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Linda Stone, of Continuous Partial Attention says:
“To pay continuous partial attention is to pay partial attention — CONTINUOUSLY. It is motivated by a desire to be a LIVE node on the network. Another way of saying this is that we want to connect and be connected. We want to effectively scan for opportunity and optimize for the best opportunities, activities, and contacts, in any given moment. To be busy, to be connected, is to be alive, to be recognized, and to matter.
We pay continuous partial attention in an effort NOT TO MISS ANYTHING. It is an always-on, anywhere, anytime, any place behavior that involves an artificial sense of constant crisis. We are always in high alert when we pay continuous partial attention. This artificial sense of constant crisis is more typical of continuous partial attention than it is of multi-tasking.”
The Expert Mind grows to its stature not through luck or dna, but through FOCUS (thanks Kathy Sierra of Creating Passionate Users).
Kathy finishes her thought with “The most important thing, I think, is to stop being in denial about the profound impact this (IM, email, blogging, twitter) is having on us and those around us. Until we stop seeing interruptions as something that happens TO us, and understand the role we play in causing them, we’re in big trouble.”
“80% of success is showing up.” Woody Allen
“If you allow abstract concepts like health or love to remain abstract, you won’t move forward in these areas. Abstractions are wonderful tools for thought, but eventually you need to turn them into concrete physical actions. Your abstraction must eventually become a process of showing up.” (thanks Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com).
Great list of things to try for 30 days. We should all try most of it. “Give trials a try.” (thanks Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com).
- Give up TV. Tape all your favorite shows and save them until the end of the trial. My whole family did this once, and it was very enlightening.
- Give up online forums, especially if you feel you’re becoming forum addicted. This will help break the addiction and give you a clearer sense of how participation actually benefits you (if at all). You can always catch up at the end of 30 days.
- Shower/bathe/shave every day. I know YOU don’t need this one, so please pass it along to someone who does.
- Meet someone new every day. Start up a conversation with a stranger.
- Go out every evening. Go somewhere different each time, and do something fun — this will be a memorable month.
- Spend 30 minutes cleaning up and organizing your home or office every day. That’s 15 hours total.
- List something new to sell on ebay every day. Purge some of that clutter.
- Ask someone new out on a date every day. Unless your success rate is below 3%, you’ll get at least one new date, maybe even meet your future spouse.
- If you’re already in a relationship, give your partner a massage every day. Or offer to alternate who gives the massage each day, so that’s 15 massages each.
- Give up cigarettes, soda, junk food, coffee, or other unhealthy addictions.
- Become an early riser.
- Write in your journal every day.
- Call a different family member, friend, or business contact every day.
- Make 25 sales calls every day to solicit new business. Professional speaker Mike Ferry did this five days a week for two years, even on days when he was giving seminars. He credits this habit with helping build his business to over $10 million in annual sales. If you make 1300 sales calls a year, you’re going to get some decent business no matter how bad your sales skills are. You can generalize this habit to any kind of marketing work, like building new links to your web site.
- Write a new blog entry every day.
- Read for an hour a day on a subject that interests you.
- Meditate every day.
- Learn a new vocabulary word every day.
- Go for a long walk every day.
Just some of today’s reading. Great stuff.
Nomadishere 