What is Attention Residue?
Recently, a new term landed on my radar: attention residue. I’ve known for as long as I can remember that multitasking is not actually possible, and that when we switch from task to task, we incur “switch time” (the time it takes us to get into the new task) and also lower the efficiency and quality of our work. But I never really thought about why this happens. The answer is explained by attention residue. Coined by Dr. Sophie Leroy, attention residue is leftover attention from tasks and topics other than the one currently in front of you. Here’s an explanation from her U Washington page, as she surely explains it best:
I’ve spent the last 17 years studying the brain and how we deal with having to constantly switch focus. What research shows is that, generally, the brain finds it difficult to switch between tasks. In particular, my research reveals that, as we switch between tasks (for example from a Task A to a Task B), part of our attention often stays with the prior task (Task A) instead of fully transferring to the next one (Task B). This is what I call Attention Residue, when part of our attention is focused on another task instead of being fully devoted to the current task that needs to be performed.
When you have a stressful conversation, and then miss a turn when driving later in the day because your mind was on that conversation, your attention is slightly clogged: this is the attention residue.
You may have already noticed the phenomenon without being able to put a phrase to it. That’s how I felt. But now that I have a term for it, it’s much easier to explain certain phone best practices. Here are some examples.
Batching email, text, and other message responses. I urge my readers (and myself!) to decide on a cadence they feel comfortable with and check messages routinely instead of reading them as the notifications roll in. This way, you don’t have to pull your attention out of whatever task you were working on when the email comes in. Furthermore, reading an email that you’re not going to reply to right away only creates attention residue. Now when you return to the task at hand, you might be thinking about how to respond, or about a new task that was been added to your plate.
Not checking your phone first thing in the morning. When you read a bunch of messages, or scroll through the news before you start your day, it’s nearly impossible to clear those from your mind as you set out to start your day. Attention residue from any information you took in with that morning scroll, is causing you to be less present.
Not checking your phone frequently while you work. Same explanation as #2.
Using Focus Modes. Every time you receive a notification (even if your phone just vibrates in your pocket), you wonder what the notification is. If you see it is from a certain app, you wonder what the update is, who sent you the message, etc.
The way I see it, attention residue is an obstacle to being present. Some attention residue is inevitable and part of being human. Of course our minds will wander. But in our current fast paced reality, we are on the receiving end of so much information, so frequently, that we are dealing with a new level of attention residue that seems to be making a lot of us fuzzy.
I have not yet researched this topic, but my intuition is that the antidote to attention residue, is doing one task at a time as much as possible, and also lengthening the amount of time spent on one task as much as possible. Basically, to multitask as little as possible. For me, this might look like, taking half an hour every day to work on admin tasks rather than shooting an email as I wait in line, and paying a bill while I wait for my coffee to brew. Of course, for some tasks, we may find that we can only focus for certain periods of time. I rarely write for more than an hour at a time. So if I know I intend to write for three hours one day, I wouldn’t block it as three straight hours for the sake of task switching as little as possible. But, what I choose to do during the writing breaks can now be informed by my knowledge of attention residue. Interestingly, the behavior that I see as anxiety residue reducing, leaves less need for a smartphone. Part of what makes a smartphone so convenient is that we can do anything, anytime, anywhere. But attention residue shows us what the cost is for this convenience. I think I’ll be writing about this more as I experiment with reducing my own attention residue.
