Bailey MeCey

With the rise of technology, a new form of economy has developed. This new economy seeks not minerals or oil as a resource, but an individual’s attention. With thousands of hours of content published each day, there is no way for a user to absorb all of it. Since we can’t consume everything that is out there, we have to be selective of what we set our attention on. This is something we actively do on a daily basis, as our attention is constantly being challenged.

Companies are now using different methods to draw our attention to them. Silicon Valley has been the most successful in this economy, due to distracting smartphones and social media apps. While before we would shift our attention around what interests us, these apps and devices use algorithms and notifications to entice us to keep returning to their platforms and never leave. Once they have our attention, they can then use it to market to us.

With everything vying for our attention, there is less opportunity for self-improvement and introspection. To succeed in this new attention economy, we must develop new methods to gain back control from these platforms. For example, removing yourself from social media might seem difficult but demonstrates the individual power over these Silicon Valley companies.

Instead of scrolling online, learning to work deeply and finding a balance with social media are steps to regaining control.

To view the full Deep Work in the Attention Economy paper, download it below.