My atteion restoration Plan

The Challenge: Focus at Work and in Life

I’ve recently struggled with focus, impacting me both professionally and personally. In the lab, my efficiency is reduced, and outside of work, I find it hard to truly “live in the moment” and enjoy my activities. This decline is fueled by several elements in my modern lifestyle—some familiar, others newly recognized.

For years, I resisted imposing a strict rule system, favoring dynamic self-control instead. However, the cumulative effect of these distractions has forced me to accept my limitations humbly. While a dynamic system feels intuitively right, I no longer believe I can harness the benefits of the modern world without being distracted, unless I follow strict, predefined rules.

The Power of Rules

The strength of strict rules lies in the nature of our brain. Decision-making is cognitively taxing. If I have to decide the focused action needed in the moment constantly, the decision process itself drains energy. Therefore, it’s far more efficient to make those rule-based decisions infrequently, setting them once for long-term guidance.

The Purpose of This Document and Accountability

While some of these conclusions may benefit others grappling with focus in a changing world, the primary purpose of this document is egoistic: to create accountability. In the section “The Rules,” I will outline my plan and promise to report the initial results of its application in one week, and continue reporting my progress thereafter. By publicly declaring this promise, I create an external force compelling me to follow through—a valuable trick we learned in the lab: increasing ambition by sharing goals.

Old and New Challenges

LLM Systems and the “Lazy Mind”

I initially believed LLM systems like ChatGPT and Gemini would significantly boost my efficiency by handling simpler tasks, such as rephrasing, initial resource searches, and data extraction from papers. Surprisingly, I’ve noticed a recent reduction in productivity.

Research suggests two mind modes—the focused mind and the lazy mind—and that switching between them requires effort. Because the time spent with LLMs demands less effort, my mind often slips into lazy mode. When I transition back to a hard task, it requires significant time and energy to re-engage the focused mode. I frequently get stuck in a loop, trying to delegate tasks to the LLM that I know it can’t handle, simply because I’m avoiding the cognitive strain of returning to focus mode. The literature suggests a solution: splitting time into dedicated, long, continuous blocks for focused work.

Social Media and the Blog

Social media has always been a distraction, but the decision to use it to promote my blog has compounded the problem, introducing three new challenges:

• It constantly exposes me to novel uses of social media, leading to new potential addictions.
• It blurs the boundary between my social and professional life.
• It prevents me from completely stepping away from social media when the distraction becomes overwhelming.

The News

The situation in Israel is frequently unsettling, turning the news into an overwhelming distraction that often eclipses all other events and activities.

The Rules

• LLM Use: To create clear chunks for focused and “lazy” work, I will use LLMs only in the last 30 minutes of every odd hour (9,11, etc.). If more time is required, I will consolidate all LLM use into the last hour of the workday. Any schedule adjustments must be decided upon first thing in the morning.
• Social Media & News: Consumption will be restricted to 30 minutes during lunchtime and a window between 19:00 and 21:00.
• Blog Publishing: I will time the publication of blog posts and their social media announcements to different hours. This strategy separates the task from the immediate reward, reducing the dopamine feedback loop. For instance, this post was written on Saturday evening but will be scheduled for Sunday morning.
• Movement: I will take at least three dedicated walks daily (after lunch, at 16:00, and in the evening). During these walks, my phone will either be left behind or kept in a non-use state.
• Wake-Up Time: I will set a consistent daily alarm for 8:30 AM. While this isn’t early (as I’m not a morning person), the consistency is crucial.
• Journaling & Review: Daily, I will keep a simple journal documenting two things: my adherence to the rules and my perceived quality of focus. In one week, I will review these logs to find correlations and determine the next steps.

I hope to report next week that this system has increased my focus and improved my decision-making regarding the next phase of this experiment, where I will modify the rules to optimize for the best balance.

The Principle of Least Resistance: Future adjustments to these rules will prioritize minimizing the difficulty of adherence to maximize their positive impact on my focus.

Logistics and Tools

I plan to implement two logistical tools:

• I will select an application to help block social media access outside of the permitted times.
• Tomorrow, I will purchase a dedicated alarm clock to stop using my phone for waking up. This will reduce the temptation to start the day with immediate digital distraction.

Wish me luck!