I used to struggle to pay attention to audiobooks and podcasts. No matter how fascinating I found the topic, whenever I tried to tune in I would quickly zone out and lose the thread. However I think I am figuring out how to get myself to focus on these audio-only information sources more consistently.
I’ve tried listening to these audio information sources in three different environments:
Doing nothing else
Going on a walk (route familiar or randomly chosen as I go)
Doing menial tasks in minecraft (fishing, villager trading, farming, small amounts of inventory management)
My intuition would have been that my attention would be best with (1), then (2), then (3). In fact the opposite seems to be true. I focus best while playing minecraft, then while walking, then doing nothing else.
I think the explanation for this is fairly self-evident if you turn it around the other way. The reason why I am not able to focus on podcasts while doing nothing else is usually because my mind goes off on tangents, tunes out the audio, and loses the thread. To a lesser extent, this happens on walks. It seems like menial tasks in minecraft take up just enough mental energy for me not to additionally think up tangents, but not so much mental energy that I can no longer follow the discussion. In summary: “Being focused” on a fast-paced one-way stream of information requires not going off on tangents, which my brain can only do if it is sufficiently idle.
Something I am aware of but haven’t tested is that it could be that minecraft is too taxing and I am not absorbing as much as I would be if I were going on a walk. However, I would argue that it is better to consistently absorb 80% of a podcast than it is to absorb 100% of a podcast’s content 80% of the time and be completely zoned out for the other 20% (as is perhaps the case when I am walking). Pausing and rewinding is inefficient and annoying. This is also an argument for listening to podcasts at a faster speed (perhaps at the cost of absorption rate).
Moreover, I am listening to podcasts with the goal of gaining high-level understanding of the topics covered. So, “everything but slightly fuzzy on the details” is better than “the details of 80% of everything” for my purposes. Perhaps if I was listening with a different goal (for example, a podcast discussing a paper I wanted to deeply understand), more of my focus would be required and it would be better for me to walk (or even sit still) than play minecraft.
Initially, I thought I was bad at focusing on podcasts since I lacked the brainpower to follow a fast-paced audio. Having experienced decreased distractability while listening to a podcast and playing minecraft, I have now updated my model of how I focus. I think focus might follow a sort of Laffer curve (upside down U) shape, where the x axis is # external stimuli and the y axis is # content absorbed.
More precisely (a picture really would do better here but I don’t know how to put one in a shortform): Call the most # content absorbed y0 and the corresponding # external stimuli x0. I used to think podcasts were more than x0 stimulus for me, meaning that I could never absorb a near-optimal amount of content. However the minecraft+podcast experiment showed me that podcasts take less than x0 stimulus for me, and minecraft just enoug boosted the amount of stimuli to get me to the optimal (x0, y0) focus situation.
Going forward I definitely want to experiment with different combinations of stimuli (media, physical activity, environment) and see how I can optimize my focus. Some thoughts which seem like other people have them / do them:
What can I focus on best while exercising? Previously I have been putting dumb tv shows on in the background—is this all I can focus on or can I use this time more productively? (If I can be more productive then I will probably exercise more—win win!)
Within the realm of podcasts, can I come up with different “categories” and associate optimal actions to each? Three categories I have experience with are “technical” (AXRP, more hardcore episodes of 80k Hours podcast), “soft skills” (less hardcore episodes of 80k Hours podcast), “fun” (e.g. podcasts about a tv show). Then I could build habits based off this (e.g. pairing “soft skills” with minecraft or “technical” with sitting outside) without having to put as much effort into decision making.
Podcasts + fixed stimuli make for good benchmarks which will help me measure whether my focus is higher or lower than usual. For example, maybe if I am unable to focus on a combo that I usually am able to focus on, that could be a sign there is something wrong with my physical health or that I am mentally exhausted.
Some people report being able to focus on difficult tasks (e.g. theoretical research) best when in a noisy place but otherwise undistracted (e.g. coffee shop). This seems like an instance of what I am talking about here.
Outcome: I will try to think about this more deliberately when planning which activities I do when, and in particular how I pair activities which can be done simultaneously. Who knows—maybe I will finally be able to get through some of those 3+ hour long episodes of the 80,000 Hours podcast! :)
I used to struggle to pay attention to audiobooks and podcasts. No matter how fascinating I found the topic, whenever I tried to tune in I would quickly zone out and lose the thread. However I think I am figuring out how to get myself to focus on these audio-only information sources more consistently.
I’ve tried listening to these audio information sources in three different environments:
Doing nothing else
Going on a walk (route familiar or randomly chosen as I go)
Doing menial tasks in minecraft (fishing, villager trading, farming, small amounts of inventory management)
My intuition would have been that my attention would be best with (1), then (2), then (3). In fact the opposite seems to be true. I focus best while playing minecraft, then while walking, then doing nothing else.
I think the explanation for this is fairly self-evident if you turn it around the other way. The reason why I am not able to focus on podcasts while doing nothing else is usually because my mind goes off on tangents, tunes out the audio, and loses the thread. To a lesser extent, this happens on walks. It seems like menial tasks in minecraft take up just enough mental energy for me not to additionally think up tangents, but not so much mental energy that I can no longer follow the discussion. In summary: “Being focused” on a fast-paced one-way stream of information requires not going off on tangents, which my brain can only do if it is sufficiently idle.
Something I am aware of but haven’t tested is that it could be that minecraft is too taxing and I am not absorbing as much as I would be if I were going on a walk. However, I would argue that it is better to consistently absorb 80% of a podcast than it is to absorb 100% of a podcast’s content 80% of the time and be completely zoned out for the other 20% (as is perhaps the case when I am walking). Pausing and rewinding is inefficient and annoying. This is also an argument for listening to podcasts at a faster speed (perhaps at the cost of absorption rate).
Moreover, I am listening to podcasts with the goal of gaining high-level understanding of the topics covered. So, “everything but slightly fuzzy on the details” is better than “the details of 80% of everything” for my purposes. Perhaps if I was listening with a different goal (for example, a podcast discussing a paper I wanted to deeply understand), more of my focus would be required and it would be better for me to walk (or even sit still) than play minecraft.
Initially, I thought I was bad at focusing on podcasts since I lacked the brainpower to follow a fast-paced audio. Having experienced decreased distractability while listening to a podcast and playing minecraft, I have now updated my model of how I focus. I think focus might follow a sort of Laffer curve (upside down U) shape, where the x axis is # external stimuli and the y axis is # content absorbed.
More precisely (a picture really would do better here but I don’t know how to put one in a shortform): Call the most # content absorbed y0 and the corresponding # external stimuli x0. I used to think podcasts were more than x0 stimulus for me, meaning that I could never absorb a near-optimal amount of content. However the minecraft+podcast experiment showed me that podcasts take less than x0 stimulus for me, and minecraft just enoug boosted the amount of stimuli to get me to the optimal (x0, y0) focus situation.
Going forward I definitely want to experiment with different combinations of stimuli (media, physical activity, environment) and see how I can optimize my focus. Some thoughts which seem like other people have them / do them:
What can I focus on best while exercising? Previously I have been putting dumb tv shows on in the background—is this all I can focus on or can I use this time more productively? (If I can be more productive then I will probably exercise more—win win!)
Within the realm of podcasts, can I come up with different “categories” and associate optimal actions to each? Three categories I have experience with are “technical” (AXRP, more hardcore episodes of 80k Hours podcast), “soft skills” (less hardcore episodes of 80k Hours podcast), “fun” (e.g. podcasts about a tv show). Then I could build habits based off this (e.g. pairing “soft skills” with minecraft or “technical” with sitting outside) without having to put as much effort into decision making.
Podcasts + fixed stimuli make for good benchmarks which will help me measure whether my focus is higher or lower than usual. For example, maybe if I am unable to focus on a combo that I usually am able to focus on, that could be a sign there is something wrong with my physical health or that I am mentally exhausted.
Some people report being able to focus on difficult tasks (e.g. theoretical research) best when in a noisy place but otherwise undistracted (e.g. coffee shop). This seems like an instance of what I am talking about here.
Outcome: I will try to think about this more deliberately when planning which activities I do when, and in particular how I pair activities which can be done simultaneously. Who knows—maybe I will finally be able to get through some of those 3+ hour long episodes of the 80,000 Hours podcast! :)