Attention Control

Attention Control

A man with glasses giving a thumbs up.
6mins
You know Steve-O. Now meet Steve Glover, as the professional stuntman talks to us about pain, insecurity, and never finding contentment.
Unlikely Collaborators
A person sits in an armchair at a table engaged in digital reading. The person's face is scribbled over with green lines.
From Hogwarts to hashtags, kids' reading habits have changed drastically in recent decades — but data suggests cause for hope.
A young girl giving her undivided attention to a TV screen displaying an engaging cartoon.
The modern attention economy hijacks our ability to focus, but an ancient technique offers a means to get it back.
An image of a woman sitting in a chair in front of an auditorium.
Combining years of neurological research and mindfulness techniques, Dr. Heather Berlin helps us better understand how the body’s most complex organ can easily be misled into negative thinking - and how we can stop that from happening.
Unlikely Collaborators
A group of people utilizing effective communication skills sitting around a table in a meeting.
Clear communication is good for business and life — but compelling communication can take you to another level.
An orange-robed monk practicing mindfulness on a stone wall.
Is mindfulness really the panacea it's touted to be, or are we glossing over some fundamental flaws?
A vintage photograph capturing a couple by a turntable in black and white.
Your heart rate reveals your brain activity, which in turn can predict hit songs — and maybe stock performance, as well.
An image of a sunset through a window.
How the simple act of watching twilight can radically transform our perception of the world and our role within it.
John Templeton Foundation
A man's hand holding a pair of dumbbells on a black background.
Exercise can have surprisingly transformative impacts on the brain, according to neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki. It has the power not only to boost mood and focus due to an increase in […]
a diagram of different shapes and sizes.
Better cognitive control over our decisions can stave off disappointment in our actions.
a drawing of a green speech bubble.
It’s the paradoxical observation that the more we try to process, the less we actually can.
4mins
This productivity hack comes with an asterisk, explains note-taking guru Tiago Forte.
A black silhouette of a human head with a rectangular section cut out, revealing a profile face against a cloudy blue sky, symbolizes the limits of our attention span.
5mins
“What you pay attention to, is your life.” Where do you place precious brain resources?
John Templeton Foundation
When you can't enter flow, you can still lean on your internal rhythm.
"In our studies, people who are more intelligent don’t mind wander so often when the task is hard but can do it more when tasks are easy."
Black and white engraving-style illustration of a human eye in close-up, with detailed lines depicting the iris, pupil, and eyelids—capturing the intense focus and clarity of the flow state.
‘Flow state’ is a peak performance mental state experienced by the world's highest achievers. Learn how it works in just 7 minutes.
John Templeton Foundation
People think that unhappiness causes our minds to wander, but what if the causation goes the other way?
You open an app and start scrolling, then suddenly it's an hour later. Sound familiar?
Unplugging only ignores the hard work of overcoming your distractions.
truth bias
2mins
How to see through the lies that surround us.
In the age of distraction, don't we all want to read faster and more efficiently?
Until recently, video games were accused of killing brain cells. Now, researchers are trying to understand how they help players get smarter.