I've found the attention problem to be equally challenging. It seems to be treated as a technical issue; so speed reading techniques and structured reading programmes are the norm. Breathing and mindfulness stuff aound in the new 'science' of attention. What they all miss is context.
WIth our tennis players the technical approaches can be effective but need the context, what we call Strong Problem Framing. We look at meaning, history, motivation and desired outcome. This meaing framework gives the techniques of attention a context.
I like what you say about attention that is given to the messages on their phone. It's still attention and they cana be on there for hours. From the parents I speak to, there is still a deep suspicion of what kids get up to when left (literally) to their own devices. It's just this panic has been amplified with social media and given a meaning of its own.
As a now loyal paid subscriber, I'd like to hear more about this.
I think that context is is key. So there is incentive to read or seriously study in institutions of education so not surprisingly young people do not learn to apply themselves to anything and therefore do not get socialised into internalising the role of being attentive. The attention problem is the other side of the coin of the crisis of motivation- which is why motivation is so often seen as a stand alone technical skill.
I've found the attention problem to be equally challenging. It seems to be treated as a technical issue; so speed reading techniques and structured reading programmes are the norm. Breathing and mindfulness stuff aound in the new 'science' of attention. What they all miss is context.
WIth our tennis players the technical approaches can be effective but need the context, what we call Strong Problem Framing. We look at meaning, history, motivation and desired outcome. This meaing framework gives the techniques of attention a context.
I like what you say about attention that is given to the messages on their phone. It's still attention and they cana be on there for hours. From the parents I speak to, there is still a deep suspicion of what kids get up to when left (literally) to their own devices. It's just this panic has been amplified with social media and given a meaning of its own.
As a now loyal paid subscriber, I'd like to hear more about this.
I think that context is is key. So there is incentive to read or seriously study in institutions of education so not surprisingly young people do not learn to apply themselves to anything and therefore do not get socialised into internalising the role of being attentive. The attention problem is the other side of the coin of the crisis of motivation- which is why motivation is so often seen as a stand alone technical skill.
This piece made a paying subscriber.