[1-2-Read] Protocols For Rescuing Your Attention pt. 2: Reclaim Your Free Time

Welcome to 1-2-Read, a fortnightly letter for paid subscribers! Every issue will give you ideas and practical exercises so that you can walk away as a stronger reader/writer, and now every issue will come with an audio narration. Your contributions keep the lights on around here, and thank you so much for your support!

(1) The Idea: Tech Companies Own Your Free Time

About two weeks ago, I drove all the way up to Gippsland with my partner, three hours away from the inner city of Melbourne, for the last sight of the snow before spring hits. We got there just when the snow was at its finest, and went on a two-hour hike with no reception, nothing in our ears, and that was when I noticed how clear my thoughts sounded to myself.

It was strange because a few weeks before this, I decided to remove all social media apps from my phone as a part of a digital declutter. I stopped posting to Instagram, scheduled blocks to respond to texts and slowly looked for alternatives to algorithmically motivated content. It felt good, but I still didn’t grasp how deeply social media had impacted me until I was marching through the snow.

My thoughts were normally quite sporadic and made random connections in a million different directions. And with a device in my hand that housed more content than the library of Alexandria, hours would go by where I’d waste an entire afternoon watching a feature-length film through YouTube shorts clips. But this time, as I battled with the aching soles of my feet, my thoughts branched out in a long, slow stretch, focusing on one thing at a time. One moment, I was thinking about the birds that populated the area. Somehow, the same thought connected to a piece I was writing, and as I paced through the long hiking trail, my mind untied a knot that I’ve been struggling with in a chapter of my book. It was a subtle, but tangible change: it felt as if sustained attention became my default, not a strenuous activity that required force.

After the hike and a long shower, I was curious to see if the same attention still worked when I was back in my room. I picked up a book and channelled that same attention during the hike. This time, magic happened. The next three hours disappeared, and I read until 12 am when I couldn’t physically stay awake. What followed during the first week of September was a drastic uptick in my reading. I had finished 2 entire books and a dozen long-form reports in magazines. The world became a hundred times bigger, and as I’m writing this, I’ve already read 5 books from my September TBR, even with my slow ass reading speed.

More than that, the background hum of anxiety introduced by constant attention-switching disappeared. My sleep magically improved, and Mondays were no longer packed full of aimless scrambles. In other words, I felt properly rejuvenated after quality leisure, and that makes me wonder: why haven't I done this sooner? Could it be that social media, despite how it is advertised to us, is actually draining away all our much-needed free time?

The paradox of leisure