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We use digital devices for distraction from our anxieties when what we need is calm. I recommend something compelling, work-related, and thoroughly analog: get

We use digital devices for distraction from our anxieties when what we need is calm. I recommend something compelling, work-related, and thoroughly analog: get a really nice engineering notebook and give yourself permission to write all over it. Close the lid of the laptop when you do this, and put the phone aside. Write one paragraph that describes the problem you're working on, or draw a diagram. Allot ten minutes to this. You can afford to go dark for ten minutes. No one will notice. Pay close attention to the physical act of creation. This focus on a single thing is a gift you give yourself; turn to it selfishly. It feels like you're slacking off, to ignore the screens and do just one thing, to doodle in a notebook instead of being available on chat. Indulge yourself in this and banish the feelings of guilt that come from tuning out all of the people who need your attention. All of them can wait ten minutes. I find this practice is easier to engage in than meditation, but it brings some of the same benefits. It quiets the squirrel-in-a-wheel spinning of your thoughts and takes the edge off the need to engage with whatever is distracting you. It's important to do this during work hours, especially at first, because taking time out from what you see as your free time is a lot harder.

anon9001 6y ago
> We use digital devices for distraction from our anxieties when what we need is calm. I think everyone has the cause and effect backwards. I believe that we're not distracted because we have these magical distraction devices. Rather, we invented the distraction devices because modern life is so devoid of meaning and purpose that distraction is a survival adaptation. The higher quality the distractions, the higher quality of the modern life. > It quiets the squirrel-in-a-wheel spinning of your thoughts and takes the edge off the need to engage with whatever is distracting you. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but what's wrong with functioning as a squirrel-in-a-wheel with constant distraction? I don't want myself to be calm, and neither do my family, friends, or employers. Everyone wants me to have the appearance of calm, but they actually need the squirrel on the wheel to get the output that everyone expects from me. Being truly "calm" unleashes a deep existential anxiety about how life is precious and I'm wasting all of it with work and other meaningless obligations. I keep that crisis under control by smothering it with more distractions. I think this is a perfectly valid and sensible response to the modern world. My plan is to be at peak-distraction until I've made it through the corporate grinder. I hope I'm able to reassemble myself once I can retire.
- acituan 6y ago
  > Rather, we invented the distraction devices because modern life is so devoid of meaning and purpose that distraction is a survival adaptation. I'd argue it is the other way around. What we call "distraction" is simply super-salient stimulus that we don't benefit in the long run but can't help being drawn to. It is like addiction. And addiction sells very well. Addictions can be designed to serve the market. We don't ever get distracted with long pleasant walks, watching the sunset, home-cooked whole-food meals, deep reciprocal conversations, rich thoughtful books, sensual bonding love-making. But all have their marketable, superficial versions we can get addicted to like fast food, porn, hookups, twitter, youtube etc. I think the sense of meaninglessness and purposelessness is created because we get stuck in consuming these surface forms without getting anything that can genuinely nourish and grow us as people.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
  > Being truly "calm" unleashes a deep existential anxiety about how life is precious and I'm wasting all of it with work and other meaningless obligations. I keep that crisis under control by smothering it with more distractions. https://i.imgur.com/o8uP11q.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/o8uP11q.jpeg
- sevensor 6y ago
  Thanks for a response that cuts right to the premises of my comment! Your approach is incredibly bleak, but if you reject the premise that being able to focus is desirable, then your conclusion is spot-on. I hope my response gives you the hit of distraction you need to get you through the next five minutes!

anon9001 6y ago

> We use digital devices for distraction from our anxieties when what we need is calm. I think everyone has the cause and effect backwards. I believe that we're not distracted because we have these magical distraction devices. Rather, we invented the distraction devices because modern life is so devoid of meaning and purpose that distraction is a survival adaptation. The higher quality the distractions, the higher quality of the modern life. > It quiets the squirrel-in-a-wheel spinning of your thoughts and takes the edge off the need to engage with whatever is distracting you. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but what's wrong with functioning as a squirrel-in-a-wheel with constant distraction? I don't want myself to be calm, and neither do my family, friends, or employers. Everyone wants me to have the appearance of calm, but they actually need the squirrel on the wheel to get the output that everyone expects from me. Being truly "calm" unleashes a deep existential anxiety about how life is precious and I'm wasting all of it with work and other meaningless obligations. I keep that crisis under control by smothering it with more distractions. I think this is a perfectly valid and sensible response to the modern world. My plan is to be at peak-distraction until I've made it through the corporate grinder. I hope I'm able to reassemble myself once I can retire.

acituan 6y ago
> Rather, we invented the distraction devices because modern life is so devoid of meaning and purpose that distraction is a survival adaptation. I'd argue it is the other way around. What we call "distraction" is simply super-salient stimulus that we don't benefit in the long run but can't help being drawn to. It is like addiction. And addiction sells very well. Addictions can be designed to serve the market. We don't ever get distracted with long pleasant walks, watching the sunset, home-cooked whole-food meals, deep reciprocal conversations, rich thoughtful books, sensual bonding love-making. But all have their marketable, superficial versions we can get addicted to like fast food, porn, hookups, twitter, youtube etc. I think the sense of meaninglessness and purposelessness is created because we get stuck in consuming these surface forms without getting anything that can genuinely nourish and grow us as people.
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
> Being truly "calm" unleashes a deep existential anxiety about how life is precious and I'm wasting all of it with work and other meaningless obligations. I keep that crisis under control by smothering it with more distractions. https://i.imgur.com/o8uP11q.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/o8uP11q.jpeg
sevensor 6y ago
Thanks for a response that cuts right to the premises of my comment! Your approach is incredibly bleak, but if you reject the premise that being able to focus is desirable, then your conclusion is spot-on. I hope my response gives you the hit of distraction you need to get you through the next five minutes!