Джон Харгрейв - Mind Hacking [How to Change Your Mind for Good in 21 Days]

Among the worst of these habits is multitasking. There is a wealth of scientific research indicating that “multitasking” really means “doing several things badly at once.” Multiple studies have shown that you’re slower when you switch between tasks than when you do one task repeatedly 2—and that you grow less and less efficient as the tasks grow increasingly complex. 3

Psychiatrist Edward Hallowell defines “multitasking” as a “mythical activity in which people believe they can perform two or more tasks simultaneously as effectively as one.” 4And we continue to buy into the myth that multitasking is possible, and even desirable. We keep open a chat window so we’re always “available.” We jump at text messages. We keep a feed or news ticker running so we’re “plugged in” or “connected.”

Stanford University sociologist Clifford Nass, one of the pioneers of multitasking research, explained it like this:

People who multitask all the time can’t filter out irrelevancy. They can’t manage a working memory. They’re chronically distracted. They’re even terrible at multitasking. When we ask them to multitask, they’re actually worse at it. So they’re pretty much mental wrecks. 5

In other words, this fragmentation of attention is making our minds weaker, not stronger. Each distraction you allow yourself actually makes you less productive, less capable, and less . . . SQUIRREL!

Sorry, thought I saw a squirrel.

We All Have ADD

If multitasking is so bad for us, why do we keep at it?

Because it is addictive .

As you wait in line at a restaurant, do you pull out your phone? As you’re getting ready for bed, do you check your email one last time? As you’re sitting at a table, with flesh and blood human beings , do you interact with humans somewhere else? It’s this addictive nature of our devices that has led writer Soren Gordhamer to ask: Are we in control of technology, or is technology controlling us? 6

MIND GAME

Squirrel!

For the rest of the day, try to become aware of whenever your attention is pulled away from the task at hand by either digital or human interruptions. Try to become aware of the feeling of “broken flow” when you lose your concentration.

Keep track of how many interruptions you notice. At the end of the day, write down the final number on your practice sheet.

Is it any wonder attention deficit disorder is so prevalent? Although ADD was first described in 1902, it has been steadily on the rise in recent years. Now, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 10 percent of U.S. school-age children (ages four to seventeen) have ADD—to say nothing of the adults . 7

Here’s an easy way to see the mind clearly: occasionally go into a meeting or social gathering without your device, and be aware of your impulse to check a screen. You may find screen checking has become an ingrained habit, a compulsion —and the only way to begin correcting this impulse, this addiction , is to first become aware of it. This need to constantly check a screen is a symptom of the misbehaving dog mind, as is the need to have several browser tabs open, to do homework while watching TV, or to simultaneously play three hands of online poker while flying a plane.

Your mind craves information; that’s what it eats. Unfortunately, your mind has bulimia.

A 2013 study from Kent State University surveyed five hundred students and found that higher smartphone use was highly correlated with higher anxiety: stress and screens go hand in hand. 8Another study at the University of Worcester in Britain found the same holds true for workers: the more they check their smartphones, the more they suffer from stress, “because people get caught up in compulsively checking for new messages, alerts and updates.” 9

The great Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov trained dogs by always ringing a bell before he presented them with food. Eventually he found the dogs would slobber uncontrollably as soon as he rang the bell, even before he had presented the food : their bodies had become “conditioned” to prepare for food when the bell was rung. Similarly, attention-interrupting “tools” like email alerts and instant messaging have conditioned our minds to expect a tiny burst of informational pleasure.

Let’s say you get a text message alert. (Maybe it even sounds like a bell!) You know there is new information waiting for you: it might be someone saying hello, it might be a picture of your sister’s kids, it might even be an exciting emergency. That bell has conditioned our dog minds to slobber with anticipation as we stop whatever we’re doing and tend to the text message. We are all Pavlov’s dogs.

Try to become aware of the precise feeling, so you can recognize it when it happens. Try to capture that feeling of discontinuity, the “jerkiness” of being pulled out of concentration. That drug-like cycle, the addictive temptation with its accompanying mini-burst of pleasure, is what we want to overcome. The disobedient dog thrives on this chaos; it is a picture of mental weakness .

Now, compare this with the feeling of “flow”: being immersed in an activity, with unbroken concentration. You might call this being “in the zone” or “losing yourself.” You can probably think of some activity where you’re in the zone: making music, coding, or just reading a great book. Close your eyes and picture that flow of effortless concentration; try to get a sense of what it feels like. That’s what the well-trained mind is all about. This is a picture of mental strength .

We can learn how to develop this state at will. The key to this retraining is the lost art of concentration, the subject of our next chapter. Concentration training brings clarity and focus to our mental efforts and is a foundational skill of mind hacking. It’s not just about turning off your instant messenger but also about learning specific exercises that actively increase your powers of concentration. This is how you discipline the dog.

[1.3]

You probably remember the scene from the original Star Wars where Luke Skywalker is learning to use the Force on board the Millennium Falcon .

“Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him,” Obi-Wan Kenobi instructs him as the training droid shoots Skywalker on the leg.

“Ha-ha!” mocks Han Solo. “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”

“You don’t believe in the Force, do you?” Luke asks him.

“There’s no mystical energy field that controls my destiny,” Solo snorts. “It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.”

“I suggest you try it again, Luke.” Obi-Wan puts a helmet on Luke’s head, blocking his vision.

Concentrating, this time Luke blocks the lasers, relying entirely on his instincts. (Solo never apologizes.)

Whether you are more like Obi-Wan Kenobi or Han Solo when it comes to believing in the Force, you certainly know the power of concentration. A moment’s reflection will probably show you that your best work, strongest ideas, and deepest insights come from moments of concentration, when your mind is calm, clear, and focused. You may even long for these moments and wish that you had more time for them.

In the sequel The Empire Strikes Back , Luke goes off to train with Yoda, developing incredible powers of concentration. Now he is able to stand on one hand upside down while balancing Yoda and levitating rocks. Han Solo and his blaster, meanwhile, get frozen in carbonite.

This chapter is your Jedi training.