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Fragmented Mind

emanningis

I've noticed something that makes social interactions, but also modern society slightly unpleasant for me. 

It is related to a state of mind which we may call "Fragmented" or "Scattered". And it is somewhat related to monotropism (a natural state for some of us; and in my case, related to finding meaning and purpose).

  • If the day goes with no switches between activities (such as multitasking) then my mind works at its best,
  • If the day goes with smooth switches in dedicated time blocks it is less good but still okay,
  • If there are interruptions, notifications, and multitasking, then my mind fragments. As a consequence concentration and deep thinking are reduced.

As the day goes on, the fragmentation increases more and more. Sleep, naps, and maybe also meditation play the counterpart of that (for me at least): they clean up the fragments, reset the mind into a more coherent whole, so deep concentration is possible.

Achieving those uninterrupted blocks isn't easy these days.

There are probably good articles about these aspects, I just found this one called "The Divided Mind".

Would be interesting to read your thoughts and personal experience.

  • I have looked briefly at the article, as it has too much information to take it all in at the moment.

    I do agree that too much switching is the thing that tires me most at work. On days where I can work through things with few interruptions, I tend to finish with more energy. On days I have to answer the phone intermittently it is not only the switching which causes stress, but the anticipation of the unexpected that can occur whilst concentrating on something. As it is the anticipation I can finish a day with few calls tired enough to need a rest at the end.

    On the phrase about companies wanting concentration. I am happy with that, but demands put on us cause fragmentation.

    On rest days I certainly find it better when time to concentrate on few things with less interruptions. Planning in blocks with lists helps. I don't know if this is connected, but I have neighbours who can be noisy at times and some of the sounds can be uncomfortable, resulting in difficulty in keeping concentration on a task. I guess this is a form of multitasking as I have to switch concentration to try to block out the sound. 

    In respect of education it probably is more fast moving, but possibly a bit more interesting than in my day when history meant reading through a book a chapter a lesson and they thought that the tape recording occasionally made it more interesting, but I missed bits because the view out of the window was more exciting. Although Geography is more interesting to me because I can see the evidence, since school I have come across historical things which I find interesting, particularly local history. I do enjoy programmes on TV about the past.

  • Just thought of a condensed phrase: "Attention is what companies want, Fragmentation what we get."

    PS: Primarily wrt Social Media Companies.