“We need to stop blaming ourselves,” Hari says. “If you can’t focus and pay attention, if your kids can’t focus and pay attention, it’s not your fault. There’s not something wrong with them; there’s something wrong with the environment in which we live.” Leading philosopher of attention in the world James Williams, Ph.D., worked as a Google strategist for over 10 years. During his tenure at Google, he saw firsthand what big tech companies are doing to monopolize people’s attention. Horrified by this attack on society’s ability to focus, Williams devoted his life’s work to spreading awareness about the attention crisis. In his book Stand Out of Our Light, Williams argues that digital technology’s ability to exploit our attention is the biggest threat to human freedom of our generation. He identifies three types of attention: your spotlight, your starlight, and your daylight. (Hari argues there’s one more, called our stadium lights—more on that later.) On the way, you get an email on your phone and start replying. You head back to your desk and realize your water bottle is still empty, sitting on the kitchen counter. When we think of our inability to focus, this is often the type of scenario that comes to mind. The never-ending stream of notifications is constantly distracting us from the task we’re trying to accomplish at any given moment. And while the disruption of your spotlight is downright frustrating (or worse), Hari argues it’s the least important of the four types of focus. Williams explains that without your daylight, you begin to “decohere”—i.e., you lose sight of who you are and what you want out of life. Hari calls it our stadium lights because we need to be able to see each other in order to achieve progressive societal shifts. Goleman believes leaders need strengths in three specific areas of focus: Luckily, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. “When you start to get your attention back, you begin to feel competent again, and it’s such a powerful feeling,” Hari shares. While a supplement certainly isn’t a magic pill that will solve all of our focus problems, an effective and clean formula is a majorly useful “lever” to pull on the focus front (so you actually remember to fill up that water bottle and much more)!* Not sure where to start? Check out our focus and concentration supplement roundup to discover the best nootropics on the market. For example, instead of reaching for that second (or third) cup of coffee in the afternoon to avoid the dreaded caffeine crash, Ricker suggests testing out different methods (or what she calls “interventions”). “Most people reach for coffee when their focus falters, but they might consider taking an exercise break instead. Many studies have demonstrated the benefits of exercise on executive function, which relates strongly to both focus and productivity—even after just one session,” she explains. On a personal level, it doesn’t matter whether you tackle your attention challenges with a targeted focus supplement, phone safe, or neurohacking tips—the solution that enhances your ability to focus is the best option for you.*
