When people brag about their 80-hour work weeks, I have to wonder, are they really working for 80 hours? Or are they starting, browsing social media, and then stopping and starting eight times in a row like me? While I often "work" for 10 or even 12 hours in a day, only a novelist would label what I'm actually doing as focused work.

Many of us struggle with attention so profoundly that our only solution is to buffer the day with massive blocks of non-productive cloud-gazing time, so that 2-3 hours of focus will collectively add up by default by the time the day is over. Sound familiar? My guest on this week's podcast studies attention and productivity.

Listen and learn:

• How a 20-minute walk encourages divergent thinking and can refresh your attention span
• How multitasking can increase your blood pressure and stress response
• How to practice discernment and mindfulness with social media
• The value of superimposing meta-awareness to tasks for greater attention

Links

Gloria's site

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Gloria Mark is a professor at UC Irvine. She has spent over two decades studying multitasking, interruptions, productivity and mood with the rise in digital technology. Her work has been published extensively and her new book is called Attention Span.

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