How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy | Hacker News Reader

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

nytimes.com

345 pointsbehoove137 comments

Doing nothing is how I often stayed productive. I used to be able to stay and think about something for hours. If I encountered something difficult I would go for a walk or take a nap. Now that I've been forced, at work, to use Slack day in and out -- I feel like I can't spend 5 minutes without flipping to another window, checking this, checking that. It's counter productive and feels like torture.

I get a hangover from the weekend... because I do nothing. I go for walks, read a book, ask my kids whether they think there are more cats than animals... I work on old recreational maths puzzles. I wander over to my friend's house for tea to catch up on how he's doing. We check for caterpillars in his garden on the way out. I plant wildflowers in my own.

The hardest part of doing nothing is learning to live with all the people who can't.

> The hardest part of doing nothing is learning to live with all the people who can't.

Very true. Network effect doesn't only have effects online. I've missed out on quite a bit of real life socialization (friends, community, and business) because I never signed up for Facebook and refuse to carry a cell phone.

At least in the last few years people are coming around on Facebook but I still get weird responses to not carrying a cell phone.

I think the more annoying part is being out in public, there is a vast decline in basic human interaction in places that are meant specifically for that purpose even. It is much harder to meet new people at a bar for example than it was even 5 years ago. The difference is dramatic.

How are you supposed to meet strangers and have interesting conversation when they won't look up long enough to see that you are attempting to make eye contact with them?

Quite frankly, I wouldn't want to meet those people. I'm looking for the ones that do the opposite, greet you with a smile and can hold a conversation about anything effortlessly.

If those people are having a moment, and not to be dismissed out of hand because in their moment they happen to be staring at their phone, it can be a lost opportunity.

Recently, I've observed that you're more likely to meet someone, and end up in a long conversation, close to the point where either you, or they, show up. So, you could strike up a conversation with someone after sitting next to them for 30 minutes, each doing your own thing... but it's been my experience that when you show up, or when they show up, there's more of an incidental openness that can be exploited with a "hello" (or whatever suits the occasion).

Absolutely and I am mindful of people not having their personal space or privacy invaded in public. This dynamic changes in a social setting however where the expectation is to socialize or be friendly to others.

This also applies to meeting one's neighbors when moving houses.

I've also noticed a decline and people just seem unhappier and grumpy. I don't think it's the act of staring at a screen itself. It's the information coming from that screen. It's stressing people out and adding a huge amount of complexity to life.

That is why I use an Apple Watch. I can leave my cellphone at home, set the Apple Watch to ‘no alerts’, and just do a quick check for messages/emails once in a long while - when I want to. I can still make phone calls if I really need to.

You would like the book ‘Digital Minimalism’.

So your watch also has a 4G connection? Do you have to pay for that separately through your cell provider?

Yes and yes (for me it's a bit over $10 a month).

:) I like this routine. All you need to do is find one or two more people to do nothing with you. And you are set.

somewhat similar: I used to occupy all my "down time" with podcasts or audiobooks. While mildly interesting, I found that it removes all "cognitive introspection" opportunities, so that the only time available for tat is when I'm trying to fall asleep (meaning I had trouble falling asleep!)

So over the last few months I've stopped audiobooks and podcasts (I already don't watch TV).

Kind of counter intuitively, I find this "REAL down time" combined with other physical activities such as jogging and a few minutes of gardening each day provides me with greater self-control.

This is interesting. I assume there's a balance to be had between being introduced to new ideas through something like a podcast/audiobook and having enough downtime to ruminate on those ideas for more meaningful insight.

I can attest to that - on an hour commute I often listen to 45 min worth of podcasts until hitting material that prompts self-reflection. Then the voice memo comes out.

Very interesting observation. I started listening to audiobooks during my commute and have had more trouble sleeping recently. I chalked it up to overall stress, but now that I think of it, I used to spend that time thinking.

>I find this "REAL down time" combined with other physical activities such as jogging and a few minutes of gardening each day provides me with greater self-control.

I find it really interesting you mention gardening, because I've found that doing dishes has the same effect on me. I can just stand in front of the sink, wash the dishes, and introspect on things and let the mind wander. By the end of it, I get a dopamine hit from accomplishing a useful task with immediate visible results, as well as a relaxed state of mind.

for me I don't think it's really enjoyable, but in my weird mind having that block of time "scheduled" for jogging+gardening makes me more motivated towards keeping my schedule the rest of the day (I'm self employed, so have to really keep after myself)

Where were you when I had a crappy roommate?

This is a beautiful application of the McLuhan quote "the medium is the message" about how our tools and interactions shape us. The more "efficient" we become, the more we prize apparent efficiency and productivity.

It feels quaint to imagine that just twenty years ago, when you agreed to meet someone, you couldn't text/call them with real time updates -- so times were plus/minus ten minutes and people had no problem waiting, sometimes even for hours.

> learning to live with all the people who can't

I think kids (at least early on) as you note are pretty excellent antidote. the first year is especially a whole lotta not much (eat, poop, sleep, make noise, repeat).

at work I found using a really old computer was effective, since switching to slack was like a 30 second endeavor, I would just sit in the terminal all day. at home a shitty cell data plan is effective as well.

I put a lot of thought into what I want out of life, and "contemplation" is a big one. Hannah Arendt drew a distinction I love between "thought" and "contemplation," essentially saying that just because you are thinking doesn't mean you're really spending time coming to know something. Leisure time to think freely and uncoerced is essential to achieving that mode of thought. I find that I even like thinking about work when it's true contemplation; I use some of my own free time to dwell on why the people around me act and think the way they do, what drives my behavior at work, why we face certain problems. It provides real insight and anchoring into the activity that takes up a significant portion of my life and adds considerable value to my work contributions. I think one of the smartest things businesses could do would be to follow Basecamp's "It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work" model, because calm, contemplative employees will come up with hugely profitable insights. As Kent Beck said, "Software is a leverage game." One insightful thought can save millions of dollars. I bet that's true of a lot of industries.

At a higher level, though, it's just an enjoyable mode of being. But you can't get into that state if you don't learn how to stop doing things and just lean back for a minute.

You sound like CBD oil ad

I feel like the hardest part of learning to do nothing is getting over an initial period where your body and mind is trying to remember how to fill an hour of idle time without Instagram or Twitter or Facebook. I think after long periods of relying on these services to fill pockets of time that are otherwise hard to capitalize on, we unlearn how to simply sit and be bored. Like any form of rehabilitation, it takes time, and after a couple weeks it’s easy to see that life is so, so easy without the obsession of always consuming something. And what a better way to come up with interesting ideas, too. I’d take an hour of staring at a wall over an hour of Hacker News any day, if I was trying specifically to drum up ideas for something to hack on.

> we unlearn how to simply sit and be bored

Yup.. personally I somehow feel it's "wrong" that I sit there and do nothing on the rare occasion I get the opportunity.

There are times when I just want to sit or lay down and do nothing but my wife wont let me. When asked about her problem with this, she says it’s lazy not to do anything. Somehow doing nothing is wrong and everyone is conditioned to judge you for it.

I got a lot of freedom when I realized that other people’s judgements are often designed (sometimes subconsciously or culturally) simply to get you to do what they want you to do.

It is quite in the benefit of other people and groups for you to be “productive”.

One of my pet peeves is when someone complains to me about being bored, as if their inability to occupy themselves is my fault and its my job to entertain them. My wife learned this about me early on (I'm an extreme introvert and can happily retreat into my own skull and stay there for hours at a time).

Don't come to me and simply say "I'm bored." What am I supposed to do with that? If you have an idea of something you'd like to do that involves me, by all means just tell me.

Otherwise, leave me alone.

Only boring people get bored. You should try this one on your wife :)

It's funny how couples' attitudes to idleness can conflict like this. I spent a good few years at the beginning of my relationship with my now wife defending my right to not appear to be doing anything. It took a long time for us to understand each other, and I think the hardest thing was feeling judged for simply being oneself and not performing in some way. Being alone and idle is a huge part of what makes me me.

This is often how I feel. There have definitely been days when I just sat around doing nothing, but even on those days I find myself reading a book, practicing a language, writing down ideas, practicing music, and thinking about things that matter to me. I feel like not doing 'something' is a waste of time and brings me no value. Even in times when I am 'doing nothing' that I think of right now, I am generally at least walking or doing some exercise.

I strongly recall going with my parents to the laundromat as a child and sitting there for 3 hrs straight on a chair. I had no phone, no book, no other kids in the building, and the arcade machines and other things all costed quarters that I didn't have. I would just sit there bored out of my skull, and I hated it more than anything else in the world. It wasn't like playing outside with friends where we could invent our own games, it was cold sterile nothing in a smelly building. When people complain about contemporary kids on their tablets or phones 24/7 and how this is bad I always think back to these times when I literally didn't even have a crayon to scribble with. The times I remember fondly of exploring/playing/running around the neighborhood/drawing/ fighting/ etc are more memorable, but in terms of objective measurement, were vastly outweighed by sitting doing literally nothing. I feel like people often view the world with rose-coloured glasses when they write these anti-screen messages.

> I feel like people often view the world with rose-coloured glasses when they write these anti-screen messages.

With all due respect, perhaps they're viewing through the glasses of "not having neglectful and/or impoverished parents." A daily 3-hr purgatory, isolated from socialization or stimuli, will not to a kid any good.

I have a 40 minute commute. I have to resist the urge to fill the time with a podcast, radio, TedX. When I do, it's so nice to just let my mind wonder.

I had that experience (not myself) with a former girlfriend.

She vocalized how she thought it was "so indulgent" to lie about for an hour on a late-summer Sunday afternoon in the city.

I grew up in a small, small town and remember a time even in the 90s before there was internet access. And then a time when there was, but it was far from readily accessible.

Entire days could be consumed by riding your bike on country roads past cornfields and sitting at the foot of waterfalls. There was nothing else to do. I read a lot. If that's indulgent I must be the most ugly glutton!

Which reminds me the first time I did a longer silent meditation retreat. Even though this was before the smartphone age, I missed listening to music, talking to people, reading the news, etc. Basically any strong sensory perception. Once you are over the hump and accept these cravings, it becomes easier and you find a certain 'lightness' in not having to react to every emotion immediately.

Since last year or so I have become more conscientious about my smartphone use. And I have tried to curtail use a fair bit. Since smartphones are often genuinely useful (navigation, occasional messaging, music) I didn't want to stop cold turkey. Also, to me it is more interesting to learn to break the addiction while still being able to use a phone responsibly. I removed all games from my phone and most social media apps. All those moments where you'd normally take out your phone have become so much nicer: there are more opportunities to rest your mind, pick up small conversations with people, etc.

Besides the addictiveness of phones, the other problem of social media is that everything has become a reputation game. The other day, I saw a video of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder just wandering around a park in Seattle in 1992. People recognized him, would come up to him and they'd just chat. Some people would ask an autograph, but that's it. As someone pointed out in the comments, this would not be possible anymore today. If a somewhat famous person would be recognized, people would focus more on getting the perfect pic for Instagram likes than actually connecting with a real person.

Similarly, when I was a teenager, we would just go to concerts, fool around, kiss, play guitar miserably, all the things that teenagers do, without the need to continuously document our perfect party life or being aware of the risk that someone might film you when you do something stupid. We were much freer than kids are now.

>learning to do nothing is getting over an initial period where your body and mind is trying to remember how to fill an hour of idle time

That’s essentially the same as trying to quit tobacco.

Trying to quit cigarettes.

I smoked cigars and cigarillos for some time and it’s essentially the same. Maybe worse - you can easily fill an hour with a cigar. No idea about chewing or snuff I suppose.

People I know who've quit dip did it by making themselves sick, packing a huge lip and swallowing instead of spitting. Usually ends in puke. Now just a whiff of the stuff makes them gag.

For me, the catalyst was that I lived in a place with an average temperature well below 0°C, and then I realized that my cats smelled like ashtrays because I smoked inside.

That sounds very effective; I'm trying to think how you might be able to apply that technique to social media. I want to gag every time I spend too long on Facebook.

Go read some political pages you don’t agree with. Engage with the people there, and after a while, you surely won’t want to be anywhere around Facebook. Possibly because they’ll be harassing you for days

That’s kind of like the thing where parents make kids smoke entire pack of cigarettes when they’re caught with them.

Had a pretty fierce nicotine addiction for a while in college. The hardest part was the migraines but once those went away it's been smooth sailing every since.

When I take a long vacation it often takes me several weeks to slow down and learn to be myself without needing distraction. Unfortunately there are a lot of people whose first experience ever with having time to slow down will be at retirement. The usual two week or less vacations don’t cut it.

> I’d take an hour of staring at a wall over an hour of Hacker News any day, if I was trying specifically to drum up ideas for something to hack on.

I feel like this misses the point because you're still looking at it through the lens of productivity, albeit a step removed from "writing code" kind of productivity.

In your example you're still doing something -- "trying specifically to drum up ideas for something to hack on".

It seems like, if anything, this is an example of what the author is talking about: the need to turn everything into productivity.

That sounds like something Slavoj Zizek would say. Capitalism is the cornerstone of American culture, so everything we do easily falls into a "pump up those numbers" mindset.

Yeah I’ve had a couple conversations with friends about this in the last year. They tend to see this as a negative thing (the pressure to always be creating _something_), but I’ve never been convinced by their arguments. I think I look at one’s relationship to value production as a fairly romantic venture that sates some poorly understood desire to leave the world in a better place than you found it. They tend to say this is just because I’ve grown up in a capitalist economy and there is no innate value to producing new things. For some reason that just doesn’t feel right to me.

Well, there's definitely utility to you in creating things, even if it provides no value to anyone else. Not only can you solve your own problems this way, but it develops your skills, creativity, & general sense of well-being.

Mindfulness is slow, frustrating, inconvenient, impractical, irritating, and that's the whole point.

> we unlearn how to simply sit and be bored.

I would say that we unlearn how to simply sit and be without being bored.

Practicing mindfulness and meditation helps me redirect my energy towards less impulsivity and nagging thoughts of cheap dopamine sources (Facebook, Instagram etc)

The first time I tried to quit social media, I was shocked at how I instinctively tried to share every mildly amusing thought. It took hard work to relearn how to let my passing thoughts just vanish without trying to spread them around.

Right - growing up when the world was becoming fascinated with social media led my brain to constantly seek reward & imagine an eager audience for my fascinating adolescent thoughts. Now I see the freedom in the fact that no one really cares.

I'm tree weeks into:

git clone https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts.git && cd hosts && pip3 install --user -r requirements.txt && python3 updateHostsFile.py --auto --replace --extensions social porn gambling

and going strong.

What I figured so far is that the trick is to stay away from the browser. So I've removed Safari on my iPhone (well, more like hidden), I've changed my rss client to newsboat - command line one, I moved all of my youtube subscriptions into rss, I've written a script that keeps track of videos I would like to watch from those rss subscriptions, downloads them in bulk in background (all hail systemd timers) and then gives me dmenu to pick a video to play in mpv.

I had Google app installed on my iPhone but I noticed that I use this thing to surf mindlessly again, so I deleted it. Basically I can't google stuff anymore on my phone =/. But so be it, it turned into communicator/navigator/music player/food orderer.

I did start reading books again because... Well, taking phone into toilet is pointless now, gotta do something, so I started reading books again. I'm actually reading multiple at the time, there is a paper book in the toilet, there is a book on my iphone and there is a book on my laptop, three completely unrelated topics so whenever I feel like procrastinating I read one of them. Well, except the one in toilet, I'm not procrastinating, I'm working hard there ;-).

Stay away from the browser guys.

What also works quite well is moving away from the screen altogether. Grab your (paper) notebook, sit down in a park, take it out when you feel the urge to write things down.

This especially helped me with my programming. Sketching a program on paper forces you to more or less skip the concrete code, but think more about flow, structure and goals.

When you are at home with your multi monitor workstation, it can sometimes make sense to take your laptop and sit down at thw kitchen table to break habits and start a focused session (easier to have a youtube video open on a multi display setup).

In the end it all boils down to maintaining a perception about your own work processes and trying not to lie to yourself.

I would appreciate if you could share that Youtube download script.

https://gist.github.com/dikeert/ce43bfe607e46c9c04e47ab5a0e6...

Thanks for that. For a while I had been meaning to create a script that would archive favorites/likes/etc across multiple websites (eg. soundcloud also) using cron + youtube-dl.

Nothing sucks like saving a video, forgetting about it, seeing a [Video removed] in your favorites and Youtube not even telling you what it was. That's just bad UX imo..

I recently bought a minitel for something like 3€, and would like to convert this dumb terminal into a workstation for when I have to write long reports, distraction-free.

1200 bauds, plain-text ought to be enough for writing something in vim+latex, while setting this up could give me a meaningful project to spend some time on... I must say it has been collecting dust for now, while I procrastinate on HN (not entirely true, but I found that I tend to junk-fill my free time with consuming content and writing "internet conmments" like a fastfood addict).

I'm absolutely convinced that social media is shortening our attention spans, and I do not think that's a good thing.

At one point I realized that I hadn't thought deeply or creatively about anything in a long time, and it was because I was constantly consuming the mental equivalent of junk food snacks. Endlessly scrolling feeds, banal and unchallenging content that demands nothing more from us than a tap/click/swipe... that little red notification icon is a psychological experiment; a Pavlovian intermittent reward. And it was specifically designed to be so.

I firmly believe the human mind needs periods of boredom, and space free from distraction. Without that space, the mind has no room for contemplation or creativity.

I went on a major social media purge two months ago today. I feel a lot smarter - like, able to work my brain better. I'm seeing it in my political thought. I used to debate politics incessantly online, with the usual partisan boundaries. By withdrawing from that battlefield, I'm seeing the battle differently.

Not to mention my book-reading rate has increased by around 200%. Was I really wasting four books a month of time on Facebook and Twitter? Apparently.

This may be a different idea to "doing nothing", but when I teach labs, I explicitly do not get on the computer while students are working. Instead, I literally just stand there looking for students to ask me questions.

I've noticed that whenever I would start working on grades, or assignments, or whatever, students would never ask for help unless it was dire. When I was at attention, while it wasn't constant, I found myself helping students more. Over time, I've assumed it is because they don't want to "bother" me or break my concentration. However, when all I am doing is waiting for them to ask a question, I seemed to get more activity.

It's been 5 years now since I dropped my smartphone. I now rely on a Samsung b2710, which is fine (has somehow a calendar sync and more or less gmail access).

I still have an old iPhone though, with a complementary SIM card, that I use for navigation or when travelling. Typically it stays in my car or in my bag.

I've never been so happy since I left social media and compulsively taking out my phone all the f. time.

I now read a lot in my commute time or just "do nothing" which I find very satisfying : I can think of work or personal life or interests and I'm always gaining something of this free time to somehow ... piece things together.

There's a reason we get so many of our great ideas in the shower - our 'diffuse brain' is going to work, forging new paths and making connections.

I think the biggest danger of these products is that they are optimized to co-opt our attention, reducing the time available for this genuinely deep thinking.

Agreed. See also: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wf2VxeIm1no

CGP Grey talking about water proof phones invading his shower times with podcasts

I'm not sure how best to put this, but I'm not so sure detaching is the answer here, at least not long term. I can detach pretty easily and start daydreaming even while I'm on social media. If what I'm looking at isn't interesting enough, I start skimming. While I'm skimming my attention is divided between trying to find stimulation and whatever thing that's got my larger attention, usually some personal thing. I might bounce back and forth between these things many times while I'm social media'ing.

Work is the same thing. My mind switches between active problem solving, and detachment, while my subconscious is working out a solution. Work usually isn't maximally-stimulating, so I'm always dividing my attention there too.

For something to commandeer my full attention, it has to bear down heavily on my 'main life loop'. Social media often manages to do this, with some really smart person's Quora post incisively dissecting a topic I'm intensely interested in.

My mind 'forages' through social media looking for stimulation. No distraction can literally steal ALL my attention, I always have some left over.

I've altered all my computing environments to avoid any kind of unwanted animation. Animations on computer screens do manage to snatch me out of my current mental loop. If social media did this, then it wouldn't be useful for me and I wouldn't bother with it.

Speaking of computing environments... the minimalist nature of HN is one reason I allow myself to keep using it, even while shutting FB/Twitter/etc out.

I'm seriously thinking of switching my computing over to an iPad, to get rid of all the bits of stuff on the periphery of my computing. One app at a time.

I feel like yours is the best description of the delusion of control many of us lived in, until we didn't.

I mean this honestly that unless you can detach in the ways people describe here, it will get worse.

Personally, I've noticed that my depth of thinking has improved since making time for contemplation. I was nervous initially about not having read everything - I was surprised and proud how people said "have you seen xyz" and I had. I'm not that person any more, but my skills as an engineer to solve complex problems has improved.

An office building nearby renovated their ground floor with a new food court. Great idea but they also added a semi-circle of TVs all tuned on CBC News that pretty much looks over most of the seating and the food stalls. It’s hard to avoid.

Easy enough to modify the environment on our phones and desktops but it’s more inconvenient to avoid IRL distractions.

Gyms that have wall mounted TVs always on is a peeve of mine, especially when it's nonsense political commentators. I actively have to avoid glancing at the TV screens.

But that takes an active effort to look away so it’s still stress.

Whenever I got to the gym in my office, if nobody else is there, I just turn the TVs off. So much better that way.

It really should be made illegal to put TVs and other noise making devices into the public space. I don’t understand why it’s acceptable to put that stuff everywhere. It’s basically visual and auditory littering, not much different from throwing away trash.

When I talk to others about this their justification is that it helps them be aware of local and world news. But ironically we seem to have more TVs at a time where we have more agency to check the news whenever, wherever anyway.

You’re right in that it’s pretty much is visual/auditory littering at this point.

If people have to really on this kind of programming to be aware of news they are in pretty bad shape ....

how is the lobby of an office building "public space"? its private space owned by that company...

You're being pedantic.

The point is, many people use that lobby. Sure, the owners can legally run 24x7 porn on the screens if they really wanted, but wouldn't we all be better off with no screens there at all?

It makes me crazy that the gas station has installed news shows on the pumps.

In most cases, those types of gas pumps have a series of eight buttons on the side of the screen, 4 per side. The second button down on the right side will usually mute it.

Recently uninstalled Reddit on my mobile and ipad. Stopped watching netflix before going to sleep. Stopped listening to podcasts, youtube or music while driving. Started wearing a watch to avoid opening my phone to check the time, like 600 times an hour.

Its been extremely difficult but doable. Now i know what withdrawal feels like.

Do you feel it's been a positive experience?

Absolutely. Getting more work done. Less fatigued. Able to concentrate more.

Every few years my phone breaks, and I take my sweet time replacing it. Recently I went about a month without a phone at all. It's much more relaxing, and it's nice to spend 20 minutes on a train just looking out the window.

Although I carry a "smart" phone (originally acquired because I needed it to test stuff I'm working on), I have deliberately chosen not to receive email or other notifications on it, or even to connect it to a data plan. It just makes calls and sends texts when needed. If I'm away from my desk (which is not one specific location, as I often move my laptop around the house), I'm essentially away from the internet.

The global economy will collapse the day people get a hold on their senses to the fact that time spent on social media is time wasted poorly. Ofcourse, it is hypothetical... saw a video of a chimp using Instagram the other day on Twitter, so yeah global economy is not collapsing anytime soon.

I'm not convinced the global economy is that bound to social media use. Why do you say?

And I’d bet if that did happen, which I think is extremely unlikely, the global economy would benefit greatly by people finding new uses for their time (not all of which would be productive), as opposed to funneling data and ad money towards Facebook.

I don't see how that follows in several ways. First off "waste" is deeply subjective in many ways - wasted by whose standards? Is time spent at work wasted or time not spent at work? LPuritans had ideas of "wastes time" which were so unpopular they had a return to monarchy they ousted. What would "coming to their senses" entail?

Even then how would it create a global economic collapse? I doubt even a complete advertising melt-down (probably impossible situation where effectiveness of ads goes to 0% and it is known) would accomplish more than a recession or depression at most as even uninfluenced people would have needs and desires to meet and global trade could help fulfill them.

Even if a productivity glut drives down the value of labor that would self limit with minimum wage and "working more would get me less of value than taking more time offc

Shouldn't we rather call it the Distraction Economy?

Could go either way; distraction is the result but attention is the unit of value (now the meaning behind Basic Attention Token is clearer to me).

Yes, attention is a commodity with great value when accumulated in large numbers. Exponential in a way, I would say.

Which is what paperbacks, newspapers, radio, tv, movies, etc were/are called at one time or another. I bet in 20 years, smartphone and social media companies and everyone else will be ranting about VR being a distraction.

I think this dismissal really ignores a very crucial difference. Unlike magazines or even TV for that matter, the new social media has personalized and detailed information on individuals and can tailor their content and design to target every person individually.

IMO, that is a substantial and qualitative difference that makes the new “distraction” mediums far more effective and dangerous.

One other problem is, magazines end. They have X articles, of which you find Y interesting enough to read, and then that's that. You read it. It's done. You go do something else.

Digital feeds never end. There's always something new, always something interesting. There's always something. You can keep staring at the screen endlessly. And if one app doesn't give new stuff anymore, there's 10 other apps within a tap away to give you more.

Yeah, having lived in the world before the Web had much on it, when it was slow and inconvenient to use, and could only be used certain places (at a desk, with a computer), when a computer not connected to the Internet wasn't a useless paperweight, and then in the world after Facebook and the iPhone and the full blossoming of the spyvertising industry, web-connected cell phones and the modern attention economy are strikingly different. There's no comparison to books or magazines, however low-value, or even to TV or radio. It's a whole other thing, and overall mostly terrible.

Sure but at least with a paperback or movie you are wasting time learning a little bit about the world or appreciating someones art. There are people who are getting all their news from misleading social media posts and comments. People used to read news articles and get a nuanced understanding of the world, now they read and share racist memes and we wonder why politics have never been more polarized.

The key thing is electricity. Spend 48 hours on your own without it (and without any preparation).

The first 24 will have you eeking out the last bit of battery from gadgets. You can also turn in early for the night, listening to a battery powered radio.

Then in the second 24 hours, with no electricity, see what happens. You might use the daylight hours to tidy up or fix a few broken things. You might read those books that have been collecting dust. You might actually write something with pen and paper. Food is cold, beverages are cold. There is no power shower. Daylight hours matter, you have to get whatever it is you are doing done before it is dark.

48 hours is about enough. You can remind yourself in that time how 24/7 media distractions don't really help. When you get back online none of those missed emails and notifications really mattered. It feels like a mini-holiday has been had. Warm food tastes great again, as does tea/coffee.

Turning off a phone for a few hours only gets you part way into the digital detox experience, flicking the big electricity switch and keeping it off for more than a day is much more enlightening.

You now have me wondering whether I should try shutting off all of my circuit breakers (except the fridge) for the whole of this weekend.

Now that I've said it, I kinda want to do it.

The fridge and freezer survived last time I gave this a go, although there wasn't a lot in the freezer. Or the fridge for that matter.

I would say that going cold turkey on the electricity for 48 hours so you get a complete 24 hour cycle is well worth it. Apart from anything else electricity is taken for granted and it should not be.

With our computer backups we only know if the backups work if we can restore from them. We don't just assume it will be okay because we have everything on tape.

Recently the Russians closed off the internet access to the wider web to see if they could cope with the USA cutting the cord.

I would say that testing life without the electricity is one of those things, worth doing not just for 'personal growth' reasons but out of preparedness. It isn't prepper alarmism, there could be a flood, fire or other freak weather incident that puts you off grid.

In a sibling comment there is mention of candles. Most people don't have a lot of these, or, if in a built up area, an actual fireplace. I would advise against doing any preparation as in buying alternative supplies and in that way night is night.

There is an actual climate emergency going on right now and buying a Tesla isn't going to help. Going cold turkey on electricity for the thought experiment value does help. Afterwards you realise that you need little more than what you would normally waste on 'phantom power' losses. Time also becomes valued differently, as per the original article we have an 'attention economy' and electricity facilitates that. When you realise you have to read an actual book in actual silence for 'amusement' and then quite enjoy it, your value system changes.

... NOt really.

Candles exist and are great sources of light. I can do pretty much normal stuff, albeit with less noise. I just make more artwork.

Fire exists and you can cook on it. Refrigeration, however, doesn't. Showers suck because they are cold, but for 48 hours, most will just skip it. Otherwise, heat up water on the fire for washing up.

Depending on where you live, you might not have water. I've lived a few places on a well that absolutely required electricity to have running water.

Besides, what you are talking about is ... relaxation and vacation. Folks do this all the time when they go camping. Or here, stay out in a primitive cabin in the mountains. One doesn't need to go full nomad to experience benefits from a relaxing vacation weekend.

Weapons of mass distraction:

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=weapons+of+mas...

(The pre-1980 instances appear to be OCR error artefacts.)

The etymology of 'advertise" is "advert" -- to distract the gaze, attention, or focus.

https://www.etymonline.com/word/advertise

https://www.etymonline.com/word/advert

Thus advertisers are our adversaries!

It's an interesting dichotomy — the author paints doing nothing as "detaching from life online" and instead "engaging in an activity without considering whether it’s productive".

Personally, a lot of my "doing nothing" happens online as well. Whether that's good or bad I can't say, but my goal is definitely not to be productive when I'm randomly browsing the internet.

As the review points out, it works for the author and her artistic lifestyle, but probably wouldn't for me.

I've cut most social media and cell phone use out of my life (I still allow myself HN and a particular musician's forum).

Something that drives me nuts now is people staring at their phones while ostensibly hanging out with me and being social. I have a couple of friends who are hardcore Pokemon Go players, and I can't go anywhere with them without them constantly hunting for Pokemon on their phones (or checking FB, or whatever).

Just make your default activity reading (and put zero pressure on what, as long as its on paper) or exersize. That worked for me.

Also great if you have a partner: Reading aloud to each other.

Jenny Odell has an earlier iteration of "how to do nothing" as a 2017 blog post: https://medium.com/@the_jennitaur/how-to-do-nothing-57e100f5...

Buy a nice watch. One that you enjoy the look of and will wear daily.

It'll cut the number of times you grab your phone in half.

Or buy an Apple Watch (or Android equiv). You'll see your messages on there and realize a whole lot of them require little or no input. Quick glance at the wrist and then you're back to reality.

For me, it’s work that caused a constant sense of anxiety for the last decade. When I’m not doing anything, I start thinking about work or doing work. There is just so much to do, as an entrepreneur.

I have this feeling like sure, I can be idle for an hour or so. But it would be incredibly boring and also why?

> I can be idle for an hour or so. But it would be incredibly boring and also why?

Because that is your recovery time, which can be pretty valuable.

If you take part in physical sports/pastimes (for instance I run) you'll know the value of periodicity in training programs: rest days each week, and easy weeks every 3/4/5 (this can vary a lot depending on training program). Training actually does damage, the rest periods allow the body a bit of time to put itself back together better and if you skip them you risk an over-training related injury.

I consider a bit of downtime during the day to have a similar effect on my mind. Sleep of course is the longer rest periods. In sports, it is important to take some full time off now and then too: don't jump into training for one event immediately after the last. For the mental wellness equivalent, this is what proper holidays are for.

The anxiety affects us the same: we feel that by doing nothing for a while we are letting go, wasting time, undoing some good, etc. But really we are doing ourselves some good by not running our bodies at approaching 100% too constantly.

I spend most of my "doing nothing" time to imagine/predict things. Or analyzing & answering random questions from my own (asked at that moment or before) It seems to be one of the good habits I have.

I don't feel like the two statements "How to Do Nothing" and "Resisting the Attention Economy" are congruent.

Nor are her actions for that matter: She waxes on about not creating things and then creates a book.

Try to avoid focus on internet by focus on another task like try jump from fire to minefield. The internet contain ton of shit and people don't know they need to filter it.

Books in early time also contain trash like internet nowadays. The problem that needs to be solved that we need to find good sources of information, like to find a good book. I like to read old books which have good reputation and reviews. The new book still needs time to be test and refined.

Oh, it's quite easy but that may just be me, it also helps to know when the hard part arrives ;-) (which is at the beginning)

This is what I do:

1) Do nothing

2) Feel your sensations in the body as your doing nothing. In the beginning I sometimes feel aggitated, I just keep observing the my sensations for a couple of minutes.

3) Close your eyes.

4) Congratulations, you are now limited by your fantasy. Have fun, experiment, make up a story, visualize something.

Your step two is mindfulness meditation

Mindfulness of body sensation (nama-rupa) is the first foundation of mindfulness in the satipattana sutta. There's 3 more... :) mindfulness of feelings, states of mind and conditioned/causal phenomena

Perhaps, but step 4 is definitely not; if you're freely daydreaming you're not developing awareness of the mind's activity.

Which is why I explicitly did not refer to mindfulness meditation. I do step 2 in order to set the conditions to perform step 4. If I wouldn't do step 2, then I'd have the issue of being to agitated and then I couldn't make the switch.

Yep it feels good to be disengaged from all that stuff. Personally it's about the hobbies, and forcing myself away from screens into nature. I enjoy sports so i'll get outside and play. Also fishing is a great one. Peace, quiet, nature. Plus you are focused on fishing. But also just getting outside is amazing. It feels great hearing the birds etc.

It’s quite possible to use the Internet without paying attention to popular culture. One is not required to consume media, especially not whatever default popular media is commonly served to people. Online, I use this site, listen to obscure music of my choice, and upload and view pictures of desolate buildings on Instagram.

Obligatory quotation from Pascal:

"When I have occasionally set myself to consider the different distractions of men, the pains and perils to which they expose themselves at court or in war, whence arise so many quarrels, passions, bold and often bad ventures, etc., I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber."

(http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18269/18269-0.txt)

"There are two kinds of people in this world:
Those that enter a room and turn the television set on, and

those that enter a room and turn the television set off."

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

http://www.moviequotes.com/fullquote.cgi?qnum=82397

Isn't the author and the nytimes part of the attention economy? By reading the article and commenting on it, aren't we partaking in rather than resisting the attention economy? It's put us in a bind. In order to learn about resisting the attention economy, we have to join it.

I'd say that if you're browsing HN or nytimes of your own free will, came across this article and decided to read it out of interest then attention economy doesn't come into it.

Using opponent's energy to win is a valid strategy. As Lenin rightly observed: "A capitalist will sell us the rope which we will hang them with."

Really it seems like one of the biggest mistake of communists is in misidentifying their opponents and allies.

Not unique to them but there are quite a few cases where "enemies" were helful to them yet persecuted and the "allies" would have been best off strangled when they first met them to save everyone a lot of heartache.

There's no contradiction; if your read the article, it's because you're not already resisting, so there's no loss. And you don't have to comment on it, you know - you can just shut down the screen.

The attention economy is engagement metrics and trying to maximize the amount of time your eyes are fixed on an ad in effort to sway you to hand over your income or vote. Facebook isn't in the business of making the site more useful to you, they are in the business of making you spend more time on the site in ways that increase your engagement with advertising. I wouldn't equate it to NY times and other world class publications, which rely on continually appeasing subscribers who are expecting informative content. With facebook, you are the resource to be exploited and sold and the advertisers are the customer to be wooed.

Cal Newport has also been a very good resource on this 'ethos' so-to-speak, and has good suggesstions and brass-tacks advice.

http://www.calnewport.com/blog/

Relevant reddit community: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosurf/

But I love the internet, and interesting experiments and awesome blog posts. The part that bothers me is only "checking instagram/reddit/hn obsessively for no reward"

For me, I avoid most web bookmarks. Having to physically type out the site for something makes me less likely to habitually check it and be pulled in.

John Cleese, in his wonderful [lecture][1] on creativity:

> So, you’ve arranged to take no calls, you’ve closed your door, you’ve sat down somewhere comfortable, take a couple of deep breaths and if you’re anything like me, after you’ve pondered some problem that you want to turn into an opportunity for about 90 seconds, you find yourself thinking “Oh I forgot I’ve got to call Jim… oh, and I must tell Tina that I need the report on Wednesday and not Thursday which means I must move my lunch with Joe and Damn! I haven’t called St. Paul’s about getting Joe’s daughter an interview and I must pop out this afternoon to get Will’s birthday present and those plants need watering and none of my pencils are sharpened and Right! I’ve got too much to do, so I’m going to start by sorting out my paper clips and then I shall make 27 phone calls and I’ll do some thinking tomorrow when I’ve got everything out of the way.”

> Because, as we all know, it’s easier to do trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking.

> And it’s also easier to do little things we know we can do, than to start on big things that we’re not so sure about.

> So when I say create an oasis of quiet know that when you have, your mind will pretty soon start racing again. But you’re not going to take that very seriously, you just sit there (for a bit) tolerating the racing and the slight anxiety that comes with that, and after a time your mind will quiet down again.

> Now, because it takes some time for your mind to quiet down it’s absolutely no use arranging a “space/time oasis” lasting 30 minutes, because just as you’re getting quieter and getting into the open mode you have to stop and that is very deeply frustrating. So you must allow yourself a good chunk of time. I’d suggest about an hour and a half. Then after you’ve gotten to the open mode, you’ll have about an hour left for something to happen, if you’re lucky.

> But don’t put a whole morning aside. My experience is that after about an hour-and-a-half you need a break. So it’s far better to do an hour-and-a-half now and then an hour-and-a-half next Thursday and maybe an hour-and-a-half the week after that, than to fix one four-and-a-half hour session now.

By the way, today is the 500th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest human beings in history at doing a lot by spending time ”doing nothing”, i.e., observing, drawing, and thinking: [Leonardo da vinci][2]! Have not seen a Google Doodle, or anything on Apple’s homepage, marking the occasion, which makes me think we need more creative people in charge in the world, to counter-balance the business suits.

[1]: https://youtu.be/Pb5oIIPO62g?t=977

[2]: https://www.simongriffee.com/notebook/leonardo-da-vinci-500-...

It's just a blurb about some book? That was a waste of my free articles for the month.

Should I get this book on my Kindle? It’s available there.

Just put it on my reading list based on the article. Now for getting around to actually reading it ;)

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