Our world is so full of distractions.

These distractions pull our attention every way.

I listened to a Robert Green interview.

He said the most powerful skill in the modern digital world is the ability to focus one’s attention.

And it's a skill almost no one has.

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Attention is the currency of the digital world.

Your attention can be pulled here and there by social media.

(Imagine corporations tapping into your bank account whenever they want and draining your balance.)

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We reach the end of our day and realize we were not very productive.

We allowed our attention to be pulled away for what adds up to hours of our day.

Hours of our finite lives.

So how do we focus?

Here is 1 framework I use to help me limit distractions and focus on actions that move the needle forward.
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Time=Money x Money=Attention x Attention=Time

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I view my attention as a bank account.

Everyday I wake up, my account is fully charged for the day.

An 'overnight direct deposit' hit.

I have enough currency for this day.

How I spend it is up to me.

By the end of the day the amount will be gone.

And by the end of day I’ll have to ask myself,

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"Did I spend my resources on things that got me good returns?"

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Or did I throw a lot of 'cash' at a black hole that won't turn into anything?

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If spending my attention on something doesn’t get me a good return, I stop giving resources to it.

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But sometimes cutting something out can leave a vacuum that just gets filled by something else.

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So I substitute.

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If there’s something that I know constantly grabs my attention, I try to introduce a healthier substitute.

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(The same method works wonders in diet and nutrition.)

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Example:

I notice I get consistently pulled into contemporary political or theological fights on x.

Now I substitute that craving for something more historical.

If my attention gets pulled into a political fight, I just substitute a fight from political history.

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I’ll go read or listen to:

-Clinton fighting the 90s neocons

-Reagan fighting the liberal 70s

-Nixon fighting 60s hippie culture

-FDR fighting the 30s conservatives.

-Napoleon fighting the 1790s Austrians​

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History offers a healthier substitute because of the distance.

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It’s less emotionally galvanizing.

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To further the bank account analogy, it's like diverting that money you would have spent on UberEats order into a stock account.

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That's it for today.

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Phillip