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Every Monday I'll bring you one idea. This week it's about something that was quietly stolen from us.
Someone messaged me after last week's letter: "I don't remember the last time I was so engrossed in reading an email. Keep it coming."
I read that message on my phone. Mid scroll. The irony wasn't lost on me.
What if something was quietly stolen from you?
Not your money. Not your time. Something more valuable than both.
Your attention.
And the thief? We invited it in.
I'm typing this letter on my phone on the way to Montreal. Oh boy! It really is a love and hate relationship with this device.
When I look back, I wasn't into video games as a kid because my parents refused to get me a PlayStation. Just 10 to 12 years back I had dedicated time for using my computer. Movies. Browsing. That was it. The rest of the time I was outside with my friends. Dinner with my family meant just that - maybe a TV running in the background.
It was definitely not like today.
I wake up to the alarm on my phone. I check my emails first thing every morning. A little bit of social media. And the next thing I know, my mobile phone becomes my third hand wherever I go.
It's with me while I'm eating, commuting, working, cooking, shopping for groceries, even while watching television.
So I took a step back and asked: What does this actually do to the mind and body?
Here's the fact that stopped me.
The average person picks up their phone 58 times a day. Half of those pickups happen within the first few minutes of waking up.
58 times. Think about that for a second.
Each pickup is an interruption. Each interruption pulls your attention away from wherever it actually was. And attention, once fragmented, takes time to rebuild. Research suggests it takes an average of 23 minutes to fully refocus after a distraction.
You're not distracted because you lack discipline. You're distracted because an entire industry is designed to make sure you stay distracted.
We live in an attention economy. Every app, every notification, every scroll is engineered to capture the one thing you have in finite supply. Your attention is the product. And we've been giving it away for free.
This week's nudge
Go to your phone's Settings → Screen Time.
Look at your Pickups number.
That number is not just a stat. That's how many times today your attention was interrupted or surrendered.
Ask yourself: Was there a need to pick up the phone that many times? Was it an urgency every single time?
Where we spend our attention every day is where our end results are waiting.
It's time we get back something that was quietly stolen from us.
See you next Monday ☀️
Warmly,
Narman
Just a human working to get his attention back.
Missed last week's letter? Read it here 🌿