The Focus Alarm

The average person’s mind wanders 47% of the time. The question is, are you allowing it to wander, or are you not even realizing it?

When I’m scrolling through Youtube and see a video that catches my eye, I ask myself, “Do I want to watch this right now.” If the answer is “yes,” then I’m intentionally clicking on the video with the goal of watching. If it ends up being a terrible video, it’s fine. If those are 10 minutes of my life that I’m never getting back, it’s fine. I made the decision to spend those focus coins.

But when I’m scrolling through Tiktok, Shorts, Reels, or any other endless social media feed, the intention has been removed. There is no video to click on. It’s just an infinite scrolling deathtrap. Once I’m hypnotized, there goes an hour of my life.

If you lose hours of your day to this mindless wandering, here’s a tip I can recommend: set an alarm on your phone that goes off every hour (or every two hours, it’s really up to you). Pick a delightful or pleasant chime because it’s supposed to represent a moment of mindfulness. When that alarm goes off, take a pause from what you’re doing and ask yourself, “Is my mind wandering unintentionally?” If it is, pull yourself back to the task at hand, whether it’s working on homework, hanging out with a friend, or reading a book. Over time, you will start to be able to catch yourself mindlessly wandering before the alarm goes off. You can slowly wean yourself off the alarm when this happens.

Regain your focus to regain your life.