3 Ways To Prevent Online Interruptions Undermining Your Cognitive Efficiency
In our quest to multitask and stay connected, we're actually sabotaging our cognitive efficiency with these common daily habits.
You know what I'm talking about: That moment when you're deep in thought, and suddenly, a ping, an e-mail, or an alluring ad breaks your concentration. It's not just annoying, it's a silent thief stealing your cognitive efficiency.
This can happen repeatedly, every day. Your focus becomes fragmented, your productivity plummets, and your stress levels soar. How often does a day slip away, leaving you wondering what you actually accomplished?
What if there was a way to shield your mind from these relentless digital intrusions? Instead of being a victim of the online chaos, you could regain control, enhance your focus, and reclaim your mental space.
Let's see how.
On today’s show:
The multi-library social media vortex
Checking yourself out on video calls
Endless task-switching
The cognitive treadmill of social media
Social media platforms, often seen as casual leisure spaces, are actually complex environments that strain our cognitive abilities.
Imagine you are going to meet an old friend for coffee. You’re looking forward to reconnecting and on your way to the coffee shop you pull open your mental library of your prior interactions.
You subconsciously recall how you were introduced, things you’ve done together, how you feel about his person, what mutual friends you have, what you discussed when you last met - a deep dig through the archives.
Now imagine you went through the that whole process for a new person every 2 seconds. Instead of browsing one mental library you are running in and out of dozens of them every minute. Welcome to your (absolutely not) relaxing scroll through social media!
Add into this the drawbacks of a free source of zero-effort dopamine (a future newsletter topic) and an express route to mentally comparing your own blooper reel with everyone else’s highlight reel (another future newsletter).
Suddenly you’ve got a recipe for a mentally taxing time.
What can I do about it: All phones are equipped with daily app limits if you aren’t inclined to give it up. I’ve also found that turning off all notifications can reduce the number of times you end up in there, as can setting your display to grayscale. All of this is very much still a work in progress for me.
Zoom Doom
The obsession with self-monitoring becomes a modern-day vanity trap in video meetings.
Post-COVID, video meetings have remained pervasive in most workdays. They allow for more connected communication from a distance, allowing us access to some (but not all) of the nuanced nonverbal cues that are observable during in-person conversation.
Unlike in-person chats though, users are provided with an image of themselves. As humans, we are helplessly fascinated by this. Try to consciously observe for yourself on your next call how much time you spend looking at your own square!
It provides novelty - other than the bathroom mirror we do not otherwise see ourselves a lot.
It provides comfort - some solace among the sea of over-stimulation and an unusual front row seat to one of most regular worries - how others see us.
The distraction of this fascination so well-known by psychologists that it’s one of the main reasons that so many elevators have mirrors (relief of claustrophobia and feelings of safety are the others).
People are now looking at themselves for hours a day rather than focusing fully on the subject at hand.
What can I do about it: This is an easy one. Click your settings button and ‘hide self-view’. Remember that others can still see your facial expressions and consider carefully when to pick your nose.
One Thing At A Time
The elevation of multi-tasking as a skill to be admired is a misguided approach that diminishes true productivity.
Multi-tasking is a myth. The human brain cannot perform two tasks requiring high-level brain function simultaneously. It’s impossible, so let’s stop pretending or trying to wear it as a badge of honor.
The next time someone says to you “sorry I was multi-tasking”, know that it actually means “sorry I was doing something else”.
Compared with my childhood in the 80s, there are certainly so many more sources of mental stimulation in the world. In the video call culture referenced above the temptations of task-switching and alternate tabs are at our fingertips.
Even without screens, I often find myself in a frustrated spiral, bouncing between tasks mentally and sometimes even physically, walking up and down stairs or performing 180 turns as I switch focus. All the while I am achieving absolutely nothing in return for all the cognitive energy.
Once distracted from a task, it can take in excess of 20 minutes to refocus the mind so if you treasure true productivity then you need to proactively defend it. (authors note - my doorbell rang just as I typed this and I became the latest proof point for this)
What can I do about it: Deliver yourself from temptation. When you need to focus, remove as many of the potential distractions as you can - put the phone in another room, close the other tabs. Set aside blocks for heads-down work as well as blocks for low-value grazing tasks like checking email and Slack and hold yourself to them. This is hard and takes practice, join me in the noble quest to try!
The power to enhance your cognitive efficiency lies within your grasp. It is possible to transform your online environment from a source of constant interruption to a tool for focused productivity. Hopefully this reflection helps your mind to clear a little!
To those of you reading the first proper newsletter post of mine - thank you for taking the time and spending some our your focus with me today. Please send on any thoughts or feedback you have. Until next time!
Cheers,
Graeme