Find a headline that piques the interest? Keep it, dig into it. Boring? Release it. These “catch and release” thoughts occur in the temporal lobe. There is a problem though: social media. The companies who lead this tech area have developed algorithms that have us reaching for the smartphone/tablet/device every time it bings or bongs. We are constantly fed “interesting information.” We essentially evolved into the next example of classical conditioning, otherwise known as Pavlov’s theory. When the phone bings or bongs, we pick it up...and scroll and scroll and scroll. We scroll, click, laugh, and grumble without thinking.
This also relates to the business world. It is unlikely that social media is the distractor. The professional is distracted by the sheer amount of emails, or sales information that bombard us, or the myriad of supply chain options available to us now.
How many of us have observed a couple at a restaurant sitting across from one another, both face down, swiping - clicking – scrolling. Sad? Sure, they are proximate, but the two in the booth are not present to one another….or to what they are looking at.
Many years ago, I was new to skydiving. In Army terms, we performed High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) jumps. It was here I learned a life-long lesson of being present.
One morning, a group of us walked down the spine of the building, having just returned from a morning of jumping. Laughing at how a jumper exited the aircraft and tumbled like a 4’ x 8’ sheet of plywood or experienced his/her rucksack fly them instead of being in control, or how cool it was to experience the incredible joy of linking up together in the air.
As we enjoyed retelling the stories, I glanced at my watch and kept walking towards the dining facility.
Three seconds later, one of our instructors stopped me and asked, “what time is it?” I looked down at my watch and he grabbed my wrist. He continued, “You just looked at your watch. Tell me what time it is.” I was flummoxed. I did not have an answer.
The instructor hammered home the point. “Be present!
In skydiving, the jumper wears an altimeter on the wrist, similar to a watch. When an individual skydives, that jumper must know the altitude before and after maneuvers. If one does not have altitude awareness – PULL IMMEDIATELY! Awareness of one’s altitude remains paramount to survival in skydiving. Falling to the ground at speeds up to 200 MPH while failing to pay attention to your altitude will not end well.
So, what really happened that day walking to the dining facility? My brain registered interest in the ‘diversions’ of the conversations around me. Fast forward 20+ years and I see many people engaged in Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and every other social media app bombarding us with interesting, attention-grabbing posts and videos. Click - chuckle - swipe. Here is an interesting fact: research shows the average attention span on a social media post is a mere two seconds.
So, what is wrong with some mind-numbing memes? Nothing, probably, if done in moderation. I am not immune to this phenomenon. I caught myself in this cycle too. Hearing the bing or bong, snatching up the phone, reading the catchy headline and then inferring the meaning of it all. We make decisions based on information we do not even know is true. “I’m too busy to get into the weeds on this,” or “it’s just wasting time.” We allow ourselves to be distracted.
Rather than “catch and release,” we have become desperately hooked, like a fish on a line. We are distractedly scrolling more than ever.
How can you be more present in your daily life?
Do not allow the outside noise to become a distraction
Set your intention of presence before your feet hit the floor in the morning
Remind yourself throughout the day of your intention. Use doorknobs to remind you. Touch a doorknob, think presence
Extract yourself from the continuous stimuli. Disconnect from the electronics
Get face to face time with someone
The world needs you.
Be present.
Authored By: Brian Wells, Managing Director