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Taking Back Your Time and Attention
We lock our doors to protect our homes and possessions, but what about the two things that are even more valuable — our time and attention?
There are certain things we do to guard against theft of things we value. We lock our doors when we leave our homes. We may set up an alarm system. We may ask our neighbor or a friend to watch over our place when we’re away for long periods of time.
The point is, we don’t want to lose the things we value, and so we safeguard them. It’s about more than the possessions, though. We also don’t want people intruding upon our personal sanctuary — our private space. Even extroverts have their own personal private space. It is as basic an instinct as there is.
But there are two things that, though they are valuable, we don’t tend to guard all that well: time and attention. Though I think that nearly everyone acknowledges that these things are important, we often fail to act accordingly.
Here are some classic daily thieves of your time and attention. Consider them tiny thieves sneaking in through the open windows of your mind:
