We've all been there. You just started a much needed and well-deserved vacation or weekend of rest and you decide to take a quick peek at your email. You probably have the app on your phone, so it almost happens instinctually. That's when you see it. The emergency that "obviously" can't wait and is going to require a significant amount of your attention the moment you get back to the office. You proceed to spend the rest of your vacation thinking about that impending problem instead of focusing on relaxing, spending time with family, and resting. Your ability to be in the moment disappeared the moment you opened that app on your phone.
Unlike money and the things money can buy, your attention is not a renewable resource. Anyone who has ever fallen down a YouTube or Instagram rabbit hole knows that you can't get that attention (or time) back. More than that, we consistently express shock at the significant amount of time and attention we just spent, even though we've done it more times than we can count.
Our attention, and the time that it comes with, is perhaps our most valuable resource. In a world where the demands on our time and attention are overwhelming at best, our ability to prioritize where and to whom we allocate our attention is an important skill. We all have interests and goals that we have the financial and logistical ability to accomplish. Our lack of attention towards those items simply prevents us from accomplishing them.
More than chasing hobbies and dreams, however, is the practical reality of our disjointed attention. Americans may not be working 12 hour days, 7 days a week, anymore, but our workweek is already higher than it was 50 years ago. If we're getting paid for 40 hours a week, and there are no financial incentives for going beyond that, then why are we so obsessed with "catching up" on email over the weekend in order to start the week off right? Allowing those "emergencies" to linger in our minds and steal our attention adds up to a significant amount of unpaid labor. We can't let work live rent free in our heads.
When I began my career, the smart phone age was in it's infancy. I've always loved technology, and the idea of having a computer in my pocket was exhilarating. I relished the opportunity to check my email, review and edit documents, and otherwise accomplish many of my work functions from the palm of my hand. I would check my email constantly and respond at all hours of the night, wearing it as a badge of honor. I was clearly a hard worker if you were receiving an email from me at 1am. I was constantly reachable, and responded immediately. People knew it and took advantage of it. I scoffed at the idea of work-life balance as a notion not applicable to my career field. I needed to always be available for the students I was serving.
The reality was that once I gave everything the same level of urgency, all efforts to prioritize importance flew out the window. More than that, my attention was always partially distracted as I waited for the next call, text, or email, and the next opportunity to prove myself. In doing so, giving my attention to the other things I claimed to prioritize in my life became more and more challenging.
I'd like to say I've learned a lot in the last 20 years and now avoid those weekend emails and distracted glances at my phone. I'm still learning, still training myself to value my attention, still training myself to be fully in the moment. The most valuable asset we have is our time, and how we spend it and where we focus our attention says a lot about us. Unless you're a first responder or otherwise responsible for actual emergency response, my guess is it can probably wait until tomorrow. Once we begin to value our attention, others will eventually do the same. I'm willing to bet the weekend messages and non-emergency "emergency" calls taper off in the process. For now, I'll put down my phone and pay attention to the world around me a bit more. Log off and look up. We have to start somewhere, right?
