Want To Save Your Life? Start By Fixing Your Attention Span
165: Rebuilding your attention span and transforming it into focus.
Welcome reader! Instead of thinking you have skill issues. What if the problem has been an attention issue all along? It is probably something that most have never thought about. However, when you consider the environment we are all operating in… It is a big one. Your attention span and ability to focus on one thing for several hours? Massive influences on how far you will come. Who gets further? 1) The person A who can focus for 4 hours on one task, or 2) the person B who can focus for two hours on one thing. One thing we are sure of? Those who lack attention span don't make progress.
The Truth About Attention Spans And What It Means For You
Additional reading on the attention span:
Attention spans: As we already discussed last year in one of our posts. The average attention span in 2025 is about 7 seconds. It is hard to say whether this should make you worried or if it is a huge opportunity. Our advice? View this as an opportunity to put yourself in a position where you possess something others can't easily access. Being able to focus on one thing without getting distracted is a skill most people only dream of. This skill allows you to leverage that attention into focus. Focus is another superpower that most people don’t think about. Why are we mentioning this? Because once you grasp what those 7 seconds mean… You will begin to understand how easy it is to gain an advantage over others. We encourage everyone to start putting things into perspective and doing a little math around it. It will all start to make sense. One hour of fully focused work beats three hours of 30% focused work. As with everything else throughout history. Possessing the ability to be different is a leverage that will serve you well. Not to mention that focus is one of those efficiency principles where you can do less but achieve more - something that everyone should strive for.
Common signs you are having problems with your attention span:
Music feels boring (if you are skipping songs mid-point that is a clear sign)
When reading a book, you need to check your cell phone every 3 minutes
Movies feel slow
Brain fog
Impulsive scrolling
Feeling of zoning out
Common ones that most do experience, making them the most relevant.
Your ability to focus: Underrated. Necessary.When the whole world struggles to concentrate and is constantly bombarded with noise around. That is when you want to become the best at it to the point of looking like a crazy person. Being able to hold attention and focus on one thing for hours is a superpower. Not to repeat ourselves. We never had more tools, opportunities, and resources to stay on track. Yet, most people can't make effective use of them. The concept of deep work makes sense, but at the same time, it is nothing more than a glorified term for attention span and focus. Its importance is undeniable. Those who can focus on one thing are the ones who get further than others. As time moves on, there will be more distractions and noise will increase around all of us. Focus will carry even bigger importance. We should go so far as to say that you should do whatever it takes to find internal peace, tools, and resources that get you going, so that you can be in a position to focus for hours. It is something that you will have to work on actively, and it doesn't come naturally, especially when we are unable to be bored since there are so many distractions around us. Give yourself a mission and treat yourself like a walking experiment when it comes to focus. Do everything you can to search for what works best for you. It is going to be one of the highest returns on investment you can get.
Multitasking: There is no one reading this who doesn't multitask on a daily. The worst part? It feels normal. You are used to it and don't know how to do it differently anyway… There is a good chance that you will end up realizing that 80% of the things you do throughout the day are based on multitasking. Multitasking has been preached as one of those things that is necessary in order for us to be successful and operate at 100%. But is that really true? Do you want to do multiple things with only 20% of your capacity? Or do you want to do one thing at a time, but with 100% of your capacity? This brings us to the important question: Do you need to do multiple things at the same time, or is it one of those lifestyle traps that they manage to solve without anyone ever challenging it? Maybe it is a tale from the old world that once worked, but no longer does. This is a topic for another post. How many times have you found yourself zoning in to your work, just to have an email that completely throws you off? That is a basic example everyone can relate to. You can lose momentum and focus from a single notification. Now imagine what happens to your focus when you are running through multiple tabs at the same time, trying to achieve one thing, and constantly changing the songs in the background or texting friends in your group chat. No wonder most of society feels tired without doing much. Our brains are being bombarded from all fronts, and all of us have fallen for the idea that it is normal. That is simply not the case. Give yourself an hour or two to consider our statement. What you will realize that less is more… As with most things in life.
Living life operating at 20%: The problem here? Big one. Ask yourself: what would it mean for you if you realized that for the last 10 years, you have never worked with more than 50% of your focus? There is a good chance that this just might be the case. Poor diet, not enough exercise, phone notifications, multitasking, and TikTok. They have robbed you of the most important thing. Attention. Not being able to hold attention? Completely removes your ability to focus. The worst part? Putting numbers behind it. Let's say that finishing up the new website for your business used to take you 7 hours, from the moment you bought the domain to putting up the final touches. What if it were all done with only 30% of my maximum focus? What happens when 50-60% gets into the mix? You are looking at a maximum of 4-5 hours of work to achieve the same outcome. A few of those situations per week? There is a good chance that you can spend 10 to 15 more hours on things you are passionate about. 10 hours per week over a year adds up to around 500 hours per year… The conclusion is simple. More focus leads to more freedom.
How they stole enjoyment out of your life: Not necessarily relevant to your intention span or focus. But it is an important topic that deserves a spot in this post. Once things start to click for you, sooner or later there will be a moment when you will realize that they stole the enjoyment out of your life. Being busy 24/7 working on multiple things and constantly exposing yourself to noise is exactly how they did it. If you are someone who struggles with fear of FOMO or feeling under pressure, give yourself a test. Take 30 minutes out of your day to do nothing. Just sit in the silence. What will happen after that? It will feel lighter. The pressure will be gone. Your thoughts will flow, and things will make sense. This is your warning sign that you must take control back. We are unsure whether younger generations will be able to relate to this. Do you remember life before the mobile? How music sounded good. Meaningless things looked and felt important. Movies? All of them were good. Before someone comments that life is different. No one can deny it. But most were completely unaware of the main reason why everything felt that way.. We are not exposed and have our brains plugged into phones and other distractions 24/7. It is impossible to appreciate things if you are one click away from them. Always subconsciously knowing that you can have them whenever you want. Give yourself space. Work on making things go slower. Focus on things that matter.
Blueprint 101:
Understand how they stole the enjoyment out of your life
Fix your attention span
Use it as an ability to focus
Expand on your ability to focus
Operate with 80% of your focus on one task at a time, while others are working with 20%
Get more with less input
What We Won’t Cover
ADHD: before you comment that you are one of those who suffer from it. There is nothing wrong with it. Our advice? Just make sure you are not using it as a coping mechanism. Whether you have it or not, the second thing you should do is realize that it can be a hidden blessing that you are yet to learn how to handle. No one can deny that it is 10x harder. On the other hand, no one can deny that once you learn to handle it and get it under control. You are unstoppable. It doesn't matter what the situation is or if you have problems with ADHD. For those who are not convinced by our take on it, our final advice is not to take medication for it. The negatives outweigh the positives. Life on meds is not sustainable long-term. Sooner or later, we will realize the negative effects that you might not be aware of yet. Want to take it further and get a diagnosis? This is a good starting point.
Monk Mode: We have never been fans of it. The whole idea doesn't make much sense because it completely isolates you from the real world around you. Our advice? Forget about it. More so when we discuss topics like this. The idea is too isolating to be practical. Not to mention that the goal should not be to completely remove yourself. But to position yourself in a way that allows you to adapt to small changes that will ensure you are doing the right thing. Suppose you can't focus on one thing with all the externals around you. There is some deep work you need to do and start addressing. Otherwise, you will never be able to master your own time or yourself. There is a good chance you won't even be able to operate with 50% or more of your own focus.
Pomodoro technique: It just doesn't work. We have tried it multiple times over the years, but we could never get into it because there isn't enough time to achieve deep focus. We know people who swear by it. For us? Simply not working. We will go as far as to say that 30 minutes is not enough time to reach the desired state and let your ideas flow. Less so if you are doing heavy cognitive tasks or need more time to get into the moment, which is often the case with creative work.
Diet and sleep: Saying that they are important and play a role is an understatement. Processed food and sugary foods lead to poor results. Bad food choices equal a lack of energy. As you already know, it is all one big circle - everyone should keep an eye on what they eat (+ how it makes them feel). The same goes for your sleep schedule. It is not something to take for granted. There is a big difference between someone sleeping 5 hours and someone sleeping 7 hours for months. It all adds up and leaves a mark on you.
Things You Need to Know
Prereuqiests
Sleep
Diet
Being comfortable in silence
Exercises - walking (at least 10k steps a day)
Writing things down
To not make each of the points separate.
There is not much to add here. You want to be at least average in the areas above (sleep, diet, and exercise). Skipping sleep and diet as promised - not going into any details. Not worth expanding as they are primary ways to generate energy and something you must take care of. Next on the list? Being comfortable in silence is something most people should work on. Not having anything playing in the background to distract you should be your first goal. There is a hidden beauty in silence, along with your thoughts. Giving your home your perspective on life and how you approach things. Exercise. Another non-negotiable. The least you can do for yourself is to ensure you hit 10k steps each day. This is one of those elite ways to spark your imagination and creativity. Plus, it is healthy. Last on the list? There is something powerful about writing things down on paper and putting them into perspective. Need to relax or looking for an answer that might not be obvious at first? Write things down. The same applies to practicing your focus. The reason writing is so powerful is that there are no shortcuts around it. It is only your thoughts, paper, and you. You want to take care of those prerequisites to make things easier for yourself, as they also carry over to other areas of your life. Making attention span and focus part of the game easier.
Common Enemies Of Attention Span And Your Ability To Focus
Short-form content (TikTok, Instagram…)
Social media (endless scrolling)
Constant background noise (podcasts, music or any other unnecessary form of yapping…)
Smartphones and notifications 24/7
One word: technology. Can you escape from it? No. Should you escape from it? No. As we mentioned in the monk mode part. There is so much you can do around it, and completely removing yourself from it is not the approach you want to take. What should your goal be? Knowing how to navigate around it. Knowing what you need to do and how to limit yourself to get your attention back. Why not make your life easier and completely remove it? By doing that, you are limiting your ability to build something meaningful. Whoever tells you that it is possible to make a massive brand business or secure additional income without being online. It is pushing you to play the hard game. The game you don't want to play in the first place. Stick to our advice and recognize the opportunities technology presents - while protecting your ability to focus.
Why our approach: Why does our approach work? It doesn't force you to change your life around it. But instead, it pushes you into modifying your habits and activities around it so that they fit your routine. This increases the chances that you will implement it for once and make it a regular part of your life. Making it feel natural and sustainable enough to be integrated into your life. This is how you separate things that will generate ROI from those that are just wasting your time. Generally, this is a proper way to look into it. Never go for the things that have a dramatic impact on your current setup - you can rarely change everything and stick to it 100%.
Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. – Alexander Graham Bell.