It’s Time to Focus

Oliver+Burkeman

Its been known for some time that people share things on social media—a lot—without reading them first. The writer Alex Balk recently compared Facebook to “the coffee table on which people placed their unread copies of Thomas Piketty1）s Capital”： When we share， were often really focused on promoting a certain image. But a new study goes further： Apparently， sharing things， or just having the option to share， undermines the ability to digest and remember them. （Participants were twice as likely to make errors in a comprehension test.） When your attention is partly occupied by thoughts of how youll share or discuss what youre reading， its a distraction from actually reading it—made worse， presumably， if your newsfeeds also scrolling by in the corner of your eye. Social media is like belonging to a book club， but only ever reading novels while youre at the book club， two glasses of cabernet2） the worse for wear3）.

The only surprise is that any of this comes as a surprise. It should be obvious that attention is a limited resource （thats why people crash when they text and drive） yet we rarely treat it like other such resources. If a major corporation took ?10 from your bank account daily， for no benefit， youd be furious. But as Matthew Crawford points out in his book The World Beyond Your Head， the same corporation can help itself to your attention with a loud TV ad in an airport lounge4）， dragging your focus from conversation. Indeed， we actively collaborate with attention theft： iPads that let you jump from your novel to the web or to FaceTime chat are more popular than e-readers that wont. In a culture that viewed attention differently， we might pay extra for such limitations. Instead， we act as if our attentional capacities are infinite， then feel scattered and exhausted when it turns out they arent.

You can deal with the situation by denying theres a problem， as some pundits like to do； or you can take draconian5） measures， quitting social media for ever， or going on digital detox6） retreats. But I prefer the middle path encapsulated7） in the Buddhist idea of “guarding the sense doors.” The world stakes its claims on8） our attention， this argument goes， through the “sense doors，” chiefly the eyes and ears. So its wise to employ a doorman. （I imagine a firm but polite butler， not a bouncer9） on steroids10）. You dont need to nail11） the door completely shut， as Facebook quitters do； you just need to stay mindful of whos trying to get in.

In practical terms， this means not mixing attentional modes： Read when youre reading， share when youre sharing. You could send articles you discover online to Instapaper12） or Evernote13）， read them later offline， then treat sharing as a discrete14） task， perhaps at a specific time. This may not mean always being narrowly focused on one task； plenty of social situations need “wide-angle” attention instead. But it does mean not trying to use attention simultaneously for two incompatible tasks. Let one visitor across the threshold15） at a time. The others will wait on the doorstep. Or， better yet， wander off and stop pestering16） you.

一段时间以来，大家都知道，人们在社交媒体上分享的很多东西连他们自己都没有读过。作家亚历克斯·鲍克最近将Facebook比作这样一张咖啡桌——人们在上面放着自己都没读过的托马斯·皮克迪的著作《21世纪资本论》。我们在分享时，其实往往注重的是宣传某种形象。但是一项新的研究作了更深入的分析：分享内容或者仅仅是有分享的选择，显然会损害理解和记忆内容的能力。（参与者在理解测试中犯错的可能性会翻倍。）当你的一部分注意力放在了考虑如何分享或讨论你正在阅读的材料时，你其实并不是全神贯注地在阅读，而是已经分心了——而如果你的信息源正在你的眼角滚屏，那么情况可能变得更糟糕。社交媒体就像是加入一个读书俱乐部，但只有当你身在读书俱乐部，喝下两杯葡萄酒，醉眼迷离时，你才会读小说。

唯一奇怪的就是有人对此感到惊奇。注意力是一种有限的资源（人们在开车时发短信会撞车，原因就在于此），这一点本来显而易见，但我们并不会像对待其他有限的资源那样对待注意力。如果一个大公司每天从你的银行账户扣掉十英镑，却不给你任何好处，你会怒不可遏。但是正如马修·克劳福德在其著作《头脑之外的世界》中指出的，这家公司却能够用机场候机室热闹的电视广告窃取你的注意力，使你无法专注于谈话。事实上，对于注意力盗窃，我们还主动配合：iPad让你能够从已在读的小说跳到网络或跳到FaceTime聊天，电子阅读器则不会，然而前者却比后者更受欢迎。在一个对注意力持不同看法的文化里，我们可能会为这种局限性付出更多。但是，我们表现得就好像我们的注意力是无限的，然后当事实证明并非如此时，我们又觉得七零八落、疲惫不堪。

你可以像某些专家喜欢做的那样，通过否认问题的存在来应对这种状况；或者你可以采取嚴厉的措施，永远弃用社交媒体，或者进行数字戒毒。但是我更喜欢中庸之道，一言以蔽之，就是佛教理念“守护感官之门”。这种观点认为，世界通过“感官之门”（主要是眼睛和耳朵）来公然获取我们的注意力。因而，明智的做法是雇用一个门卫。（我想像的是一位态度坚决但彬彬有礼的管家，而非一个高大强悍的保镖。）你不必像弃用Facebook的人那样将门完全封死；你只需要留意是谁在试图进门。

从实际来讲，这意味着不要把各种注意力模式混在一起：阅读时就专心阅读，分享时就用心分享。你可以把自己在网上发现的文章发送到离线阅读应用Instapaper或Evernote，之后再离线阅读这些文章，然后把分享作为一个单独的任务，或许可以在某个特定的时间来完成。我并不是说大家总是要狭隘地专注于一项任务；相反，很多社会情景需要注意力广泛。但我想说的是，不要试图把注意力同时用在两项互不相容的任务上。一次只让一位来客跨过门槛吧。其他人必须在门口等待。或者更好的情况是，其他人走开了，不再纠缠你。