Do you ‘work’ in front of the TV. You know, distractedly pretend to sneak in an email or two while you watch a movie with your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend or kids? I’ve been doing it for years and I’ve just realised it completely sucks!
Last night, while tapping away on the keyboard in front of the TV I was so horribly distracted l almost felt sick. The continuous partial attention on the ‘work’, my facebook and twitter feeds, the movie, my wife’s knitting and probably searching for something on wikipedia was getting me no where.
To write this post, I got out of my beanbag. I left the TV room, sat at the most basic desk and deck chair you could ever imagine and paid attention. It feels fantastic. I am focussed and I’m loving what I’m doing.
In less than 10 minutes I could be back in front of the TV with my work done and feeling 100% better about myself. The two hours of distracted-ness is gone and I’m actually paying attention when I hang out with my wife. Awesome!
Continuous Partial Attention (CPA) completely sucks!