Month: April 2026

Tracking My Attention This Week Over this past week, I started paying close attention to what exactly I spend my time focusing on. I realized that when I try to complete work or any task in my room, I get distracted by many different things. I think about how I need to clean and organize specific things, I get distracted by the people I live with, and I become interested in what everyone else around me is doing. Then, I go on my phone as a break or when an assignment becomes too much for me to complete, and then get distracted with Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram reels, group chats, and online shopping. I decided to see how much better I could focus in a different setting, so the next day I went to Cosmic Charlie’s- my favorite coffee shop in Geneseo. I was much more focused on my essay that I needed to complete, and less focused on my phone and on the people around me. This helped me realize how much setting affects our attention. I decided to start being more intentional about where I went to complete a task.

Another important thing to note is that before Lent this year, I decided to give up TikTok. That means 40 days without TikTok. I quickly realized that I would subconsciously press the app on my phone whenever I was bored or needed a break from whatever I was doing, so I literally needed to remove the app from my homescreen to avoid using it. I realized how useful this feature is on iPhones- you don’t need to uninstall the app and lose any data, but you can remove it from your homescreen so you can’t see it. You can still look up the app, then press on it, but that takes more work and thought, and is something I could actually control. I found that during this time, I spent more time on Instagram reels, kind of as my TikTok substitute. The thing I realized about reels is that there are considerably fewer ads. This means I wasn’t compelled to then go on TikTok Shop, which was another part of TikTok I spent way too much time on. Yes, I still spent about an hour a day total on reels, but I can confirm that this is much less time than I was spending on TikTok a day.

After Lent, I went back on TikTok and was greeted by ad after ad. I quickly realized I didn’t want to go back to spending hours a day on this app, and haven’t been on it since. I go to sleep earlier, interact with the people around me more, and am bored a lot more, which is a good thing. It is okay to be bored and take up different hobbies, and in my opinion, this is much healthier than spending every bored second scrolling on TikTok. During this week of collecting data and intentional observation about what I pay attention to, I realized even more about how much better my life has become because of this decision, and how much more time I have.

What I Choose Versus What Pulls Me In One of the more interesting parts of this assignment for me was thinking about what “I agree to” versus what I basically am forced to pay attention to. I would say that I definitely choose to focus on and prioritize my assignments, my conversation with my long-distance boyfriend over the phone, and planning my days out. That being said, these things also compete with distractions that feel almost impossible to ignore.

Even though I have turned off most of my notifications aside from messages and phone calls (because they were driving me crazy), I still find myself checking my phone constantly for no good reason. It is one of my very strong habits that feels impossible to stop. Then, when I do get a notification, it immediately takes my attention away from whatever I was previously engaged in. Whether I am in the middle of a conversation, assignment, or task, checking my phone is a constant habit that I haven’t yet learned how to break.

This idea connects a lot to Henry David Thoreau and his ideas about how outside forces shape our attention. Even though he was talking about things like a telegraph, this still seems very relevant now. Our cell phones are more advanced than a telegraph, but it is all the same idea. Technology is constantly competing for our attention and focus.

Digital Distractions & “Attention Merchants” Tim Wu, author of Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads, confronts this idea a bit differently than Thoreau. Instead of us needing better habits when it comes to technology, Wu argues that there should be laws and regulations to limit businesses from trying to grab our attention because they are gaining profit at the expense of our freedom, time, and money. This makes me immediately think about TikTok and how they developed their own shop in which they are constantly advertising their products using influencers and ads.

Even when I think I am in control, I know that there are systems in place that are designed to keep me hooked. Whether it is the simplicity of being able to refresh the page, or constant ads, it is all designed to do the same thing and make it impossible to say that I’m choosing what exactly I pay attention to.

Am I Actually In Control? After tracking my attention over the past week, I would say I do feel more in control of at least acknowledging what has my attention. Am I able to say I only pay attention to what I want to pay attention to? No, and I think this is nearly impossible in this day and age- but I do think that is okay. I think it is most important to acknowledge what grabs your attention the most, and from there I can find ways to stay more engaged in what I want to, and less on what I don’t want to. I am aware now of how often I turn to my phone, scrolling habits, and advertisements. Ultimately, I am proud of my decision to stay off TikTok, and I know that it has made a huge difference in my life.**

Will Anything Change? Honestly, I don’t think this assignment will necessarily change my current habits, but I think that is okay. It has definitely made me more aware of what I pay attention to. I am more conscious of what and when I am getting distracted, and why that is.

My big takeaway is that attention isn’t just about discipline in your own habits. There are so many external forces, like algorithms and ads, that are constantly competing for my attention. For whatever reason, I feel some sort of power now that I can recognize this. Instead of feeling like I failed when I get distracted, I know it is more about me trying to navigate a system designed to make me lose focus. At the end of the day, I am not perfect at managing my attention, but I am more aware of it than I was before.

For a week, I tried to pay attention to my attention, something that Thoreau would probably say I should have been doing all along. I did not go to the woods, but I did go to class, The Lamron office, WGSU 89.3, sorority meetings, and hung out with my friends. I carried my phone and started noticing how often my attention was not really mine.

Below is what I learned about what “I agreed to attend to,” and what was forced on me.

What I tracked: I kept a running log in a Markdown file on my laptop and added quick notes on my phone. I focused on:

• Invited attention: things I chose to focus on
• Uninvited attention: notifications, ads, algorithmic pulls, and digital interruptions
• Moments of regained autonomy: when I resisted or redirected my attention

A week of attention: What I actually noticed Thoreau warned that “our inventions are won’t to be be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things.” My pretty toys were:

• GroupMe blowing up during class (sorority, Lamron, radio, etc.)
• ESPN alerts I did not ask for
• Brightspace notifications that felt urgent (even though they were not)
• Instagram/Snapchat messages that pulled me in for “just a second”
• Apple News pushing stories I did care not about I counted: on Tuesday alone, I got 63 notifications before 3 PM None of them were emergencies. All of them demanded a tiny slice of my mind.

The algorithm knows I am a Sports Editor/into sports Scrolling “for five minutes” turned into:

• 20 minutes on Twitter/X reading up on trades and game highlights
• 15 minutes on TikTok watching mor highlights and podcasts
• 10 minutes on Instagram reels of athletes/sports that I do not even follow I did not choose these videos, they chose me.

Ads that followed me like mosquitoes on a muggy summer night I looked up one pair of jeans on Monday. For the rest of the week:

• Instagram: ads
• Google: ads
• TikTok: ads
• Even ESPN: ads It felt like the digital version of Thoreau’s “brain rot,” not because the jeans were evil, but because the repetition made my thoughts feel less like mine.

The moments I actually chose my attention These were fewer than I expected:

• Editing a Lamron article and getting into a flow
• Running a WGSU sports segment and forgetting about my phone
• Reading for my anthropology class without checking anything
• Talking with friends at dinner and realizing that I had not looked at my phone in an hour These moments felt like what William James meant when he said, “My experience is what I agree to attend to.” They actually felt like MY life.

How my attention was compromised

1. Constant micro-interruptions Even when I ignored notifications, they still registered.
   • A buzz, a banner, a preview = a thought Thoreau wrote that the mind can be “macadamized”, broken into fragments. That is exactly what it felt like.
2. The illusion of choice I thought I was choosing to scroll. However, the more I tracked my attention, the more I realized that I am not choosing the content, the timing, or the duration. The platforms were choosing for me.
3. The loss of mental quietness Thoreau wanted us to “read the Eternities.” I was reading: headlines, hot takes, ads, notifications, etc. None of them were eternal, and most were not even important.

Did tracking my attention change anything? Honestly? a little, but not dramatically. I did not turn into a digital monk, I did not delete my apps, and I did not turn off my notifications. But I did start:

• Putting my phone in my bag during meetings and class
• Turning off nonessential alerts
• Catching myself when I am being pulled instead of choosing The biggest change is awareness. I can now feel the difference between the attention I give and the attention that is taken from me. That distinction alone feels like a small reclaiming of autonomy.

Living my life, or letting it be lived for me? Thoreau believed that attention shapes perception. William James believed it shapes experience. Tim Wu believes it shapes freedom. After a week of watching my own attention, I believe all three are right. My digital environment constantly tries to live life for me, to decide what I see, what I think about, and how long I think about it. Noticing that process gave me a little more control. Not perfect control, but enough to feel like I am choosing my life a bit more deliberately. Even if I still check Instagram too much!

Blog Post #2 Paying Attention Marlea Petroziello 04/17

What I Chose to Pay Attention to Throughout My Week Throughout the week, I noticed that a lot of my attention was directed toward things I intentionally chose, like schoolwork, hanging out with friends, listening to music, and checking social media. These moments felt productive or meaningful because I had a reason for doing them. When I sat down to complete assignments or respond to people, I felt like I was in control of where my focus was going. I also chose to spend time on entertainment, like watching netflix, but usually with the intention of relaxing or taking a break. At least at the start, these choices felt deliberate.

What Took Away My Attention At the same time, a lot of my attention was taken from me without me fully deciding on it. Notifications were one of the biggest distractions. Even if I didn’t open them right away, just seeing them appear pulled me away mentally from whatever I was doing. Social media also took more of my attention than I expected. I would open an app for one purpose, like replying to a message, but end up scrolling through posts or videos for much longer. The way content is designed, such as endless scrolling, short clips, and constant updates, makes it easy to lose track of time. Even while doing homework, I found myself checking my phone or switching tabs without really thinking about it.

Agreed and Forced Attention Looking back, there was a clear difference between attention I chose and attention that felt more forced. Chosen attention felt focused and intentional, like I was working toward something or engaging in something I cared about. Forced attention, on the other hand, felt more automatic. Notifications, suggested content, and even habits like checking my phone pulled me in without much thought. It didn’t feel like a conscious decision, it just happened. This made me realize that even when I think I’m in control, there are a lot of outside forces influencing what I pay attention to.

The Impact on My Life These distractions didn’t completely take over my life, but they definitely affected it. The biggest impact was on my ability to focus. Every time my attention shifted, it took time to get back on track. Even small interruptions added up and made tasks feel longer or more difficult. I also noticed that I sometimes spent more time than I wanted on things that weren’t very meaningful. What felt like a quick break could turn into a long period of scrolling, which didn’t always leave me feeling relaxed, just distracted. It made me realize that my daily experience is shaped not just by what I choose to do, but by what manages to capture my attention.

Going Forward After tracking my attention, I don’t think I’ll completely eliminate distractions, but I am more aware of them now. That awareness makes me more likely to pause and think about whether I actually want to keep doing something or if I’m just reacting automatically. Going forward, I want to be a little more intentional, especially when I’m trying to focus. Even small changes, like ignoring notifications for a while or being more mindful when I open apps, could help me feel more in control of my attention. This experience showed me that attention isn’t just something that happens, it’s something that can be influenced, shaped, and, to some extent, protected.

Data Points

Data points I thought were most applicable to the assignment:

4/8 “I find my phone to be my biggest distraction, more specifically, getting a notification. When working, I’m able to put my phone down and focus, but as soon as I get a notification, I can’t help myself and get sucked in to check it.”

4/10 “I realized that in order to pay attention in class, I must sit in the front and take notes. Even if the content is something I feel I have mastered or feel I have a good grasp on, taking notes forces me to listen rather than shop or play 2048 cupcake on the computer.”

4/12 “I find that in order for me to be most productive, I need to be working on multiple assignments at once. It’s difficult for me to focus on one assignment at a time. I’m not someone who can sit down and complete an assignment, and it’s easier for me to be working on multiple things at once. I find that once I get into the groove of something, I can work on it for a bit, but knowing that if I get an idea for another assignment I can switch my tabs and work on something else is comforting to me. This system helps me stay focused as well. If I’m working on something for too long, I get fatigued, and instead of stopping work altogether, switching to a different assignment helps me stay productive until I get an idea for what I was working on beforehand. The hierarchical structure of working on things one at a time stresses me out, and instead of ordering assignments and trying to find the “most important” one, it is more difficult for me than making multiple assignments the priority.”

Procudure and Findings

For this assignment, I set random timers throughout the day and wrote down whatever I was thinking about, what I noticed in my environment, or what came to mind the moment the timer went off. I wanted to focus specifically on distractions related to schoolwork. While I collected more data than what’s included here, I chose to include only the entries that best fit the purpose of the blog post. Because I have ADHD, I know I’m especially vulnerable to both environmental and internal distractions, so this assignment ended up being a fun (and eye‑opening) look into my distractibility.

When I reviewed my data, most of my entries were about distractions caused by my phone, which didn’t surprise me at all. As I mentioned in my notes from 4/8, notifications are a much bigger distraction for me than getting sucked into a scrolling cycle. The moment my screen lights up or I feel a buzz, my attention is gone. Even if I don’t actually open my phone and only glance at the notification, it still breaks my focus, and it’s hard to get back into the groove. I’m not entirely sure why notifications pull me in so strongly, especially since I usually don’t respond right away. My best guess is that it’s a form of FOMO, I want to know what’s happening, and if I don’t check immediately, I end up thinking about it until I finally open it.

When it wasn’t my phone distracting me, daydreaming and self‑generated distractions were the next biggest patterns I noticed. I’ve always struggled with daydreaming. What usually happens is that something in my environment, like a sound or movement, grabs my attention, and once that happens, my mind takes off in a hundred different directions. After that, it becomes really difficult to refocus.

Ways to Counteract Distractions

While paying attention to what distracts me, I also started noticing the things I do to counteract my distractibility, and I realized my strategies change depending on the environment.

In class, I keep myself accountable by sitting in the front. The social pressure of having the professor right in front of me helps me stay focused because I don’t want to come across as a lazy student. Another way I stay on task is by taking notes with paper and pencil, which helps me eliminate distractions before they even happen. When the entire world is at my fingertips on a laptop, it’s way too easy to drift off-task, especially when the only thing keeping me focused is my own self‑control. Sitting in the front combined with physically writing my notes makes a huge difference; my grades are good so I have conformation that this stratgey works well for me.

When I’m doing work on my own, I’ve found that I focus best in a silent room with minimal visual distractions. Before I start, I usually spend about 15 minutes on my phone, then switch it to do not disturb and put it out of sight and out of reach. Those 15 minutes help me get the urge to check my phone out of my system, and it’s easier to start working when I feel like I’ve already handled whatever I needed to on my phone. I also “trick” my brain into focusing by telling myself I’ll work for a set amount of time and then take a break. Thinking a break is coming soon helps me get started, and once I’m in the groove, I usually keep going past my original time because I don’t want to lose my focus.

Are You Able to Live Your Life?

Reflecting on the question, “Are you able to live your life according to your own dictates under the pressure of distractions?” I would say no, and honestly, I’d probably say no for almost anyone who owns a smartphone. Answering the question more broadly, I don’t think a single person in my generation can fully live their life on their own terms anymore. Screens are everywhere, and they’re designed to pull us in. Even when we think we’re in control, we’re still tied to notifications, apps, and constant digital noise that chip away at our attention without us even noticing.

Doing this assignment reminded me of the article “What Happened When My Yale Students Gave Up Their Phones for Four Weeks,” where students traveled to France without their phones and came back with noticeably stronger attention spans. That stuck with me because I see the same pattern in myself, my family, and my friends. When we’re away from our phones, even for a short time, we suddenly feel more present, more grounded, and more aware of the world around us. But the moment we’re reunited with our screens, it’s like our brains snap right back into old habits.

I already have screen time set up on my phone, and while it definitely helps limit how much time I spend on it, I think the most meaningful change will come from actually distancing myself from my phone and doing things that don’t involve technology at all. Constantly feeling the need to check your phone isn’t healthy for anyone, and I think people (myself included) need to retrain our brains. Technology is affecting everyone’s attention span, awareness, and ability to be present. The more I think about it, the more I realize that simply setting limits isn’t enough. Phones are designed to keep us addicted, and they’re woven into almost every part of daily life. Even when we’re not actively using them, they’re still pulling at our attention through notifications, habits, and the feeling that we might be missing something. Because of that, I think the real challenge is learning how to create intentional distance, we need to be choosing activities that don’t involve screens, giving our brains space to reset, and rebuilding the ability to focus without constant digital interruptions. It feels distopian to say, but we actually have to practice being present now. We have to relearn how to sit with our thoughts, how to enjoy quiet moments, and how to do things without reaching for a device.

There was no use of AI to create this blog post.

My attention span is quite short. Something is constantly changing the direction of my attention. Whether it’s a notification, background music, or just another random thought, most of the time it doesn’t last long. But, when I am paying attention for an extended period of time, I really examine every part of it. With OCD, I find myself being forced to attend to more things than I agree to attend to. It pulls your attention in every direction. There is always a constant noise playing in the back of your head that demands immediate engagement. This makes it feel like I’m constantly focusing on at least two tasks at once. Most of the time the intrusive thoughts completely take over and strip my attention away from the current, important task. Digital media only enhances my short attention span as it is constantly leaving me with new thoughts to obsess over. I find myself either endlessly scrolling on social media or the exact opposite, only over analyzing one post or comment at a time.

On Monday, in my geography class, we watched a video about tsunamis, past tsunamis and potential future ones. There was a segment where the video explained the potential threat of a tsunami to the eastern U.S including New York, though it would be hundreds if not thousands of years before this natural disaster would occur. We were supposed to take notes and hand them in for an assignment but I was only able to write a few things down before my attention was completely turned to my safety from this potential tsunami. Notifications are also a huge disruptor to my attention. While I never am on my phone during class to ensure I am paying attention to the lesson, I have my apple watch that still sends notifications. On Wednesday, I logged every time I stopped paying attention to whatever the current task was at hand to look at or respond to the notification sent. This happened 53 times throughout the day with the number one notification being from snapchat. This is one of the things that I agree to attend to. This has made me more aware of media attention disruptors and moving forward not allowing myself to become distracted from notifications. Over the week I found many things that I both did agree to attend to as well as did not agree to attend to. The things that I did not agree to attend do have an impact on how I was able to “live my life” because of the pressures of the constant thoughts. But, the distractions that I do allow myself to attend have no hindrance on how I “live my life”. I feel as though distractions themselves are a part of life and how you choose to ignore or respond to them.

Introduction: When paying attention to technology in an academic setting, it has become a much more prevalent tool in education. Although in secondary school, the use of technology for me was less of an active part in my everday life as a student, when I began my college career at Geneseo technology has not just become the norm but rather the agent in my everyday life. With using technology everyday, I have not only noticed the pros and cons of usig technology, but also the harsh reality that for me personally, technology is something that sets me back and takes my attention away from completing assignments and everyday tasks.

The Pros of Technology in Education: Throughout my primary and secondary education, technology didn’t really play a big role in my everyday life as a student. Besides submitting essays or presentations, my educators chose to do paper handouts instead of making everything digital. However when I got to college, it became quite the shock to my system of learning when all of my professors utilized technology for readings, assigments, and other resources for their classes. Since being almost done with my second year of college, I have not only realized the importance of technology in education, but also its prevalence in today’s world as I prepare for my future career. One of the main pros that I have come to realize in college when using mainly technology to learn is the convienece of it all. Having assignments, readings, exams, and other things for courses all in one place makes it easier not only for the professor to grade, but also for the student to access what they need without having to keep track of multiple paper handouts. One thing that always annoyed me in high school was the fact that I had multiple papers that I needed to keep in specific folders for all of my classes which could be very hard at times when things are being moved around constantly. However, this semester when taking Literature in A Digital Age, I have learned how to take notes on Visual Studio Code which is way more convienet and keeps me more organized than having multiple notebooks for my courses. With that is also the fact that taking notes on a computer is way more efficient than handwriiting everything. Typing everything is way quicker than writing notes by hand which has been beneficial when taking notes on what the professors in my courses are saying. Lastly, the benefit that I think more people need to start paying attention to with the use of technology in education is the sustainability purposes Since everyhting is digital, this cuts down on the paper usage which is overall better for the environment. However despite these postive sides of technology in education, I have come to realize that there also negative sides when becoming dependent on technology in an academic setting.

The Cons of Technology in Education: In my second year of college, I have not only seen and experienced the benefits of using technology in school, but also the cons. For me I have always loved writing everything down. This not only helps me to remember things better, but also is a keepsake for me to look back on when I am older, much like Thoreau’s manuscripts from Walden. The individuality and uniqueness of someone’s handwriting cannot be replicated by the use of typing on a keyboard. This is something I payed attention to and closely realized when transcribing documents from Thoreau’s writing, it felt almost fake when typing out someone’s handwriting from their diary entries. Although the information, thoughts, and ideas, are all beneficial and important for the world to see and learn from, it almost made me sad for Thoreau that his handwriting was being made into a more legible text. If it were me, I do not think I would be okay with someone transcribing my handwriting because it takes a way the uniqueness of my words. On a more surface level observation of the cons of technology in the education system, it is not alwayas reliable. Many system glitches or other software issues can arise that make it difficult to access webistes and or assignments on a computer. Then there is the newer issue of the use of artificial intelligence. I think students and even some have come so dependent on technology for completing assignments or creating lesson plans that it has back tracked peoples knowledge and critical thinking skills signfinantly. In addition to thee negative sides of the usage of technology in education, I have come to realize that technology has significantly impacted my attention span.

In Relation to Attention: Over the years not only when using technology for school, but having access to it everyday with my personal phone I have closely payed attention to how much it deters me from completing everyday tasks, more recently than ever before. Something that in particualar catches my attention is the simple buzz of my phone alerting me I have a notification from soemthing on my phone, whether it is a text or social media update. This simple alert distracts me from whatever I may be doing whetehr that is homework, cleaning, or trying to just be offline for a once. I have also noticed for me personally that I end up checking my phone even where there isn’t a notification that something has changed or happened. This has gotten worse over the years with social media, I think people including myself has been living vicariously through social media and paying attention to what everyone else is doing that we forget to think about the fact that we should be paying attention to our own lives. When analyzing Walden all semester, Thoreau payed close attention to nature and the inhabitants of it, documenting and writing by hand all that he observed from the big details to the minute. In today’ world, i think we as a society do these same things, but rather in a more negative light that doesn’t contribute anything positivie in the ways Thoreau did. I think as a society we need to redirect our attention away from technology and focus on our surroundings in the same way Thoreau did all of his life.

For about a week, I paid attention to something I usually don’t think twice about, my attention itself. I learned a lot about Henry David Thoreau’s thoughts on how attention shapes our experience and Tim Wu’s argument that our attention is constantly being competed for in the digital age. I then began tracking what I focused on each day. I got to truly analyze what I choose to pay attention to and what pulls my attention away without my permission.

What I Chose to Pay Attention To: Throughout the week, there were several areas where my attention felt intentional. These were the moments where I was actively deciding what mattered and putting effort into staying focused. Most of this attention was directed toward responsibilities and meaningful interactions.I chose to focus on studying, paying attention in class, completing homework, and having conversations with friends. It required me to plan and make myself focus in order to complete tasks. During these moments, I felt more present and in control of what I was doing. For example, while studying for an upcoming assignment, I booked a study room and put my phone on “do not disturb” in order to maintain focus. When it came to conversations with friends, my focus was less forced since I was interested in what was going on. I felt more engaged and connected during these activities. These moments reflect William James’s idea that “my experience is what I agree to attend to.” When I intentionally directed my attention, my experiences felt fuller and more meaningful.

What Took My Attention: At the same time, there were constant interruptions, mostly from my phone, that redirected my attention without much thought. The biggest sources of distraction were notifications from tik tok or snapchat, which then lead to wasting time on other apps. Notifications were especially disruptive because they demanded immediate attention. Even if I was focused on homework or listening in class, a notification would appear and break my concentration. What started as a quick check often turned into several minutes of scrolling. TikTok was the biggest example of losing control over my attention. There were many times when I opened the app without really thinking about it, and before I realized it, I had spent 30 minutes to an hour scrolling. This wasn’t always a conscious choice—it often felt automatic, like a habit I didn’t fully control.

Chosen vs. Forced Attention: One of the most important patterns I noticed was the difference between attention I chose and attention that felt forced. When I was studying or talking with friends, my attention was deliberate (although it was easier to focus on what I found more interesting). For example it was easier to focus on a conversation with friends compared to studying for a test. However when I stayed focused while studying I learned so much and felt very productive. Notifications and social media often forced themselves into my awareness.This connects to Tim Wu’s idea of the “attention merchants,” where companies design apps specifically to capture and keep our attention. Apps like TikTok and Snapchat are not neutral, they are built to keep users engaged for as long as possible. Because of this, my attention wasn’t just drifting randomly, but it was being actively pulled in different directions. Even when I wasn’t being interrupted, I sometimes gave up my attention too easily. Scrolling on TikTok often came from a lack of discipline, but the design of the app made it difficult to stop once I started.

How This Affected My Life & Moving Forward: Tracking my attention made me realize how fragmented my daily experience can be. Even when I intended to focus, my attention was often divided between what I needed to do and digital distractions. If my life is shaped by what I pay attention to, as William James suggests, then these distractions are more important than they seem. They are not just small interruptions, but they shape how I spend my time and what I experience each day. There were moments where I felt fully in control, especially during focused study sessions or meaningful conversations. However, there were an equal amount of moments where my attention was pulled away without much resistance. Becoming aware of these patterns has made me more conscious of how easily my attention can be influenced. While I think I can improve my habits, like ignoring certain notifications or being more intentional about when I use social media, I also recognize that these platforms are designed to make that difficult. Even if I don’t completely change my behavior, this experience has made me more aware of the value of my attention. It is something that I often take for granted, but it plays a major role in shaping my daily life.

For this assignment, there is no use of generative AI

Introduction

To provide some context for my findings, it is generally difficult for me to sit and focus without routine. I am generally a pretty online person and often have the issue of going to do something on my phone, getting distracted, and forgetting why I even grabbed it in the first place. With that, there have been a number of events within the past month or so that I would say have definitely swayed a lot of my online activity. An example of this would be registration for fall classes. I noticed pretty early on how with registration around the corner, my attention during work time often flipped to courses for next semester, and I also found myself checking the registrar website multiple times to “double-triple check” my schedule was how I left it. This would lead to me also looking at degree works and seeing what attributes I needed for next semester (despite already having a schedule). All in all, I made a total of 4 different plans with multiple options to ensure that during registration I would have a backup. This is all to provide context for the rest of this post and also to provide some reasoning as to how and why I do certain things online.

Messaging

Aside from a few isolated incidents (i.e., events such as registration and day to-day-homework), I spend most of my time online on my phone. While I do use my computer from time to time, I feel it is much more effective to share how my attention has shifted online from my phone as opposed to my computer. I am a pretty big texter. Whenever I do homework, I feel like I need to check my phone about five times before I am actually able to focus. I also leave my phone on “do not disturb” (DND), so it makes me feel that I need to check it more often so that I don’t miss anything. When I inevitably do sit down to do work, I use a third-party timer app on my phone. Because of this, ads will run when I start and end the timer. I found that throughout my data, interacting with these ads (whether to close or silence them) became an easy gateway for me to check my messages and text people on my phone, ultimately distracting from the work I was trying to get done using the timer.

Many of these same ideas also go for my email on my computer. With the sheer amount of emails my school account gets daily, I feel that I need to constantly be on top of things to ensure I don’t get overwhelmed by a messy inbox. When I saw I had an email notification in another tab, it would distract me from potentially productive work, and I would start to peruse the messages sent that day. While I do think that email having a blinking notification at the top of tabs certainly allows for distraction, I also believe that there is something to say for me agreeing to attend to my messages, especially ones pertaining to clubs I am in, while finding myself forced to attend to certain aspects of my homework.

Social Media

I think especially when talking about attention in a contemporary context, the conversation seems to always come back to social media. I have within the past month cut scrolling social media (i.e., Tiktok and Instagram Reels) out of my routine. Though not entirely encompassing my digital attention, I think this change shifted my focus in a lot of ways, and I think that comparing where my attention was and how my attitude as a whole has changed towards it is interesting to look at.

• What really scared me (and ultimately prompted me to act) was that scrolling almost became a habit. When I would go onto Instagram to talk to my friends or engage with their posts, I would just instinctively go to Reels and start scrolling. I realized that I almost had a dependancy on constant entertainment and needed to learn to be more okay with just being quiet and alone.

• The screen usage, especially in the breakdown of what apps are being used the most, Instagram certainly fell off as one of my most-used applications. Right before I stopped, I averaged around 7 hours on Instagram a day. Shortly after I stopped using Reels, it makes a swift drop to not even being in my top 3 used applications.

• I quickly replaced what would have been time to doom scroll with more productive means such as working, cleaning, hobbies, or even just lying down silently. I started this shift over my spring break so I was able to pick up many activities like painting or walks to fill time.

• I really love nature, so (as I mentioned before), I became increasingly comfortable with quiet and silence. On my walks to class, I like to look at the ground in front of me and notice things such as the leaves, bugs, and flowers surrounding the path. I think this is fitting, especially in our conversations on Thoreau, as he mentions all throughout Walden the importance of nature and being deliberate in our way of life.

Conclusion

This blog post is not to demonize social media, nor is it meant to “prove” anything wrong with digital spaces like Instagram. I am rather, using this blog post as a personal account of why I stopped using scrolling social media, and my own perception of the changes around me. Though I choose not to go on Instagram Reels, I still have a private account where I look at and engage with my friends’ posts. I have definitely found that by cutting out certain aspects of Instagram (i.e., Reels), I find myself going on it less, and I am able to shift my attention to more tangible and productive tasks with ease. With this, it is ultimately my goal that I can shift my focus to being more productive and stop engaging with the things that distract me from living a full and content life. Whether it be senseless advertisements or worrying about unimportant dates and deadlines, a lot of my online attention can still be summed up as unmotivated. And with that, I don’t necessarily believe mindlessness online is an inherently bad thing either. We gravitate towards certain parts of the internet for a reason; however, it is important to pay attention to why those things catch our interest and assess how it may impact other aspects of our lives.