I never really liked it. Maybe because I grew up in a 2.5 channel universe (at least in my formative years). Ever since I was young, when I watched TV, I really watched it. Meaning I naturally tried to concentrate on everything – shows and commercials. Even if the ads bugged me, I still paid attention.
Enter the remote and the start of SPLIT-ATTENTION DISORDER (the new SAD). You just had to click, switch and watch. It was the beginning of the end of the wait. (This is not to be confused with Seasonal Affective Disorder – another SAD acronym.)
My SAD story has, of course, migrated online with the abundance of social networks and things we can do online.
Case in point? A typical day: I open my email. Read and respond to a few of them. Check out a link. Get halfway through the article, which may not be holding my attention, switch to Twitter, open another link or two. Read a full article. Go back to the first unfinished link. Return to email. Shorten a URL or two. Check Google analytics. Check Facebook. Check my calendar. Check… out.
I’m practically breathless and angst-ridden just writing about it. Because I want to find out what’s next and next and next. Curiosity is good. Unbridled curiosity? Well, remember what they said about the cat.
So what can we do?
Conventional wisdom advises us to focus more; finish what we’re doing one task at a time. However, in a world when distractions are the norm and there’s always something shiny lurking around the corner, that’s easier said than done.
Which makes me even SADder. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some major multi-tasking to attend to.
Do you have any suggestions to combat our growing SADness?
Um, are you in my *head* Martin!! LOL Absolutely love this post. Your take on SAD describes me to a T, and also contributes massively to my recent struggles with writer’s block – there’s just *too many* ideas/thoughts/tangents! Split focus nightmares ensue. Great. Now I’ve got SAD *and* SAD! Oh, and I adore the pic – I grew up with a small, woodgrain’ed Zenith television in our rec room which our siamese cat slept on top of. The only TV in the house I might add. Those were the days, eh? 🙂
Thanks @belllindsay! I think it applies to a lot of us. And I’m writing this staring at two screens, with the other one just begging for a bit of attention. BTW, I had that remote growing up and was glad to find the photo…
I HATE channel surfing. Which is why I love TV on DVD and Netflix.
I hated watching TV with my father growing up. He hates commercials. Sometimes he would just mute the TV during commercials, at which point we’d have a brief discussion during breaks. But when he changed the channel it drove me from the room.
But to your point about the online world… I find myself more and more opening several articles and reading parts of each. In stripes. I mean, I’ll read part of one, move on to another, then another. Then go back to the first and repeat until I’ve either finished, or grown bored with them all.
It’s all the distractions. Especially at work.Strong camaraderie and “open door” policies are great. (My work area is open-concept, so doors are only conceptual). But chatty neighbours can cut down on my productivity.
Add scanning a screen-worth of Twitter posts a few times an hour, and distractions become distractions from distractions.
It doesn’t seem like there are any real solutions. Is this just the way our world is going? Like an addiction, I think recognizing when something is a problem is the first step to solving it.
I think you’re right Rick. We need to recognize and then deal with it. I’ve been trying to finish reading articles or links I open rather than flitting back and forth so much. Not there yet. I do know that on the weekends, when I’m less active on social media, I feel a bit less scattered.
This post was so dead-on with my lifestyle and when it comes to being distracted with media. As of now, I am listening to Pandora, chatting on Facebook, and googling. As far as any suggestions to combat this ‘SAD’ problem, I definitely don’t have one. Perhaps a computer crash? …
That and a power failure might be alternatives. One thing that works for me is reading a book. Though it takes me a few minutes to get my mind to stop wandering. Thanks for your thoughts.