How To Fix Your Attention Span (Before It's Too Late)

Attention fragmentation is the worst

it's ever been. We're distracted,

scattered, pulled in a thousand

directions. If we don't fix it, we're

toast as workers, as learners, as

humans. Here's my challenge to you.

Watch this video on full screen 1x speed

with no distractions. Because I'm going

to share five sciencebacked steps to

rebuild your attention span before it's

too late. They're pretty simple, but if

you follow these steps, [music] your

attention span will improve. I would not

have been able to write seven books if I

was scrolling on my phone every 15

minutes. But these steps help me take

back my time. The first step is setting

a baseline. So grab a book and time

[music] yourself. How long can you read

without getting up or checking your

phone? Really try to push yourself, but

don't judge yourself if it's only a few

minutes. Write down your time. That's

your baseline. The rest of these steps

will expand it. You need to train your

attention like a muscle. Build it by

starting small and [music] gradually

stretching it. Step two, eliminate the

attention leeches. Your environment is

rigged against you. Billiondoll

companies are trying to hijack your

attention. So, design your environment

for focus. Here are some simple but very

practical tips. One, create a no phone

zone. When you have important work to

do, put your phone in another room. Two,

in all cases, turn off notifications.

Three, close those 27 tabs you got open

and check them only in scheduled blocks.

Your attention problem isn't only your

fault, it's an environmental problem.

So, fix the environment first. Step

three, practice deep work rituals. Take

a page from Cal Newport, the Georgetown

professor and author of the book Deep

Work. Focus is easier when you build

cues that tell your brain, "Now it's

time to work." Some writers light a

candle at the start of a writing

session. Some coders put on the same

playlist. Some entrepreneurs sit in the

same chair with the same cup of tea. The

ritual itself doesn't matter. What does

matter is the consistency. It's like

hitting play on a soundtrack your brain

already knows. Rituals tell your mind

stop wandering. Start [music] focusing.

So right now, today, create your own

starting ritual that tells your brain

it's work time. Step four, leverage

breaks and movement. Your brain isn't

designed to focus for 12 straight hours.

90 minutes is about the max before

performance beep falls off a cliff. So

instead of pushing through until you're

fried, build in recovery, take short

breaks, walk around, stretch. Think of

your brain like a toddler. It melts down

if you don't give it snacks and naps.

And ignoring that fact won't make you

heroic. It'll just make you cranky and

unproductive. High performers know what

other folks don't get. Breaks aren't

deviations from your performance.

They're part of your performance. So

right now, today, schedule a 15-minute

walk break outside, no phone every day

for the next week. Step five, reconnect

attention to meaning. Meaning sounds

like a soft-hearted notion, but it can

be a hard-headed strategy. So use it to

reclaim your attention. Before you start

anything, ask, "Why does this matter?

Who benefits?" Then write it down and

keep it in view. Because purpose fuels

persistence. When you connect attention

to meaning, it stops being a chore and

starts being a choice. I learned this

myself on my last book. I was

struggling. I was distracted. I was on

my phone and watching sports highlights

rather than doing my work. And I

realized the problem was that I didn't

know why I was writing this [music]

book. I didn't have a purpose. And once

I thought that through, and it took a

couple of weeks, I actually wrote down

my purp typed out my purpose, figured

out what it was, and then posted [music]

it on the wall and used that as a way to

maintain my attention, maximize my

focus, and then the work started

flowing. You know, [music]

it's really easy to make things

complicated. It's harder to make them

simple. And the way that we can get our

attention back is relatively simple and

straightforward, but you have to do it.

You have to follow the steps. So, here's

how to do that. How to fix your

attention span [music] before it's too

late. Number one, establish a baseline,

then train it like a muscle. Two,

eliminate those attention leeches.

Three, build your own focus rituals.

Four, take breaks before your brain

crashes. And five, connect your focus to

a larger purpose. Life is not meant to

be lived in 15-second increments. So try

these steps today because the sooner you

reclaim your attention, the sooner you

can reclaim your life. If you found this

video at all valuable, check out the

link in the description to my

newsletter. It's called The Pink Report.

It's [music] free and it offers all

kinds of ideas, stories, and takeaways

to help you work smarter and live