Could this one overlooked detail about attention be causing your mental fatigue?
Consuming more is not the solution
We have two two types of attention:
Directed attention – focusing on a task
Effortless attention – letting our mind wander
We use directed attention when we solely focus on the task at hand and ignore and suppress the mental demands and distractions that constantly tug at us. Ignoring those distractions actually takes more effort than dealing with the task.
It’s ceaseless mental effort that generates directed attention fatigue, the mental exhaustion we feel when we’ve been working on a task for an extended time.
Did you know your well of focused attention is finite?
Our attention needs to be restored, replenished, refilled.
That’s done by spending time in effortless attention. Productivity and focus hacks don’t do the job. What’s the easiest, free, painless way to effortless attention?
The “counteractive effect of nature.”
Nature allows the mind to wander
Here’s the big mistake almost everyone makes: Replacing the draining task with a more pleasurable but still draining activity.
We falsely believe the solution is to shift to an activity we think takes less mental energy, such as reading a novel, watching a movie, shopping online, social media or playing video games.
While these activities may be more pleasurable, they still require directed attention from our brains.
You may enjoy the activity or be entertained, but your attention isn’t being restored or replenished.
Effortless attention allows us to relax and drop our intense focus
It’s like shifting from a narrow-focus lens to a wide-angle lens. Imagine walking from staring at a bright computer screen into a deep, shady forest and you get the picture. Your focus expands.
University of Michigan researchers Rachel and Stephen Kaplan outlined the restorative power of nature in their Attention Restoration Theory in the 1980s. Studies since then have concluded that micro-doses of “nature exposure intervention” can significantly improve directed attention.
In simple English, get outside and don’t do anything
You don’t have to head off to the beach, mountains or desert to get the benefits, although extended nature vacations are never a bad idea.
Small, consistent doses of mind wandering in everyday nature – your yard or garden, a nearby park or river – can relieve mental fatigue, restore and replenish our finite attention.
And ultimately keep us saner, happier and healthier.
Now, go wander outside!
3 Resources for You
Books, articles, tips, tools and advice to help you unplug. (Books may be aff links.)
Brief and Indirect Exposure to Natural Environment Restores the Directed Attention for the Task One of the more recent research summaries.
Attention! That’s a Precious Resource! Quick read by Rachel Kaplan on Attention Restoration Theory (ART) for the 2017 UN Environment Day “Connecting People to Nature.”
The Forest app A time-management, gamified productivity app that helps you put down your phone and get outside. Users earn coin credits to plant real trees. Apparently, stepping away from the app also causes the virtual trees you planted to die. (?) If anyone uses this app, let me know if it works for you.
If you can’t be in awe of Mother Nature, there’s something wrong with you. Alex Trebek
