E19 - Attention to Mental Fatigue: [Context Switching]

Hi everyone,

My name is Lemmy and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

If you often find yourself in a low energy state at the end of a work or study day, then Episode 19 is for you. Let's dive in!

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• Why context switching is the biggest enemy of attention

• How it drains your energy

• Which apps are traps

• Actionable tips to avoid context switching

Have you ever finished a day's work so "brain dead" that even the thought of watching Netflix seemed too much?

Don't worry. It's happened to all of us. Here's why:

1. Context Switching

Context switching is the cognitive process of shifting attention from one task to another. This ability is essential for managing different tasks in everyday life, but it comes at a cognitive cost.

Neuroscientist and Stanford professor Dr Andrew Huberman describes how the brain switches from one task or context to another by comparing it to how cars change gears.

Just as a car uses more energy to accelerate when it shifts up a gear, the brain uses a lot of energy when it switches between contexts.

He emphasises that constant switching, such as frequently checking email or being interrupted by phone notifications between tasks, is not only inefficient but also metaphorically like "burning more fuel".

This suggests that frequent context switching can lead to reduced cognitive efficiency and increased mental fatigue.

Think of your brain as a tank. Because of context switching, you run out of fuel faster, and because you kill every free minute of your life with input (=information consumption), you lack the mental breaks during the day to refill the tank.

To cut a long story short: you end up brain dead at night.

No mental energy left to do anything useful. Hello Netflix.

2. What causes context switching

"I'm waiting for that important email" or "My friends will be mad if I don't reply quickly". Sounds familiar?

Well, great, then you are part of the 99% of people who make excuses for their FOMO.

Damn right, we are all liars to ourselves.

And that's perfectly normal, because we all fear rejection and disapproval. After all, we are social creatures. As a result, we have fear of missing out (FOMO).

Let me tell you a secret: Absolutely no one in the world expects you to reply to a message or email sooner than 2-4 hours after you send it!

A same-day response is perfectly fine 99% of the time. Because if someone needs your response faster, they will let you know, you can be sure of that.

And if they can't call you in an emergency, that's their problem, not yours.

With Lemio, we looked at the screen time statistics of hundreds of people and found that these are the most common apps for context switching:

• Email

• Personal and professional messengers, such as Slack or WhatsApp

• News alerts

• Dating app notifications

• Hybrid apps that combine chat and entertainment, such as Instagram or Snapchat

3. The Protocol to take ACTION

Badges instead of Notifications

• Turn off all notifications, at least for your lock screen (= when your phone is turned off)

• Put all messaging apps on one home screen page.

• Enable badges for these apps.

• Go into the individual settings of the apps to get red badges only for what you want. For example, most people only want to know when someone has DMed them on Instagram. If you want to take this to the extreme, get an app like Beeper. It consolidates all your inboxes from all your messengers.

Use Transition Rituals

Incorporate short rituals or routines between tasks. This could mean taking a short walk, doing some breathing exercises or even meditating for a moment. This helps to reset the brain's focus and close the mental tabs from your previous context before jumping into a new one.

Distinguish between Active - Reactive - Reflective Work

• Active: Doing something you have chosen to do, such as creative or deep work.

• Reflective: Time to think. Strategising, planning, organising.

• Reactive: Others have chosen what you need to do. Email, meetings, messages.

Schedule Time

• In general, it's best to put time in your calendar for all your tasks. This is called Time Boxing. But doing this for all your work is hard and sometimes annoying. So the "light" version is to do this only for your reactive work, with a priority on emails:

• 2-3 times a day is usually enough.

• Batch emails with a similar context.

• Don't allow yourself to respond to emails outside the scheduled times.

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• Context switching = switching attention from one thing to another.

• This switching takes energy.

• More switching = more energy consumption.

• Notifications and FOMO are the main reasons for context switching.

• Categories of apps that often cause context switching: dating, social media, news, messengers, email, games.

• Quick fix for work: Batch and time box your emails.

• Turn off all notifications, use batches instead.