I'm in the middle of Cal Newport's latest book A World Without Email.
So far, just like the other couple of books of his that I've read, it's making me think about how I live and work, and how I might be able to do both better.
One section that stuck with me is about attention residue.
He cites a study in which people are split into groups and asked to complete tasks. Half the people have tasks that can be completed, the other half are given impossible tasks. Each of those two groups is split in half, based on whether they're time-pressured (a visible countdown, reminders every minute) or not.
...under low time pressure, whether or not the subject completed the task didn't make a difference to the amount of attention residue: in both cases, concepts related to the puzzle remained more on the subjects' minds than neutral concepts.
Under high time pressure, if the subject didn't complete the task, similar amounts of attention residue were measured. The only outlier was high time pressure and a completed task: under this combination, attention residue was reduced. (emphasis mine)
In other words: of the four groups, everyone except the time-pressured group who completed their task continued to think about the task to the point where it affected their next task. Here's what got me: even the low-pressure group who finished their task kept thinking about it as much the groups who had to stop in the middle of it!
His point in the book is about work tasks, but it made me wonder if it might also apply to the way I spend my free time. Maybe I should put stricter limits on the time I spend on side projects, and make sure I have a more well-defined goal during that time. Maybe even put a little pressure on...
One of my big habits is writing code every day. This is a low-pressure habit, but I find myself thinking about my side projects most of the time, no matter what I'm doing. Not "I have to get that done!" as much as "what's the best way to do that?" ...but it's always there, taking up space.
I usually consider this brainpower well spent! I like having ideas rattle around in my brain while I'm not actively working on them, but now I wonder if it's taking a toll, making it harder to be present. I know I have an easier time being on after I've had time to be off, and there's a way to let ideas rattle around passively without ruminating on them. I would bet the ratio of thought quality to thought quantity during those periods is pretty darn low.
There's also this interesting bit about high-pressure vs. low-pressure. I often imagine low-pressure environments are better for creative thinking, but I'm not sure that's always the case! Sometimes a little pressure is exactly what I need to get the ol' noggin kickstarted.
I'm going to try to keep active focus while I'm working on a project, set some time limits, and put it down completely when it's time to move on. I manage my focus pretty closely at work, maybe I need to pay more attention to what I'm paying attention to while I'm not working.
