Time and Attention

This podcast discusses stimulation fasting and its benefits in our highly stimulating world. It explores how to conduct a fast from noise and distractions, unplugging from social media and electronic devices, sticking with a limited email checking schedule, and the overall benefits of a stimulation fast.

Oliver Burkeman, author of 'Four Thousand Weeks,' discusses the concept of 'finitude' and its impact on our lives. They explore the detrimental effects of a future-chasing mindset, the drawbacks of striving for perfect time mastery, the origins of impatience, and the value of productivity advice. They also touch on the costs of hoarding our time. This replay episode offers insightful perspectives on time management and the role it plays in our lives.

On this episode, we chat about subscription overload—and which ones we think are worth the money. Topics covered include: The productivity apps we subscribe to; How basically everything is a subscription service; Opt-in versus opt-in commitments; How subscriptions have changed over time; Apps that take the subscription thing too far; How to do a subscription audit. Links mentioned in this episode: Article: Basically everything is a subscription service You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: Drowning in subscriptions appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we chat about lessons learned from Chris’s experiment to switch to a flip phone for a month. Topics covered include:   The impetus for the experiment; How smartphones are not meant to see switched away from; The phenomenon of zombiefication; The correlation between screen time and mental health; Reflecting on why the smartphone can make us unhappy; “Time confetti” and our phone; Why a phone doesn’t provide us with depth of experience; Raw material for change; Richness and depth of communication; Handing our attention to someone else (and why it can be a good thing); Heights of stimulation.   Links mentioned in this episode:   Episode 101: Using a flip phone for a month. (The flip phone experiment article will be posted this week!)   You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: Are smartphones a net positive? appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we explore the science behind naps. Topics covered include: How naps help us push past productivity walls; The golden rule of productivity advice; How napping influences cognitive performance and alertness; When to take naps throughout the day; Avoiding sleep inertia; Our ratio of cognitive versus rote work; How sleep deprivation changes how we think about our productivity; What the research suggests with napping; How to take a coffee nap. Links mentioned in this episode: Book: When, by Dan Pink Study: Benefits of napping in healthy adults: impact of nap length, time of day, age, and experience with napping Study: Effects of a Short Daytime Nap on the Cognitive Performance (Meta-Analysis) Study: Fatigue on the flight deck: The consequences of sleep loss and the benefits of napping You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post 106: Naps! appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we chat about multitasking—including where it does and doesn’t work. Topics covered include: The different levels of multitasking; Where multitasking does and doesn’t work; Why “conscious intervention” matters with multitasking; Why “attention residue” makes us less efficient as we multitask; The flip book effect; The cognitive costs of switching between tasks; How multitasking influences how memories form; Why we feel more productive when we multitask; Minding your resistance level as you’re tempted to multitask. Links mentioned in this episode: Study: Neurotics Can’t Focus (PDF) You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: Digging into multitasking appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we chat about our favorite productivity gadgets. Topics covered include: Our brief thoughts on the Apple headset (and other announcements); Having cables everywhere; Apple’s World Adaptor Kit (Apple.com); The Timeular time tracker (Timeular.com); The Aqara FP2 (Aqara.com); Logitech Spotlight Remote (Logitech.com; Amazon.com); MagSafe Battery Pack (Apple.com); Sonos Roam (Sonos.com; Amazon.com); The Elgato Key Light (Elgato.com; Amazon.com) and CamLink 4K (Elgato.com; Amazon.com); The reMarkable (reMarkable.com; Amazon.com). You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: The best productivity gadgets appeared first on Chris Bailey.

In this episode, I chat with Cal Newport, the author of A World Without Email, about his book—and how we can manage email during such a distracting time. You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below!   The post Podcast: My chat with Cal Newport about email appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode is my conversation with Jennifer Petriglieri, author of the book Couples That Work. On this episode we chat about: The three transitions couples tend to go through; How couples become interdependent; “Couple contracting”; How we recalibrate to what we want; Having a “secure base” in a relationship; Playing with our identities; Whether we should account for love in our career decisions.  Links mentioned in this episode: Book: Couples That Work You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: The three transitions we go through as a couple appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we chat about Chris’s experiment to use a flip phone for a month. Topics covered include: The utility we get from smartphones; Big phones versus small phones; The “jobs to be done” theory of using our devices; How gathering has become digital; How communication norms have changed over time; Managing norms within social groups; Re-evaluating our relationship with our smartphone; What to be mindful of with our phone. Links mentioned in this episode: The Alcatel Go Flip 3; The Punkt phone; Book: Amusing Ourselves to Death Journal article: How many hours does it take to make a friend? You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below!   The post Podcast: Using a flip phone for a month appeared first on Chris Bailey.