May I have your attention?

T

ATTENTION GRABBING TITLE!!!!

^^(This is an example of content-based innate involuntary fascination)

So, we have done a lot of discussion this month on attention, restoration, & mindfulness. These facets of cognition and mental health are not foreign concepts, and that could explain the seemingly boring and redundant feelings that come with talking about this stuff. But it is important to define these terms (so we can all be on the same page) and to make the connection to our personal lives because they affect us (weather we like it or not) every moment of everyday.

(Figure 1.1) This is some serious stuff guys

I believe that we should start framing Directed Attention as a resource. The resource is precious and fragile, just like our atmosphere. It is finite and expendable, just as the oil field too have a limit. It needs maintenance, protection, and reverence, just like the forests, oceans, and jungles. 

It is something that, like oil or natural gas, in itself is useless. But when applied in the context of the human experience, it carries the potential to discover, invent, learn, and expand upon mental maps. Directed Attention is the "fuel" that runs the "engine" of our minds. It drives "focus" and "clarity", which enables us to attain higher levels of mental order and processing.

Low Battery Probs

(Figure 1.2) The International Figure for "F*** I need to charge my battery"

One of the biggest issues that I notice in my life is the fatigue of directed attention. It takes energy for us to redirect our attention after being distracted. I like to think of attention as a battery to a phone (our minds). We use our battery to do different tasks on our phones. As we do more tasks or work for longer periods of time, the battery drains. 

(Figure 2.1) Brain farts are a common side effect of Directed Attention Fatigue (DAF)
Please contact your doctor if you experience brain farts lasting more than an hour.

Directed Attention Fatigue (DAF) is the result of running on low battery. I think DAF is a disease of the mind that is caused by a depletion of directed attention. It has observable effects of the human mind and cognition, memory, mood, behavior, etc... 

On could argue DAF as the highest perpetrator of stress on college campuses throughout the nation. It could even be the reason that the flu season happens whenever school starts! 

Mindfulness v Madness

The idea of "restoration" is centered around a quality of mindfulness and peace. It is the ideal environment in which our minds can restore the resource of directed attention and recharge. Find somewhere that you turn off your mind, relax and float downstream, it is not dying. Just chill out!

(Figure 3.1)

In a world that is constantly pushing and demanding more mental productivity, I think it is of highest importance that we restore our directed attention. For the case of the University of Michigan scholar, I think we have to be even more mindful than the average human. The shear volume of mental activity that we go through in the day, not including late night studying, is enough to drive someone up the wall. (If you are reading this and you have never pulled an all nighter please refer Figure 3.1)

I am not going to comment on how to be "restorative" because I think that is something different for everyone. I will share my thoughts that meditation and mindful breathing can be used as tools to bring the mind to a more relaxed state. I believe that it is in this relaxed state that directed attention can be replenished. 

Endnotes

I hope that, if anything, I leave you with the perspective of directed attention as a resource. It is more than just a concept of our minds. It is perhaps the result of focusing our minds eye, into a laser-like processor.

In order to maintain this resources and prevent the dis-ease of the mind (DAF), we have to be mindful about restoring and managing the resource. Maybe we deicide that using 20% of the battery in two minutes tasks is better than using 40% in one 40 minute hiatus. Maybe if we never let our batteries get below 50%, they would last longer in later adulthood at we would see less occurrence of diseases like dementia or Alzheimer's. I don't have any citations, but these hypothesis raise questions about the importance of taking care of this resource.

So, take a long breath after reading this. Give yourself at least 5 minutes of reflection to restore the directed attention you used to read this blog. See if you feel any different afterward.