Kyle Adams POV

Tag: mental-health

  • Why You Shouldn’t Underestimate the Power of Doing Nothing

    Image Source: Generated by Copilot



    The year is 2025. You wake up, immediately check your phone, rush to get to work, spend the day sitting at your desk typing away, scroll through your phone at lunch with your eyes glued to the screen, come home and unwind by watching Netflix while texting your friends, go to bed, and repeat it all over again the next day.



    When was the last time you started the morning with a walk without your phone? Or went to a nearby deli for lunch to enjoy a meal by yourself, sitting at the table outside, staring at the clouds.



    As pressure continues to pile up on all of us every day to stay connected with the world and stimulated by all the noise that comes with it, I would love to have just a few minutes of your time to explain to you why doing nothing can sometimes be the best reset for you.


    Decoding the Message & Deciphering the Medium



    We are regularly communicating with tons of people in several ways. Texting, phone calls, emails, social media direct messages and comments, Snapchat, to name a few. Johann Hari, author of “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – How to Think Deeply Again,” tries to make sense of this concept and provides a clear metaphor to understand how you can decode messages and decipher which mediums they’re coming from. “Every time a new medium comes along, whether it’s the invention of the printed book, TV, or Twitter, and you start to use it, it’s like you are putting on a new kind of goggles with their own special colors and lenses.” I believe Johann is right. Once you develop self-awareness and understanding of what someone is communicating to you and know why they chose to deliver it in that way, you will strengthen your relationships with others.  



      Image Source: Remark



      Haste Makes Waste: Mind Wander Instead


      There’s an overarching fear amongst most people that boredom is a waste of time and useless. What if I told you that’s wrong and there are clear benefits you are missing out on? One easy way to think about this is to look at the animal kingdom. Naturebang, a radio show by BCC, partnered with psychologists and professors to explain why we should be doing a whole lot more… nothing.  “The natural world seems like a busy place. But the truth is that most animals spend most of their time doing nothing. We’ve created a society where we fear boredom and we’re afraid of doing nothing. But in trying to avoid boredom, we miss out on its benefits. When we’re bored, we daydream, and that has been linked to creativity.”



      Whether you are an ant watching others in your colony forage, or you’re a 20-year-old in college studying for your physics final, something all forms of life have in common is the inability to create time. None of us should fear this; instead, we should embrace it by doing nothing and taking a step back to understand the different messages we receive, the mediums they go through, and let our minds wander.



      Image Source: BBC



      I’m excited to learn more about the data associations and specific techniques I can use to think deeply and regain my attention.

    1. Finding Your Flow: Uncovering Where Focus is Hiding From You

      Image Source: Generated by Copilot



      With peeling an onion, you realize how many layers there are until you reach its core. Just like an onion, when you consider the crises of our diminishing collective ability to hold attention, there are many layers to understand it. The concept of “stolen focus” goes far beyond an individual’s personal relationship with technology. It has been accelerated by the ecosystem of our world.



      Johann Hari, an accomplished author, explores this topic deeply in his book “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – How to Think Deeply Again.”  As Johann chronicles his pursuit of a digital detox and discusses what the first month is like, there are two core concepts that stand out to me as potential explanations as to why we can’t hold our attention anymore and what we can do to improve our focus.


      Why Your Word Means Everything


      A universal truth proven by social scientists is that whenever someone wants to overcome a destructive habit, one of the most effective methods is pre-commitment. According to Johann Hari, this is when “the you that exists in the present right now wants to pursue your deeper goals and wants to be a better person. But you know you’re fallible and likely to crack in the face of temptation. So, you bind the future version of you. You narrow your choices.” Pre-commitment manifests in several areas of my life, but one that comes most to mind is my connections, like my bond with my brother. When I make a promise to my brother or confirm I’ll do something with him, I mindfully create space in my calendar and organize my other social activities, career commitments, and personal chores using a calendar and planning system to pre-commit to him. Doing this with him and several of my other friends has greatly improved my relationships.


      Listen to Understand, Not to Reply


      It’s easier than you think to fall into the trap of conversing and connecting with people in a way that’s only self-serving. One of the most common ways this shows up is through narcissism, a corruption of attention where it’s turned in only on yourself and your ego. When I think about how listening with intention shows up for me in my life, especially at work, a few of these tips from Harvard Business Review are ideas I practice to do my best at becoming a better listener.


      1. Give 100% of your attention.
      2. Do not interrupt.
      3. Do not judge or evaluate.
      4. Do not impose your solutions.
      5. Ask more (good questions)

      Image Source: Harry Haysom Getty Images


      As I start to consider how I can strengthen my ability to focus, I have several ideas about simple lifestyle changes I can make, like setting app limits to reduce my screen time, minimizing distractions, and piloting learning methods like the Pomodoro technique to try to improve my focus and memory. I’m looking forward to learning more about what’s causing these diminishing returns and what other areas of life are most impacted.


      Image Source: verywellmind