments,

and the supports we use to try are shockingly fragile.

So if they break, when they break,

all we're left with is our core ability to focus.

And if that sucks, we end up where we started.

That's why I think meditation helped me out.

The whole exercise is realizing

that your mind naturally wanders,

but you also have the power

to nudge it back to where you want it to be.

Now, I'm obviously not gonna go full tilt

and become a Buddhist monk

because, to be honest, can't pull off orange.

However, the great thing about a spectrum

is that we can find ourselves somewhere in the middle,

structuring our days more thoughtfully

and lowering the noise, not to a silence,

but to a gentle hum that we can enjoy at our own pace.

But either way, have a lovely day!

(gentle music)