The problem isn’t that we’re bad at focusing. It’s that we’ve built environments hostile to focus.
Every notification, every infinite scroll, every autoplay video—these are the result of thousands of engineers optimizing for engagement metrics. We’re not fighting our nature; we’re fighting the accumulated ingenuity of an industry designed to capture attention.
The solution isn’t more willpower. It’s redesigning our environments. Delete apps. Turn off notifications. Create friction for the things that distract and remove friction for the things that matter.
This isn’t about being a Luddite. It’s about being intentional with genuinely powerful tools.