The Pattern
What you feed your attention shapes what you think, what you worry about, and how you see the world. An unconsidered information diet is as consequential as an unconsidered food diet — and almost no one examines it.
What Mastery Looks Like
A deliberate, protected relationship with attention
The Path Forward
Work through it with Laozi
Guides on this pattern, each one a conversation you can start rather than an article you read.
Why can't I just read the article I opened?Why do 40 open tabs make me feel like I'm drowning?Why do I grab my phone the second I don't know something?Why do I know so much and still do nothing?Why do I open one article and end up three links away?Why do I save everything and read none of it?Why do I save everything but read nothing?Why do I save so much and never read any of it?Why do I save so much and read so little?Why do my open tabs and saved articles make me feel behind?Why do news alerts leave us all scattered instead of informed?Why do podcasts leave me feeling full but not fed?Why do podcasts leave me full but never fed?Why do podcasts leave me neither rested nor taught?Why do we all reach for our phones the second we don't know something?Why do we keep saving things we never read?Why does knowing more not change what I do?Why does my news always come pre-chewed by someone else?Why does my saved-articles list make me feel guilty?
Related patterns
Patterns that often live alongside this one.
Pattern · LaoziBreak a Compulsive HabitPattern · LaoziBuild Habits That StickPattern · LaoziCreate More ConsistentlyPattern · LaoziDo Deep, Focused WorkPattern · LaoziSimplify Your LifePattern · LaoziStop Analyzing and Start ActingPattern · LaoziStop Measuring Yourself by ProductivityPattern · LaoziStop Performing Online
Working through “Cut Through Information Overload”?
Talk it through with Laozi, and start where it actually helps.