Top 3 things you can do to increase your awareness and attention

Social media is adding to our biggest pandemic of the century. The pandemic called “Lack of attention” . Spaces like Twitter are encouraging and rewarding you for being able to convey your thoughts in as little as 280 characters. Constant news feeds and alerts that show up on your phone are training and awarding your mind to BE distracted. The latest mode of distraction is that of the photo memories that pop up randomly on your phone. I spoke to a friend after a few months. A regular phone call. Probably Siri was listening in because out of nowhere I got a reminder about our old holiday memories. I could not resist and posted that back in our group whatsapp chat. 

We are slowly losing control over our behaviors. We are becoming so predictable that machine algorithms are able to prompt us to do what they want us to do. The side effect is that we are losing control over our own awareness and continue to diminish our attention span. We literally are turning into those apes on a tree that cannot decide which branch to sit on and keep jumping from one branch to another. Sitting still is becoming a lost art. This loss of attention and awareness is costing us our peace of mind.

Distractions are tiring. The constant switching between thoughts and activity even though seemingly feels easy at the moment you actually multitask, in reality this is snatching us away from ourselves.

Attention is the most valuable resource we have in our arsenal. But how can we increase our attention span so we can become more aware of ourselves and our surroundings? 

FIRST STEP

The first step is to acknowledge the fact that you sure have a problem to fix. Maybe the short blog did that for you? Are you planning a million things in parallel right now? Or reading this blog with your complete attention. How many times does your hand mindlessly reach out to the phone? Are you aware that you are on a never stopping treadmill. Do you feel the need to slow down? 

SECOND STEP

Second step is to test your attention span. Try reading all the information on the back of a Cereal box. Take a few minutes to go read through your Bank statement or your Utility bill. How far can you get before you feel like it is a waste of time? Have a conversation with your family member. Ask them to share with you a story that happened and have it be at least a 10 minute long story see how long you last and are able to pay attention.

THIRD STEP 

Now that you know you are aware of the status of your attention, the third step is to consciously take back your control one small step a day. Take up an activity like the ancient sand dot art event that teaches you the art of being mindful and slowing down, so as to be able to strengthen those parts of the brain that helps you pay more attention. Your first step towards becoming impeccable in whatever you do. This month try creating one small dot art a day just takes you 2 minutes. Get your dot art here on my instagram posts. Even better if you can take up the 21 day challenge. Set aside the time just after your lunch or after dinner. A small exercise to retrain your brain. Check out all the mindfulness dot art events that I run both online and in person here. 

Remember your attention is the most precious entity. Your attention is so valuable that ads for Super bowls cost many millions of dollars. Your attention is money, spend it on things and experiences that are valuable to you. May the attention be with you.