He said that in the morning, just waking up, he reads news, watches social networks, and scrolls through short videos. On the way to work, he continues to follow celebrity stories, debates that are attracting attention and new trends that have just appeared. Coming to the office, even though work is still unfinished, he is still afraid of missing some information.
He knows almost everything is being discussed. Who just made a controversial statement, which movie is being criticized, which character has just become the focus on social networks. He always has things to say in short conversations.
Then he himself admitted that when he needed to focus on writing a report, reading a long document, or seriously thinking about work, he felt empty-headed. The pieces of information he had just seen appeared one after another, but nothing was deep enough to help him solve the problem.
And then the feeling is that I have received a lot but almost didn't do something really important.
That story is not just anyone's.
In the era of smartphones, information appears before people at an unprecedented speed. Just one touch of the screen, we can know what is happening in a remote city, follow the lives of people who have never met or participated in a debate that is not related to us.
Human attention is not like an infinite warehouse, which can continue to load more information without being affected. What is watched regularly will gradually become what we think of. Things that are thought of many times will affect emotions, perception and how we see the world.
Therefore, choosing something to watch is also choosing something that will live in your head.
Protecting concentration is therefore not just about turning off notifications or trying to use less phones. It is more important to clearly identify which content is really worth spending time on.
It is not necessary to know every story being discussed. No need to follow every trend or give opinions about all online debates. There are things you learn more about that do not make people more knowledgeable, but only make the mind noisy.
A quality life is not built by being most updated. It is created from the ability to recognize that time and attention are finite, and then dedicate the best part to the work to be completed, the person you love, and the abilities you want to carry with you for many years to come.
Choosing what to watch, it turns out we are also choosing the thoughts, feelings and people we will become.
