This page belongs to an earlier version of Life+. The newer framework is described in Eight Life Engine Modes.

Attention - the Second Limited Resource

After energy, attention is the second resource I consider strictly limited. Complex problems require extended periods of uninterrupted thought. I therefore examine where my attention goes, which kinds of work need different modes and what helps restore it.

§ 01

Where attention leaks away

AT.01 - AT.04

AT.01Background information noise

Feeds, notifications and stray browser tabs. Their greatest cost is not simply lost minutes but fragmented thinking. I cannot enter sustained thought while the flow keeps interrupting me.

AT.02Switching between tasks

Each change of context costs more than it appears. Returning to a demanding task can take several minutes or much longer. A handful of such switches can consume the most valuable part of the day.

AT.03Emotional demands in the background

Unfinished inner conversations, unresolved conflicts and postponed discussions continue to occupy attention even when they are not at the centre of thought.

AT.04False urgency

Reactive work at someone else's pace: notifications, emergencies and demands that everything should have been done yesterday. It absorbs capacity that I intended for my own priorities.

§ 02

Modes of attention

matching work to time

M.ADeep work

Long sessions of roughly 1.5-3 hours devoted to a single demanding task: research, design or writing. This requires protected context, no interruptions and reasonably predictable energy.

M.BOperational work

Short sequences of communication, decisions and checks. Switching is acceptable here, but I still need to control how often it happens.

M.CClearing the backlog

Neither full rest nor deep work: reading, sorting materials and reviewing the state of projects. Its role is to remove background clutter so concentrated work becomes possible.

§ 03

Rules

what I keep away from my attention

I do not give the first part of my day to other people's streams of information. My own work comes first. I avoid deep work when I am short of sleep: the result costs more than it would with a rested mind. I also try not to carry dozens of unresolved questions in the background; recording or closing them is better than repeatedly thinking about them. Related themes: energy, , environment, , the Perform mode.