Recently I was reading book The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom. In that in the chapter of Time Wealth, there is a mention of attention residue. Which I found interesting and made me think about it, and I found that it is happening with most of us.
In most of our jobs, we manage multiple projects or tasks at the same time. A typical workday often entails switching between several work activities, including projects, meetings, emails, and other tasks. And we are expected to switch between them quickly. And we are expected to be productive in each of them.
But in reality are we really productive in each of them? We leave a lot of things unfinished. This is where attention residue comes in.
The concept of attention residue was first identified by University of Washington business professor Sophie Leroy in 2009. In the original paper, Dr. Leroy defines attention residue as the
persistent of cognitive activity about a Task A even though one stopped working on Task A and currently performs a Task B.
In other words, there is a cognitive switching cost to shifting your attention from one task to another. When your attention is shifted, there is a residue of it that remains with your prior task and impairs your cognitive performance on the new task.
You may think your attention has fully shifted to the new task, but your brain has a lag. That lag has become even more prominent in modern digital world, where you carry (and wear) multiple devices and tools that constantly pull on your attention with their notifications, beeps, and alluring lights.
We an find some examples of attention residue in our daily lives.
- You have back-to-back meeting and find yourself still thinking about the prior meeting in the current one.
- An Email or WhatsApp message pops up and completely derails your focus on current task.
- You are having a conversation with a friend or partner, but your mind is on the work email you received, not on what the other person is saying.
And this all happens with me at this moment, when I am writing this blog post :)
The research indicates that it doesn't seem to matter whether the task switch is macro (that is, moving from one major task to the next) or micro (that is, pausing one major task for quick check on some minor task). Stopping to check your email or messages is just as bad as jumping from one major task to another.
Bestselling author Cal Newport put's it well when he talks about the cultural prospentity to "just check" on phone or email notifications.
If, like most, you rarely go more than 10-15 minutes without just check, you have effectively put yourself in a persistent state of self-imposed cognitive handicap. The flip side, of course, is to imagine the relative cognitive enhancement that would follow by minimizing this effect.
Albert Einstein devoted three years of his life to deep focus on the specific task of generalizing his theory of relativity to account for a pesky little thing called gravity.
Cal Newport also wrote,
We are most productive when we focus on a very small number of projects on which we can devote a large amount of attention.
Einstein followed this principle: He didn't work on ten things during this period—he directed all of his precious attention to the one thing that really mattered.
Formulating a world-changing math theory is probably a bit out of reach for most of us—but this principle on focused attention is one that we can all strive to apply to reach our individual potential.
Cool, so I think we got the concept of attention residue and how it can impact our productivity. Now let's see how we can minimize it.
How to minimize attention residue?
Here are the things that Sahil suggests and along with that I have added some of my own. I have been following these for a while now and I have seen a lot of improvement in my productivity.
1. Create a Boot Up Sequence
Having a consistent routine to "get in the zone" is extremely helpful.
Your personal boot up sequence is a series of actions that prime your mind and body for deep focus work.
- Cold brew coffee, black
- Classical music on noise-cancelling headphones (this works very well for me)
- Sitting in a bright, well-lit environment
Importantly, I can generally create those conditions whether I'm at home or on the road, which means I can get myself into a focused state no matter where I am.
Create your own boot up sequence and your attention performance will improve.
2. Schedule Focus Blocks
This is the most fundamental strategy for fighting back against attention residue: Block time on your calendar for sprints of focused energy.
For me generally I have 2 types of tasks:
- Creational: These mostly include writing, coding, etc.
- Management: These mostly include meetings with my team, clients, etc.
I mostly block my early morning and late evening for creational tasks. And I have a few hours in the afternoon for management tasks. This is really really helpful. You should definitely try this.
But, going further in book, Sahil also mentions 2 another types of times:
- Consumption: These include reading, listening, studying etc. etc.
This is where new ideas for creation and growth are planted.
Author of Atomic Habits James Clear mentions that everything you create is downstream from something you consume.
- Ideation: These include brainstorming, planning, walking, etc.
The next item is one of my favourite things I do daily for Ideation Time.
3. Take a Walk
Attention residue is at its worst when we're forced into back-to-back meetings.
Whenever possible, create open windows of at least 5 minutes between higher value tasks.
During these windows, do one of the following:
- Take a walk without your phone. No checking email! (I have been doing this for a while now and it has been very helpful)
- Take a breath. Close your eyes and breathe deeply in a box format (4 seconds in, 4 second hold, 4 seconds out, 4 second hold). Do 10 "reps" of that, focusing on the breath.
The walk or breathing exercise serves as a reset button for your brain. Use it regularly.
4. Leverage Parkinson's Law
Parkinson's Law is the idea that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion.
Have all day to process email and you end up emailing for the entire day. Have 30 minutes to process email and you crank through your entire inbox in a flash.
To use this to your advantage, pick a few time-constrained windows during the day when you will deeply focus on the task of processing email or messages (those notifications that prompt the "just checks" that are so damning to your attention).
Yep, so that was all from my side, I hope you found it useful.
If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn or Twitter.
And if you found this useful, please feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues. And if you want to read more something similar, you can read the book The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom.