Attention-and-Focus on Yuval Bloch — Complexity & Ecology

How and Why I Built My News AI Agent

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I fell for the trend. I built my own AI agent — and worse, I vibe-coded it. I suppose even I eventually surrendered to the spirit of the era. But I did so with a specific goal: to use modern tools to return to something older. To the era of print.

Moving Forward by Reaching Back

Let me describe how I consumed news fifteen years ago, when I was still a high school student. Every afternoon, after coming home, I’d pick up the newspaper and spend about forty minutes reading what had happened in the world. I’d focus, try to understand the context of events, read what interested me — and then close it and go do homework, hang out with friends, or read a book.

The Algorithm of the Ring - Why It’s Time to Quit Social media

Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“The world is changed.
I feel it in the water.
I feel it in the earth.
I smell it in the air.
Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.”
— Galadriel, The Lord of the Rings

When something changes in my life, I tend to place the responsibility on myself—for better or worse. So when I recently decided to change my relationship with the digital world in order to improve my focus, I understood it as a sign of personal development: I had reached a point where I needed this change.

The Magic of Nature - Attention Restoration Theory and Fractals

Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Magic of Nature: Attention Restoration Theory and Fractals

While learning—and practicing—how to improve my focus, I stumbled upon Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory and the surprising power of nature to heal our attention. Along the way, I discovered the role of fractal patterns—structures that repeat across scales and appear everywhere, from coastlines and trees to art and digital design.

What struck me most is that this body of knowledge holds real, practical power. It can help people maintain well-being, sustain creativity, and do meaningful, focused work. Yet it remains far from common knowledge. Much of it is buried behind dense academic language, making it inaccessible to many who could benefit from it the most.

Intentional Emptiness - My First Month of Attention Restoration

Sun, 16 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

After a month of dedicated self-observation—tracking where my attention goes—I’ve learned a great deal about myself and refined my attention restoration plan. I’ve come to understand the profound power of intention and ’empty spaces.'

No Secret Ingredient

Ever since my time in Mitzpe Ramon, my routine has stabilized. Each workday begins with yoga and meditation, followed by the 4-in-7 principle: four focused work sessions of 50–60 minutes, spread across seven hours, with walking breaks between them. The rest of the day is free for climbing, meeting friends, or simply enjoying life.

Attention Restoration: Remote Place

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Two weeks into my Focus Restoration Plan, I decided to expand the experimental design to incorporate new tools for enhancing focus and productivity. My choice was a classic method: working from a remote location.

This technique of stepping away from one’s regular environment to boost concentration has been utilized by some of the greatest minds in history—from Bill Gates to Charles Darwin, and Agatha Christie to Carl Jung. This strategy clearly serves the finest intellectual traditions.

The Surprise: When AI Reduces Developer Productivity

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Surprise: When AI Reduces Developer Productivity

Once in a while, I run into a paper that makes me say, “F*ck.” These papers often go under the radar, but their results truly revolutionize how we look at something.

The paper, with its perfectly non-appealing name, “Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity,” is one of those. The brilliant interpretation by Cal Newport (the writer of Deep Work) in his podcast Deep Questions adds even more power to this finding.

atteion restoration- Two Weeks In Personal Look

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Ending my second week of retrieving my attention, this experience started reshaping my worldview. In this text, I allow myself to write more personally, under the belief that documenting across time what retrieves my attention changes in my experience can contribute to the general discussion of attention.

on the train.

Sitting on the train heading south on a Sunday morning, returning home after a weekend with family, the coach is full. Forced to stand away from the window, my gaze sweeps across the passengers. The continuous motion of people pulling out and putting away their phones—checking updates, scrolling, or simply staring—strikes me as unusually strange. I’ve always preferred avoiding eye contact on public transit, but now, the opposite feels jarring. Though a train coach has looked this way for years, it has never felt so unsettling as it does now.

atteion restoration - One Week In

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’m wrapping up my first week of intentionally improving my focus based on my original focus recovery plan. The results are already remarkable, and frankly, stronger than I anticipated.

I’ll start by presenting the initial results—how challenging it was to follow the plan, how well I focused on my work, and the impact on other elements of my life. Then I’ll interpret those results and decide on the necessary adjustments for next week.

My atteion restoration Plan

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

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.