[iDC] Re: iDC Digest, Vol 26, Issue 12
Marcialart at aol.com
Marcialart at aol.com
Sat Dec 30 01:10:00 EST 2006
Trebor, thanks! This is the best New Year's gift you could possibly have
sent -- to me at least, and I'm sure to fellow sufferers. It's VERY helpful
and practical to those of us drowning in email, desperately treading water as
the tide grows ever higher. The phrase "continuous partial attention"
precisely defines a pernicious cultural condition to which I've succumbed. My main
New Year's resolution is to overcome it and re-learn to focus.
Thanks again. Here's to longer periods of total attention to a single task.
No need to respond!
cheers,
Marcia Tanner
In a message dated 12/29/2006 9:02:38 AM Pacific Standard Time,
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Today's Topics:
1. How to overcome continuous partial attention. (Trebor Scholz)
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 10:51:26 -0500
From: Trebor Scholz <trebor at thing.net>
Subject: [iDC] How to overcome continuous partial attention.
To: IDC list <idc at bbs.thing.net>
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"Our husbands come home from work, glued to their Blackberries. They don't
talk with us or with the children. They don't connect with us. And then, when
we go to bed,
they want sex. I don't think so."
-a wife and mother in New York City in November 2006
<http://continuouspartialattention.jot.com/WikiHome>
In 1998 former Microsoft researcher Linda Stone coined the term continuous
partial attention.
Most of us sit in front of a computer screen while texting with a friend or
communicate our order in the cafe with the cellphone on our ear. We are aware
of several things at
once, shifting our attention to whatever we deem most important at any given
moment. That's continuous partial attention. Many students are affected by
this phenomenon
and the methods with which we engage them need to reflect these changes.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6062980.stm>
Snow Crash author Neal Stephenson's website makes his take on continuous
partial attention abundantly clear. He writes:
"Every productive thing that I do requires ALL my attention. I cannot put it
any better than Donald Knuth, who writes on his website, 'Email is a
wonderful thing for people
whose role in life is to be on top of things. But not for me; my role is to
be on the bottom of things. What I do takes long hours of studying and
uninterruptible
concentration.'"
<http://www.well.com/~neal/>
Continuous partial attention goes beyond multi-tasking and efficiency
optimization. We are what we are paying attention to. We listen to our ipod while
on a bicycle. We are
online while the TV runs in the background. We answer our cellphone while
checking email. Being part of an opportunity-rich social network is what
matters most. Many of
us take calls on our cellphone while we are on lunch break. Or even worse,
according to a recent study 22% of German cellphone users report having
interrupted sex to
answer their cellphone. Stone argues that multi-tasking always aims for the
most advantageous, beneficial communication link for each moment. Sex with
your partner may
be less of an overall opportunity than the call from the boss. However,
sometimes the moving of attention from one object to the next may not be related
to an eagerness
not to miss out -- the mind follows stimuli and many of us get wrapped up in
the next task before we even realize that it happened.
<http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/cell_sex.html>
The 24/7 e-leash makes people work longer hours in virtually any place. The
work place crisis intrudes into our personal life at any time. Life is marked
by continuous partial
attention equipped with anytime, anywhere, any place technologies. A recent
study by Berry Schwartz at Swarthmore College study directly linked what he
called the
vertigo of voice to the widespread increase in depression and anxiety. Too
much choice makes us unhappy.
<http://www.enotalone.com/article/6839.html>
Therefore, to improve your quality of life, the ability to judge the
credibility of information becomes essential. Today, groups of people help each
other to filter information.
They recommend content on sites like Digg or link to the URL of a website
that they appreciated thus promoting this site's Google ranking. But Google's
evaluation is flawed
because sites like JewWatch score high rankings despite brainless and
offensive content. Also other ranking systems are controversial as they merely
indicate popularity,
which does not inevitably stand for informative and relevant content.
Britney Spears scores highest rankings in the referral system of the Itunes Store
and yet listeners with
refined music taste may not appreciate her stuff. The network on Del.icio.us
is a helpful filtering system as it relies on a small group of people whom
we trust. They look
through a large number of sites and vote for a site or article by saving and
describing it. Human judgment alongside more sophisticated tools will lead
to higher
trustworthiness of online resources.
<http://del.icio.us/help/network>
Many technologists read a large number of weblogs every morning. This is
followed by a quick check of the latest bookmarks in their Del.icio.us network.
After that people
draw their attention to the dozens if not hundreds of emails in their
inboxes. It is a constant cycle of intake. And, not paying attention to it does not
make it stop. The
default is absorption and not reflection. How much time are we left with to
think? Standing on terabytes of information does not make us more reflective.
Students readily admit to computer addiction or continuous partial attention
and ask what can be done about it.
Here are a few practical guidelines for students (and the rest of us):
Twenty minutes in the morning should be sufficient to
1) read all emails (!) and write short responses to mails of low importance,
2) delete uncaught spam and anything that does not need a response,
3) file away emails that require in-depth responses and
4) subsequently end up with an empty inbox.
Later in the afternoon, ideally always at the same time, take an hour to
respond to important messages that require some thought and sensitivity.
Apart from these two times, *email programs are off.*
This is very hard because at the move of a finger, a push of a button, your
email program pops up. However, with sufficient intentionality it should be
possible. Just think of
the fact that fewer interruptions lead to more focused work on your
projects. You will experience an increased sense of well-being. At work many people
will not be able to
stay off email from 9-5pm, of course. But you can adapt these guidelines for
your schedule.
A 24-hour response time for email messages is appropriate.
A recent New York Times article found that current day students often demand
a prompt reply to their email requests from professors, which is
unreasonable. Don't expect
others to immediately answer and also you do not need to get back right
away.
Some people developed the habit of not responding to some emails addressed
to them. (They simply delete them.) This is exceedingly rude and passive
aggressive. A brief,
clear email explaining a lack of time or interest could often solve
unnecessary tensions.
<http://tinyurl.com/ybunfk>
Emails that are charged with conflict should not be responded to right away.
Save them in your drafts folder and get back to them when you feel less
afflicted. If the
conflict is more severe, email is the wrong medium. In that case, a
face-to-face meeting has a much greater chance to lead to conflict resolution.
Strategies to avoid network distraction include intentionally working in a
place such as a cafe that does not have wireless service. Or, if you are
disciplined enough, just
switch off the wireless connection on your computer. Online or off, it
becomes increasingly important to intently create time to think.
<http://continuouspartialattention.jot.com/WikiHome>
In addition, a clean desktop can contribute to focus. Furthermore, having
only one application visible makes it easier to concentrate. Applications like
the free Mac program
WriteRoom and the very useful but proprietary, for-pay program DevonThink
switch your computer to full-screen. You write green text on a black background
just like in
the old days.
Such tools are helpful but the assumption that continuous partial attention
can be fixed by yet another software application is misguided. Machines are
supposed to fix the
problems that we would not have without them. There is not a technological
answer to all social problems. In the end, your focus and presence throughout
the day is not
entirely determined by your mastery of sociable media skills. However, the
ability to judge the credibility of information is a core skill that will help
you to fight continuous
partial attention.
-ts
blog:
<http://tinyurl.com/yb2toy>
<http://www.collectivate.net/journalisms/2006/12/29/how-to-overcome-continuous
-partial-attention.html>
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End of iDC Digest, Vol 26, Issue 12
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