It’s tempting to work hard on remaining focused and present during one’s work day, but then to relax afterwards. You’re tired and worn out anyway, so what’s the harm in browsing Twitter mindlessly? It’ll help you rest and relax.
Just practically speaking, I’ve found that this is not true. Intentional attention is a way of being. It’s hard to slip into and out of. Newport suggests that by not being careful about attention outside of work hours, one may be “training” one’s brain to demand instant gratification, not deep thought. This relates to the meditative aspiration of “skillful thought” at all times during the day, not just during meditation.
Another very concrete finding in my life: if I stimulate myself with the internet during 5 minute Pomodoro technique breaks, it’s like I’m resetting my depth of focus each pomo. But if I avoid cognitively switching (and just stretch my legs, get water, etc), depth of focus accumulates across pomos.
Craig Mod, Offscreen Magazine interview:
If I wake up and touch my phone, I’ve already lost hours. Not because I’m browsing social media for hours, but because the mind has already been agitated, made unquiet, and the context switch back into thoughtfulness can take the whole morning. In other words, the addict part of my brain takes over and contaminates my ability to be contemplative. I lose the grace to dive into other worlds, the worlds of writing or programming or images.
Newport, C. (2016). Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. New York: Grand Central Publishing.
Pirsig, R. (1979). Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance: an inquiry into values. Morrow.
Some could ask, “Well, if I get around all those gumption traps, then will I have the thing licked?”
The answer, of course, is no, you still haven’t got anything licked. You’ve got to live right too. It’s the way you live that predisposes you to avoid the traps and see the right facts. You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It’s easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally. That’s the way all the experts do it. The making of a painting or the fixing of a motorcycle isn’t separate from the rest of your existence. If you’re a sloppy thinker the six days of the week you aren’t working on your machine, what trap avoidances, what gimmicks, can make you all of a sudden sharp on the seventh? It all goes together.
But if you’re a sloppy thinker six days a week and you really try to be sharp on the seventh, then maybe the next six days aren’t going to be quite as sloppy as the preceding six. What I’m trying to come up with on these gumption traps, I guess, is shortcuts to living right.
The real cycle you’re working on is a cycle called yourself. The machine that appears to be “out there” and the person that appears to be “in here” are not two separate things. They grow toward Qual- ity or fall away from Quality together.
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Q. Consequence of stimulating myself withwith the internet during 5 minute Pomodoro technique breaks?
A. Feels like I’m resetting my depth of focus each pomo. Whereas if I avoid cognitively switching (and just stretch my legs, get water, etc), depth of focus accumulates across pomos.