Why are we becoming less and less focused?

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These days, it is increasingly difficult for people to control their attention. Various types of news, social media sites, video programs, emails, and clever advertisements from businesses keep drawing attention back and forth, resulting in less sleep and fragmented periods of wakefulness. Most people feel that they have weak willpower; focus is only a temporary state, while distraction is the norm. Even those with strong self-control find it exhausting to take control of their lives. 　　Within a limited time frame, our attention is diluted, making it difficult to focus like a laser on \"valuable\" tasks; it’s hard to maintain focus on things that require time to yield results, and instead we end up getting stuck in various \"easy\" tasks. Afterward, we realize that we held ourselves back and fall deep into self-reproach. 　　Enter the “Scarce Mind Mode.” The ancient city of Petra, built around 2000 years ago, is a architectural wonder hidden in the mountains of Jordan. The world’s most expensive tickets still cannot dampen the enthusiasm of tourists from around the globe to come and see it. Tourists climb up and down on an empty stomach throughout the day, and their physical strength is almost pushed to its limit. A well-known inn in the area would provide dinner. When the meal was served, I saw that the food in front of everyone, men and women alike, was piled up into small mountains, without exception. Faced with hypoglycemia caused by hunger, women’s thoughts of losing weight vanish. 　　The scientific explanation for this phenomenon is that when resources are scarce, the brain chooses immediate satisfaction ； When resources are abundant, the brain turns to making long-term investments. 　　X. T. Wang, a behavioral economist at the University of South Dakota, together with psychologist Robert Dvorak, proposed the “energy budget” model of self-control. They believe that, for the brain, energy (blood sugar) is the “money” that needs to be spent or saved. They invited 65 adults of varying ages ranging from 19 to 51 to participate in the experiment, asking the participants to choose between receiving $120 the next day or $450 after a month. Sweetened sugar-free soda can cause hunger, as the sweetness stimulates the body to absorb glucose from the blood, since the body thinks it will receive more glucose there. 　　Experimental results showed that participants who drank sugary soda were more likely to choose the option with a longer waiting time but greater rewards, while those who drank sugar-free soda and experienced a drop in blood sugar levels were more likely to opt for the option with a shorter waiting time and fewer rewards. The researchers believe that, more importantly, it is not the level of blood sugar that predicts the subjects’ choices, but rather the direction of change in blood sugar levels. The brain asks, is the energy increasing or decreasing? Then make strategic decisions. 　　In other words, the modern human brain, just like that of early humans, still uses blood sugar levels as an indicator of whether resources are sufficient or not. “When you can’t find food quickly, your blood sugar level can predict how much longer you will be able to survive from hunger. In times of food scarcity, those who follow their stomach’s cues and act impulsively are more likely to survive, while the polite and cautious individuals end up with nothing left. When resources are scarce, the brain chooses immediate satisfaction ； When resources are abundant, the brain turns to making long-term investments. Mencius said, “Those who have fixed property have fixed minds; those who do not have fixed property lack fixed minds,” and it is the same principle. 　　In today’s society, food shortages no longer pose a problem for people in most areas; rather, the scarcity and irreversibility of time have become increasingly prominent. The abundance or scarcity of time has become an important indicator of people’s quality of life today, and it exhibits a positive correlation with the richness of their material lives. Sendhil Mullainathan, a tenured professor at Harvard University, found that poor people lack money, while he lacks time. The inherent consistency between the two is that even if you give money to the poor or some time to procrastinators, they still won’t be able to make good use of it. “In a situation of long-term scarcity of resources (money, time, useful information), the pursuit of these scarce resources consumes people’s attention to such an extent that they overlook more important and valuable factors, leading to psychological anxiety and difficulties in resource management. ” 　　When a person is extremely poor or has very little time, both rationality and judgment deteriorate significantly, leading to further failure. The mental effort required for decision-making is what Mullainathan calls “bandwidth”. Prolonged resource scarcity has fostered a \"scarcity mindset,\" preventing people from acquiring this mental resilience. 　　In Mulainathan’s view, in order to meet their basic needs, the poor are forced to be very frugal, with no \"bandwidth\" left for considering investment and development matters ； Overly busy people are forced to be bogged down by the seemingly most urgent tasks, with no “bandwidth” left to plan for longer-term development. Even if they escape this state of scarcity, they will remain trapped by this \"scarcity mindset\" for a long time. 　　The research stems from Mullainathan’s own hatred of his procrastination. Considered a genius scientist by the academic community, this person still often feels that they don’t have enough time; their mind is filled with various plans, and they try to divide themselves into multiple tasks in order to handle them all at once. As a result, they often end up overcommitting themselves and failing to keep their promises. Mulainathan’s research found that it isn’t a lack of time, but rather a lack of mental energy to assess problems ； Utilizing fragmented time and multitasking actually intensifies anxiety due to distractions, making it impossible to focus on the main tasks and thereby exacerbating procrastination. 　　In fact, the mental effort referred to by Mulainathan is attention. In one regard, without sufficient focus, long-term, insightful awareness cannot be achieved. At its core, modern people’s anxiety about time stems from the fact that within a limited amount of time, they fail to allocate their limited attention to things they deem important. The information-overloaded social environment has also led to the problem of people “being like hungry people at a buffet, unsure of what to choose”. 　　Focus on what already works, rather than trying to improve weaknesses. Starting from a principle that is now considered common sense, Jurgen Wolff argues that people should use the Pareto principle (80/20) to address the issue of scattered attention. In his view, 80% of a person’s achievements come from 20% of their efforts, yet people devote 80% of their attention to activities of lower value, which leads to a \"poverty\" of time for us. At the same time, psychologist Kathryn D. Cramer also points out that 80% of the time we worry about what hasn’t been done well, while focusing on what has been accomplished is the key to accelerating progress. 　　When dealing with the issue of attention, a more cautious approach should be taken toward the weakness theory. People instinctively know their weaknesses, but it’s difficult for them to know their strengths. It is a wise choice to improve what has already been started and to focus on what has worked. Using the value of goods as an analogy, a difference of one order of magnitude in quality can result in a geometric difference in price. 　　Putting more effort into doing things personally to address weaknesses is often not cost-effective. People* are used to worrying about their weaknesses, and they refrain from taking action out of fear of being judged for failure. In fact, there are many ways to make up for weaknesses, just as companies can use outsourcing to leverage the strengths of others. As the proverb goes, “What is poison to him is honey to me.” ； What is trash to him is a treasure to me. ” 　　The so-called business strategy of \"breaking through at a single point\" and the management approach of \"lean manufacturing\" both aim to strengthen existing strengths, and this is undoubtedly equally effective when it comes to an individual’s work. As for how to identify one’s strengths, it is also possible to seek help from those who know you well. 　　Choosing to do simple things hinders concentration. When people feel that their potential isn’t being fully utilized, they usually blame external factors such as a problematic education, a poor economic situation, not having the right people around them, or a lack of good advice; or they blame their own misjudgment of opportunities or choosing the wrong career path. Few people realize that the inability to fully utilize one’s potential is because, when faced with the choice between doing something easy or something difficult, people generally opt for the easier option. 　　This is both the “bandwidth” issue as mentioned by Mulainathan, and what Wolf said: “Low-value activities tend to be those that are easy, do not cause panic, and may even bring a sense of pleasure.” ” 　　Difficult things seem to be able to be explained with the help of myths, American blockbusters, wuxia novels, and even video games. The “epic” of how a hero becomes one encompasses all elements related to dedication: the call to adventure, feelings of fear, encouragement from wise ones, crossing thresholds, facing trials, helping others, taking on the greatest challenges in dangerous places, undergoing more trials, rising from death, obtaining treasures, and returning to the ordinary world with those treasures. 　　Everyone is repeatedly drawn to this familiar trope, because it is instinctive to become one’s own \"hero,\" and people are eager to draw strength from \"epics.\" Therefore, as Jürgen Wolff said: “Everyone should pay attention to sensing the way that their heart yearns for the most, and then make every effort to choose that path.” ” 　　We feel insecure because we are afraid of failure. It’s safe because we find it easy to handle, step by step. People also need to realize that there’s no single thing that has a perfect solution from the very beginning. The problem itself often contains the solution to it. In fact, any task can be broken down. Breaking tasks down into smaller chunks that make us feel “safe” might help solve the problem of concentration. 　　Fixing one’s mind on a perfect solution inevitably leads to \"analysis paralysis\" – continuous planning with no actual action, spending a lifetime discussing the other shore while staying on this one. According to surveys, one of the biggest fears among entrepreneurs before taking the first step in starting a business is the fear of being laughed at in case of failure. Invest the spirit of experimentation and exploration in the whole endeavor. In terms of matters, it might be a good method. This also means that people can try various methods to make things that seem difficult into something fun. 　　We instinctively handle things according to old patterns, repeating inefficient time patterns. On one hand, people can usually recognize the patterns in how others behave, but fail to notice their own patterns. This leads to indiscriminate inefficiency in their feelings, thoughts, and actions; thus, they need help from others to gain self-insight. On the other hand, everyone’s personality itself is a complex mixture of various personalities. When facing things that instinctively make one feel challenged, one can imagine themselves as different movie characters to deal with them. Imagine and experience the sense of happiness that comes after something is completed; this is also a good way to motivate oneself to take action. 　　※※※※※ 　　The issue of focus is, to some extent, still a matter of how to get along with oneself. People tend to view themselves negatively, filled with self-judgment; as a result, their goals either fail to see completion or they develop procrastination. When people procrastinate, they do all sorts of things, but they don’t do what they clearly know they should do. Wolff suggests we ask ourselves: “What would be the worst that could happen if I stopped doing this?” ”“What other positive things can I do to prevent this worst-case scenario from happening? ” 　　“Temporarily enjoy the company of the moon and its shadow; one must make the most of spring while it lasts. “Enjoy a drink while alive – why seek fame that will last for thousands of years after death?” “When life is good, one should enjoy it to the fullest; don’t let the golden cup remain empty before the moon.” Behind the repeated exhortation to \"seize the day\" in Li Bai’s poems lies an indescribable sense of unease. ““Joy” and “time” form a kind of contrast. The issue of concentration, the “bandwidth” problem—these can also be described as issues related to how one “consumes” time. It is a battle between emotions and reason, as well as a struggle between immediate gratification and delayed gratification.