An Easy Way to Get Smarter

I forgot to blog for several weeks — I had to be reminded that I even have a blog!

I wanted to talk a bit about concentration. A friend, last night, said that she’s been having a hard time concentrating and thinking. I’ve had similar issues for several years. This is partially because I suffer from severe misophonia, and even the slightest noise is immensely distracting to me.

But the real reason, of course, is Twitter, and other social media sources, which catapult so much information at me that I cannot focus for much longer than a millisecond on a single thought. I am frequently looking at Facebook on my laptop with one eye, while my other eye is looking at Facebook on my phone. This behavior does not promote concentration and feeling smarter.

A couple days ago, I made a goal: I am going to read two long, thoughtful news articles every day. This is a bigger commitment than it sounds — today it took me over 30 minutes to accomplish! This new daily reading has had two good outcomes: one, I am improving at concentrating on a topic for more than 30 seconds, and two, I am growing more engaged and interested in our shared planet.

For the past several years, I have been feeling bored. I go to work, and do my job, but I don’t grow as a person. But I don’t have to live this way! At work, I have begun reading more industry news articles. Before, I just deleted them when they came into my inbox. This daily reading makes me feel smarter and more engaged with my work, and I also am more impressive to higher-ups when I am constantly growing and learning, rather than just plugging in and doing my job.

Shellie Sh’Bieue, never from concentrate!