Have you ever thought of what is the most expensive thing in the world? Actually, when we think in terms of value, it’s very much subjective depending on what kind of person you are, your needs, likes, etc. But if we think in terms of money, the most probable answers that will pop up in our minds initially would be diamonds, cars, any paintings, etc. Google can tell you more surprising answers like feathers, pianos, floating beds, and even parking spots which cost around 1 million USD! These are all rare luxuries that everyone may not be able to afford in their lifetime. But coming to the present and future, You all do have a costly asset with you which you are investing even now while you are reading this article! Your Attention. Do you know how much it costs? In fact, you decide it. This article is intended to make you realize this fact. 

Recently, I visited S M Street ( a famous shopping street in the heart of Calicut City in Kerala) where people do exquisite shopping for sweets and dresses. While I was walking through different lanes, I observed various sellers trying to get people’s attention with different tactics like free samples, bundled offers, etc. Even if we think of the online world, it is not any different. When you visit Youtube, it bombards you with different videos and ads seeking your attention. It doesn’t depend on whether you are a businessman or another, everybody in this world is vying for attention in some or another way. Some months ago, I watched a documentary “Social Dilemma” made by the Young American filmmaker Jeff Orlowski’s famous Netflix. Even though at some points of the film I felt that the film is unidimensional and lacked balance, I do believe some core messages conveyed in it are very much valid. Social media has been repeatedly used as a tool to control the minds of the masses and sway them in the direction required by the highest bidder. A very famous business quote says, '' If you’re getting something for free, you are the product”. The documentary confirms this fact and projects each of us as the products being sold to the highest bidder and our minds being trained to engage for the longest time possible on meaningless facts. But how is our attention becoming this costly? The answer is simple, as said by Herbert Simon, who is a Nobel prize-winning social scientist, that "In a world of abundance, the only scarcity is human attention". When the information is cheap, attention becomes expensive. Famous Futurist Gerd says, "The Key challenge of a hyper-connected society is abundance on the outside, but scarcity on the inside. Realise that offline is a new luxury! Enjoy it when you can.“ 

If we go back to the agrarian age, the only scarcity in the world was land. When we moved into the industrial age with the machines helping to cultivate more than enough food, labor became the next scarce thing in the world. And when we entered the 20th century, the right information became scarce. If we talk about the present digital age, everything is in abundance with so much information and so many options available, Human attention becomes very costly. As our maximum potential of attention is limited, this has led to a situation where we are trapped in an attention war going on between many businesses. As mentioned by Reed Hastings (CEO, Netflix), Netflix’s biggest competition is sleep as humans only have a limited amount of time in a day to watch Netflix! This new age of attention economy has resulted in a complete paradigm shift for marketers. Even though the reach for every content broadcasted is very high, actual attention is scarce. For example, a 2013 Twitter global trend would last for an average of 17.5 hours, contrasted with a 2016 Twitter trend, which would last for only 11.9 hours. The latest data shows that in 2021, trending topics have a shelf-life of only 11 minutes. The overall pace of human life has increased and this has affected all fields including Education. With the pandemic-led shift to online modes of learning, there are concerns over the attention span of students. 

Psychology says humans are naturally wired for attention. From our earliest childhood experiences to our ongoing well-being, we depend on the attention of others to fulfill both practical and emotional needs which are central to our survival and our psychological health. But if we are having such a costly asset with us like our attention, what’s the trouble in it? Isn’t it an advantage to us? Yes, Of course, but only if you know how to use it. It’s similar to a situation where you are a millionaire, but you don’t know where to invest and how to use your money wisely. As per a recent eMarketer advertising report, an Indian spends an average of 5 hours daily on different media platforms. The total time spent on media in a day has increased from 4.15 to 5 hours over the last 3 years. A recent study by Microsoft concluded that the human attention span has dropped to eight seconds – shrinking nearly 25% from 12 seconds in just a few years. Today we have shorter attention spans than goldfish, who are able to focus on a task or object for 9 seconds. Studies reveal that an average office worker checks their smartphones more than 200 times per day. Usually, we say that we are experts in multitasking, but when we observe most people are not actually multitasking, but rather switching rapidly between tasks without completing anything perfectly. Are we damaging our brains, or is it a question of producing the right content to get people to pause and spend some quality time? 

But like every ‘fact’ projected now, this too has another side. We have some positive reports. According to a new research study from audience presentation platform Prezi, attention spans are not shrinking, but rather evolving to be more selective. People now prefer quality instead of quantity. We may be scrolling too much content, but we also love a good binge. It may be true that our attention spans are getting shorter in general, but still, the content that is highly relevant or entertaining will always hold its audience. Some studies even say that bingeing content is a welcome refuge from our busy lives. People now believe we have reached a point of ‘content shock’, a saturation where there is now so much information available online that users can’t keep up with it all. So now clever marketers are now adopting new strategies and embracing new untapped markets such as podcasting. This attention war has turned all content creators more creative to churn out shorter and more engaging content for the viewers.

 

Attention Span: Impact on our workspace 

In a study conducted by Kelton Research on the attention span of professionals across the globe, 

- 95 percent said they multitask during meetings.

- Around one-third of these multitaskers lose track of or have trouble retaining the information that was being discussed. 

- At least one among five people admits multitasking in meetings has caused them to make an error in their work. 

- 59 percent of professionals say they can give a piece of content their undivided attention without getting distracted more now than they could one year ago. 

- 49 percent admit they have become more selective about the content they consume.

 - Among the business professionals, nearly 9 in 10 respondents said a strong narrative or the story behind what’s being presented is critical in maintaining the engagement of their audience. 

- When we consider attention span among different generations, more millennials than Gen Xers or Boomers said engaging content can hold their attention for a longer period of time without distraction.

It’s now high time for us to think of the following questions. 

- Are we getting any benefit from the contents that we endlessly consume? 
- Are we becoming productive or busier? If we are becoming busier, How can we become more productive?

To be productive in our workspace, firstly we need to be fuelled by a purpose in our lives. We have to start focussing only on what’s relevant to us. Since attention span is limited to a lifetime, if we don’t decide for ourselves, someone else will decide for us. With all the required information at our fingertips, there is so much to distract our attention. But only those who say "no" to 99% of things really end up using their time to create value. We have to turn off unnecessary notifications & Unfollow things that do not add value to our life. We have to start practicing the art of concentration, mindfulness. Whatever things we do on a daily basis, there are chances that it can become mechanical. If we want to add life to our days rather than adding days to our life, we have to start a practice of consciously involving in each activity of our life. How to consciously involve? Ensure your presence of mind even in the smallest activity you do. Ensure you enjoy it. Don’t be in a hurry. Be calm and gentle. This will bring more perfection. Be fully involved and focused. Once you can ensure all these while doing the smallest activity, you can definitely extend it to any big activity you do in your life. How you start a day is very important. Morning thoughts decide the day. Start the day with a calm and peaceful mind. Keep away your gadgets for at least the first 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes before you go to sleep. This can make a good difference in improving your productivity. Also, make a plan in your mind about the things you are going to do the next day. This will help you to successfully implement all the planned activities easily. 

In General, we can say that the Five things that decide success in our lives are how we utilize our 1) Time, 2) Money 3) Energy 4) Knowledge and 5) Natural Resources. Why Attention is now labeled as costly is because it costs time and energy, which in my opinion are the two most valuable things an individual can offer. 

So let me conclude this article without taking much of this valuable resource! If you are finding it difficult to focus, understand that your attention has become expensive. Try reducing the information overload. Knowing everything does not mean you understand everything. And to really understand something, you need to "pay" attention to that thing. If you heighten your ability to be attentive, that could be used in miraculous ways to transform your life. Now you know that Attention is the new gold or currency of the digital economy. Let me ask you: What are you investing your attention in? 

 

I hope you all are investing it in doing something valuable!

 

Sri Gopakumar is an ardent devotee of Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He is the State Youth Think tank member of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, Kerala. He holds an MBA degree from IIM Kozhikode. By profession, he has been working in the Education & Skill development sector for the past 6 years. Currently, he is working as the programme manager in ASAP, the skill development company of Govt of Kerala. He is also a certified Career mentor, Motivational Speaker & Life coach. His goal is to improve the performance & productivity of an individual by helping them in realizing their true potential as he believes in making a difference in people's lives. His core forte is Career mentoring, Skill development & Life Coaching.

Image Credits: Shutterstock

 

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