海角大神

Since 2000,聽聽has dropped by 33%. That鈥檚 an amazing little statistic.

When I see statistics like that, I attempt to immediately translate them into what they mean from a money perspective.

I often talk about the 鈥渢en second rule,鈥� which is a simple idea for shopping that helps guide you away from impulsive purchases. If you simply take ten seconds to聽think聽about a purchase you鈥檙e about to make before making it, you can often talk yourself out of making a buying mistake.

Over the course of those years since 2000, the average attention span has gone from more than ten seconds to less than ten. The average person will lose focus on that purchase by the end of the 鈥渢en second rule.鈥澛�

So? The ten seconds is arbitrary, right? That line of thinking misses the bigger picture.

The shorter the amount of time you have to focus on a specific thing before making a decision and having your mind wander elsewhere, the less sophisticated your decision will be.

A good buying decision relies on more than just a quick reaction. It relies on comparing several different products, not only in terms of their price and their price per unit, but in terms of the relative qualities of the item. The smaller your attention span, the less attention you鈥檙e giving to that decision.

In other words, if you鈥檙e suddenly spending 33% less time than before on making a spending decision, you鈥檙e going to be relying far less on reasoned thought and far more on instinct and impulse.

Impulse is a very poor source for making buying decisions.聽The entire point of marketing is to guide impulses directly to a product purchase, and marketing is a聽giant听颈苍诲耻蝉迟谤测.

My solution to this is to try to do things in my life that naturally extend my attention span. This really comes down to three things.

翱苍别,听I try to single-task as much as possible.聽When I鈥檓 working, I try to shut off as many distractions as possible. I turn off my cell phone. I鈥檒l even disconnect my internet access. I鈥檒l sit in a room with minimal distractions. In other words, I force myself to focus on my task at hand. Naturally, I start focusing on what I鈥檓 working on for longer and longer periods 鈥� and this makes it easier to focus for a few more seconds during distracting times.

罢飞辞,听I do fun things that require focus.聽This is part of why I enjoy reading books. Reading a book and getting anything out of it requires you to focus. It鈥檚 also part of why I enjoy playing complex board games 鈥� they also require me to focus while doing something fun. Activities and entertainment that requires me to focus on one thing with concentration for a while is a great thing for attention spans.

罢丑谤别别,听I make room in my life for prayer and meditation.聽Lately, I鈥檝e been incorporating basic yoga stretches into this. I鈥檒l get into a stretch that鈥檚 relatively easy to hold and I鈥檒l try to empty my mind of all thoughts. For me, it鈥檚 stray thoughts that distract me and tear away my attention and I鈥檝e found that prayer and meditation 鈥� simply driving out stray thoughts and focusing on one mental objective 鈥� really does wonders for keeping my stray thoughts at bay and under control.

These things are a normal part of my life, but the long-term effect they have on my mind allows me to have the attention needed to make careful buying decisions. I hope these tactics will help you, too.

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