Attention is not something you simply have. It is something you negotiate, and the other side of the table is built by people who want more of it. That is the idea Emily LoMenzo Washcovick brought to our conversation. It changes the question from “why can’t I focus?” to “what have I agreed to?”
Opt in on purpose
Emily learned how her own brain works after a mental health episode and a diagnosis. Her first lesson was about divided attention. In her words, “we all think we can multitask, but it really does diminish our ability to close the loop or finish a task.” Research on switching between tasks points the same way. The American Psychological Association notes that each switch can cost very little, but the costs add up. Multitasking may end up taking more time and involving more errors.
Emily’s practice is to notice when her attention is being pulled and to opt in only when she chooses. In a meeting or an interview, she does not glance at email. She also sees self-blame as counterproductive. Asking “why am I like this?” adds stress and does nothing for focus.
Change the defaults
Emily has worked in tech, so she knows how these products are designed. Apps are built to keep you engaged. AI tools often end an answer by offering another task. Social feeds give no signal when time has passed. Her response is to go a layer below the standard settings. She asks whether she wants live alerts, one digest a day, or fewer than that. She set up one email account so she opens it before she sees the unread count. That number would distract her in the middle of an interview.
Interruptions can carry an emotional cost too. In a UC Irvine study on interrupted work, people finished interrupted tasks in less time with no difference in quality. They also reported more stress and frustration. Emily describes a similar pattern with feeds. A 15-minute break on Instagram can turn into distressing news, and that mood follows you into your next task.
She adds structure where her own brain needs it. Her morning routine comes before email: a smoothie and a walk with her dogs. She says deadlines out loud to the people she works with, because “I will never miss a deadline that’s been verbalized.” She also uses alarms for time blindness, and she tested them over time until they worked. Emily is clear that this is personal. You have to find what works for you and be willing to try new things.
She also keeps human connection outside the screen. She schedules time with people to talk about how she is feeling and how she is using technology. For more on this theme, listen to Reclaiming Focus in the Attention Economy.
One thing to try
Pick the one app that interrupts you most. Open its settings and change one default. Switch live alerts to a daily summary, or hide the unread count. Then choose one thing to do each morning before you open email. Watch how the day feels for a week, and adjust from there.