I just wrote an entire book with a pen.. then spent 4 months formatting and staying up all night fighting with my computer to get it ready to publish (in the home stretch THANK GOD)
I can’t help think that by now I could have hand made an illuminated manuscript…. How different would I feel had I done that instead?
….. Ah, trades offs! I guess I do actually want people to find it. But oh, my brain hurts!!!
I love the title of this - it really captures the overconfidence of that part of our mind which is conscious awareness.
As you rightly say, there's a bit of us that says "don't worry, I got this, I can resist the phone". But that part is very consistently overwhelmed and defeated. The real mystery is why - after failing repeatedly - that part of the mind stays so sure of itself!
Exactly! It boggles my mind how persistent that overconfident voice of our conscious awareness can be (despite repeated evidence of its limitations).
There's also something kind of tragic about how the very act of saying "I won't check my phone" creates the cognitive load that makes us more likely to fail. It's like our conscious mind is setting itself up for defeat over and over.
I don't know if you've ever stumbled across the writing of Iain McGilchrist? He has a fascinating perspective on misplaced confidence - it comes from the left hemisphere. And when we are ruled by that hemisphere we are so confident we totally got this, and so happy to forget the evidence to the contrary. I always think of him when I ignore evidence and make the same confidence mistake again and again!
Good question Will! I am also so caught by the fascinating inner saboteur who continually believes she will somehow outsmart and over power the insanely engineered addictive properties of the dopamine dripping screens.
It is so weird really.
I love your phone free experiment. Are you 100% phone free? What did you notice?
It’s such a conundrum..when we all realized smoking was stupid nobody could say, “Oh but I need to smoke for work.” Or “If i stop smoking I will lose connection to my friends and family”
Now we have a very interesting problem.
Like, “You need to shoot heroin but only 3 times a day ok? “
Hey thank you! As you might have seen, not phone free 24/7. I devote my commute (by train and tube in London, an hour each way) to a sort of anti-phone meditation. My ever so slightly misleading name is a philosophy pun. But also I'm called Will. (I need to give all this some more thought, after all I do have the time 😀).
I couldn't agree more. Phone use doesn't seem the worst problem for many of us. But it is the most interesting - almost everyone I have spoken to is genuinely puzzled as to why they are so stuck on this device that they barely enjoy.
As to what I've noticed, I guess that's a long story as I've been doing this since start of the year, and I plan to spend 1000 hours on this. But if I could boil it down to a sentence, I'd say I agree with you...It's a fascinating conundrum, and to understand it is to understand the mind. In all its weird glory.
OMG 1000 HOURS! Holy smokes.. You could start a movement. Just sayin’…. Hope you write a book after the experiment! And if you do, feel free to call me because my learning curve on the self-publishing thing has been STEEEEEEEP. That said, I am still so happy and glad to go the self publishing route because even in the 4 months (HOLY F) that it has taken me to format and get this book ready for publishing, the AI tsunami has just gotten even closer and more disruptive. I knew in my gut that waiting even 5 minutes was not a good idea with this one. Like R U N !!! Get that book out before the wave really hits and it seems like old news! The speed of arrival of this new world is so totally insane. As insane as how fast AI generates text- totally unbelieveable if it wasn’t happening right now for our eyes to see.
WEIRD NEW LIFE!!!
Keep me posted on the phone free experiment! I am serious about the “you could start a movement” thing….. I know I need to put the phone down. I even put timers on but then I watch myself unlock the timer… we are so fascinating with all our inner lives doing their own thing, not listening to our inner leadership. …. Oh so juicey - SO Much on that too… just spent the last 20 years as a corporate leadership coach LOL I often had to point out- the one we really need to be leading is US..and who the hell is leading us anyways? ;-)
Another really insightful essay -- continued thanks. I recently discovered Cal Newport's work on focus and this is a really interesting additional layer - the idea of background apps draining focus definitely resonates. Are there any techniques - beyond disinfecting with sunlight by making them conscious - that you would recommend to reduce their negative impact? In some instances, these background anxieties are based on concrete circumstances which can't easily be resolved. Cal Newpost suggests scheduling 'worry time', so your brain feels it doesn't have to worry 'now'.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment so thoughtfully. I’m so glad you found the information of some use.
I do think Cal Newport’s idea of scheduling worry time is a good one, and supported by the neuroscience. (Brain dumping worries and making a loose plan for each, along with an end-of-work ritual are all great ways to try to close off those loops in the brain and alleviate some of their run-time burden.)
When researching this article, I did actually make some changes to my own work process. I want to give them a couple of weeks before I assess their efficacy, but I do plan on publishing an essay on which ones have actually been successful in mitigating these “background apps” of the brain. Just in case you were curious.
This is great! And its so true - we are so used to keep running tv shows in background with the assumption that they don’t take our energy!
But thats actually costing us!
Such a creative explanation of a problem that seems simple at the surface but making us not use our full potential! Friday afternoons are Juliette afternoons for me! I read, ponder and try to see how it’s impacting me! ❤️
Thank you for such a kind and thoughtful comment, Ravali. (I love settling down to read a good article, and I am honoured that you feel that way about these articles.)
You are exactly right - background noise can be productive (if its low-dopaminergic and the brain can habituate), but abrasive or even entertaining TV shows in the background can be the exact opposite.
Thank you again for taking the time to read. I always look forward to your comments.
This is superb!
It's so true, excess stimuli, both internal and external makes my brain feel like its lugging a piano up a mountain.
So, I returned pencil and paper for doing my best thinking and writing.
My only regret is why didn't I do this all along? (What a Silly Goose.)
Thank you for your (always) thoughtful comments, Jeremy.
"Lugging a piano up a mountain" is a great way to put it. (Except I didn't even realise I was towing the instrument!)
Pencil and paper is also a simple-yet-brilliant idea to avoid the invisible pull of potential stimuli.
Thank you for adding this.
I still have a fountain pen from my 12th birthday…… ah…….. 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
OMG Jeremy I feel what you are saying!
I just wrote an entire book with a pen.. then spent 4 months formatting and staying up all night fighting with my computer to get it ready to publish (in the home stretch THANK GOD)
I can’t help think that by now I could have hand made an illuminated manuscript…. How different would I feel had I done that instead?
….. Ah, trades offs! I guess I do actually want people to find it. But oh, my brain hurts!!!
I love the title of this - it really captures the overconfidence of that part of our mind which is conscious awareness.
As you rightly say, there's a bit of us that says "don't worry, I got this, I can resist the phone". But that part is very consistently overwhelmed and defeated. The real mystery is why - after failing repeatedly - that part of the mind stays so sure of itself!
Exactly! It boggles my mind how persistent that overconfident voice of our conscious awareness can be (despite repeated evidence of its limitations).
There's also something kind of tragic about how the very act of saying "I won't check my phone" creates the cognitive load that makes us more likely to fail. It's like our conscious mind is setting itself up for defeat over and over.
I don't know if you've ever stumbled across the writing of Iain McGilchrist? He has a fascinating perspective on misplaced confidence - it comes from the left hemisphere. And when we are ruled by that hemisphere we are so confident we totally got this, and so happy to forget the evidence to the contrary. I always think of him when I ignore evidence and make the same confidence mistake again and again!
Thank you for the recommendation. I'll check him out!
I should add… it's a theory and not universally accepted! But properly fascinating all the same.
Omg so much to learn…. I have about 1 million questions about this
Good question Will! I am also so caught by the fascinating inner saboteur who continually believes she will somehow outsmart and over power the insanely engineered addictive properties of the dopamine dripping screens.
It is so weird really.
I love your phone free experiment. Are you 100% phone free? What did you notice?
It’s such a conundrum..when we all realized smoking was stupid nobody could say, “Oh but I need to smoke for work.” Or “If i stop smoking I will lose connection to my friends and family”
Now we have a very interesting problem.
Like, “You need to shoot heroin but only 3 times a day ok? “
Shit…….m
Hey thank you! As you might have seen, not phone free 24/7. I devote my commute (by train and tube in London, an hour each way) to a sort of anti-phone meditation. My ever so slightly misleading name is a philosophy pun. But also I'm called Will. (I need to give all this some more thought, after all I do have the time 😀).
I couldn't agree more. Phone use doesn't seem the worst problem for many of us. But it is the most interesting - almost everyone I have spoken to is genuinely puzzled as to why they are so stuck on this device that they barely enjoy.
As to what I've noticed, I guess that's a long story as I've been doing this since start of the year, and I plan to spend 1000 hours on this. But if I could boil it down to a sentence, I'd say I agree with you...It's a fascinating conundrum, and to understand it is to understand the mind. In all its weird glory.
OMG 1000 HOURS! Holy smokes.. You could start a movement. Just sayin’…. Hope you write a book after the experiment! And if you do, feel free to call me because my learning curve on the self-publishing thing has been STEEEEEEEP. That said, I am still so happy and glad to go the self publishing route because even in the 4 months (HOLY F) that it has taken me to format and get this book ready for publishing, the AI tsunami has just gotten even closer and more disruptive. I knew in my gut that waiting even 5 minutes was not a good idea with this one. Like R U N !!! Get that book out before the wave really hits and it seems like old news! The speed of arrival of this new world is so totally insane. As insane as how fast AI generates text- totally unbelieveable if it wasn’t happening right now for our eyes to see.
WEIRD NEW LIFE!!!
Keep me posted on the phone free experiment! I am serious about the “you could start a movement” thing….. I know I need to put the phone down. I even put timers on but then I watch myself unlock the timer… we are so fascinating with all our inner lives doing their own thing, not listening to our inner leadership. …. Oh so juicey - SO Much on that too… just spent the last 20 years as a corporate leadership coach LOL I often had to point out- the one we really need to be leading is US..and who the hell is leading us anyways? ;-)
Ha! I think very much a movement of one at the moment! Phone use on the commute seems at an all time high...
But every now and then people do get in touch and say they are giving it a try. We'll see how it goes.
I am going to think about getting a crazy vest. If I do I'll be in touch for sure
Brilliant… crazy vest. I am always going to think of it that way now. Yes, please do!
Oh dear god.. even the title of this post terrifies me. Wtf are we doing to ourselves? 😬
Another really insightful essay -- continued thanks. I recently discovered Cal Newport's work on focus and this is a really interesting additional layer - the idea of background apps draining focus definitely resonates. Are there any techniques - beyond disinfecting with sunlight by making them conscious - that you would recommend to reduce their negative impact? In some instances, these background anxieties are based on concrete circumstances which can't easily be resolved. Cal Newpost suggests scheduling 'worry time', so your brain feels it doesn't have to worry 'now'.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment so thoughtfully. I’m so glad you found the information of some use.
I do think Cal Newport’s idea of scheduling worry time is a good one, and supported by the neuroscience. (Brain dumping worries and making a loose plan for each, along with an end-of-work ritual are all great ways to try to close off those loops in the brain and alleviate some of their run-time burden.)
When researching this article, I did actually make some changes to my own work process. I want to give them a couple of weeks before I assess their efficacy, but I do plan on publishing an essay on which ones have actually been successful in mitigating these “background apps” of the brain. Just in case you were curious.
Thank you again for such a great comment!
That part about "background apps" lands.
I've lately started to notice how something can be pulling at my attention without me seeing it.
I had a similar experience when I learned this too. That awareness is key, isn't it?
Yup.
This is great! And its so true - we are so used to keep running tv shows in background with the assumption that they don’t take our energy!
But thats actually costing us!
Such a creative explanation of a problem that seems simple at the surface but making us not use our full potential! Friday afternoons are Juliette afternoons for me! I read, ponder and try to see how it’s impacting me! ❤️
Thank you for such a kind and thoughtful comment, Ravali. (I love settling down to read a good article, and I am honoured that you feel that way about these articles.)
You are exactly right - background noise can be productive (if its low-dopaminergic and the brain can habituate), but abrasive or even entertaining TV shows in the background can be the exact opposite.
Thank you again for taking the time to read. I always look forward to your comments.