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Inside This Issue 1 25 Lawyers Helped Make History 2 Ex-Beatle Sued for Plagiarism 7 Groundbreaking Georgia Inventions 3 4 Perks of a Virtual Lawyer
Red, White, and Blue Tiramisu 4 How Distractions Are Hurting Us
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Overcoming Inattention
Strategies to Fight Distraction
With our phones always on standby, we’re more easily distracted than ever. Then there are also interruptions by coworkers or family members, emails or instant messages that divert our attention, household chores that will “only take a minute,” coffee breaks, and daydreams. Constant distraction hurts us more than we realize, creating a feedback loop of inattention. It’s time we understand what all this multitasking is doing to our minds and figure out how to break the cycle. No matter how good you think you are at it, multitasking doesn’t exist. What we’re really doing is called task-switching. Our brains can concentrate on only one thing at a time, and the quicker we go back and forth between tasks, the less we pay 4 • KEVINPATRICK.LAW I 404.566.5880
attention, and the more likely we are to make mistakes. Even worse, research says it takes us a whopping 23 minutes to regain our concentration after being interrupted. But what can you do? If you’ve ever been on a diet, you know that willpower has its limits. Simply promising you won’t check your email or phone
And mental tricks can still have their place. You probably tend to become productive when you’ve got a deadline crunch, and there’s a reason for that. Tasks have a way of stretching out unnecessarily when we don’t have to follow any restrictions. So, make some! Determine how much time you need to complete a task, and then don’t allow yourself anymore. Ask a colleague for help staying accountable. You’ll be amazed at how much you get done. Though we each have to fight our own battles, this isn’t entirely our fault. Popular apps make billions of dollars by sucking our attention away from everything else, so we’re automatically at a disadvantage. And there may be even more than meets the eye. If you have difficulty concentrating, stress could be the underlying culprit. Get that under control, and distractions might suddenly lose some of their allure.
rarely results in long-term success. But if technology is a big part of the problem, it can also be part of the solution. Try putting your email or phone notifications on silent. Or, consider a
website blocker to keep you off distracting websites and an app that will lock distracting features on your phone. Low-tech solutions like a “do not disturb” sign and putting your phone in another room can also help.
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