Hi everyone,

Welcome back to my journey on learning to become The Attention Master.

If you find yourself sometimes lacking willpower, then episode 28 is for you.

I want to try a completely new format today. Instead of my long deep dives, I will sometimes just provide the summary of one very good resource.

In this case, let me share my takeaways from this podcast episode of Dr. K, known as Health Gamer GG:

How Willpower Fails You

HealthyGamerGG · Episode

open.spotify.com/episode/0lrIWXUEUTQNs6lYNaj3Ik

But before we jump in, I have big news: 📢

Today is the launch of 🍋 Lemio 2.0 🤩 and I have a unique offer for you:

SAVE 1 HOUR EVERY DAY

• Upvote us on Product Hunt today.

• Download Lemio from the App Store until Jan-31-2025.

• Activate Free Lifetime and save 69$ as a thank you gift.

Lemio: Dopamine Detox App - Turn screen time into life time | Product Hunt

Lemio is the #1 mobile app that helps you stop doomscrolling and start making consistent progress.

www.producthunt.com/posts/lemio-dopamine-detox-app

How to think about willpower

In my opinion, Dr. K really nails the conecept of willpower by using the best metaphore I heard so far:

Imagine willpower as a battery.

Every morning, your battery is fully loaded.

The more you make use of willpower throughout the day, the fewer you have left at the end of the day. You deplete willpower.

When the battery is empty, there is nothing you can do that requires willpower.

Does that mean that willpower is limited? No! it is a “fatiguable resource”, not a limited one.

Essentially there are 3 ways to always have enough:

1. Recharge = Refill when it’s gone

2. Increase the battery

3. Household better = waste less so that you never run out of it

1 is easy. Just take a break. No mental input. No conversation, no phone, no computer, no music, no noise. A real break means mental emptiness. No input, just let your brain process. Air, movement, sunlight, or just sitting still aka meditation will do wonders!

Take a moment and be completely honest with yourself: Is there a moment in your day when you have at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted silence?

If not, that's the answer to why you're always brain dead at the end of the day.

Increase the battery

If you know the right tools (like a electrician), you can increase the size of battery.

You do that by practicing. So this is a long-term battle.

1) Do more of what you hate

And you do so by doing things constantly that you don’t like. Stuff like:

• Cold Showers & Ice Bath

• Going outside in the morning even on rainy days

• Walking the stairs even though there is an elevator

You get the point. Do the opposite of what everybody else is doing.

2) Do less of what you want

You are not practicing restraint on good things, so how are you supposed to restrain yourself on bad things?

No one is acting for the sake of action. We are all just acting for the sake of goals = desires.

Remove accomplishment from action. Separate motivation from action. No benefit, no dopamine, no serotonin, but there is freedom and control.

How to household better

The rest was old news to me, but here comes the very interesting part of the episode.

First, Dr. K makes a connection between willpower & knowing what you want.

You need to know what you want to define the right direction.

Beause: Wrong direction -> willpower wasted to correct the route.

The second insightful thought was the following.

According to Dr. K, our actions follow 5 sources:

1. Desire

2. Habits

3. Emotions

4. Internal Motivation

5. Ambition

Willpower is needed to

1. Do something we don’t feel like doing but that gets us closer to our desire

2. Resist a bad habit

3. Act even though an emotion is holding us back

4. Act even though there is no internal motivation atm

Here comes the plottwist: If you make things easy, you don’t need to override.

Don’t override! Instead:

1. Make DESIRES smaller → create tiny milestones that are easy and fast to reach

2. Reduce bad HABITS → such as mindless scrolling

3. Let go of EMOTIONS → sit with them, don’t scroll or drink them away

Actionable Steps

Easier said than done, right?

And indeed, this is where all pure blocking apps fail.

They rely on your willpower in those moments when you are the worst version of yourself (mentally and physically). That's cruel and unsustainable.

Well, that’s exactly why Lemio is different.

Lemio 2.0 is the first mobile app that brings together 1 & 2.

We help you doomscroll less and instead take super tiny actions towards your desires.

And we are already working on a 3.0 version that might take care of #3, the underlying emotions that pull you in to your phone all the time ;)

Lemio is the only screen time app that ensures you need no or less willpower to resist.

Stay tuned for more and PLEASE support us on Product Hunt today:

Save 1h every day

Have you already thrown your New Year's resolutions overboard and swapped them for doomscrolling again? Don't worry, Lemio's got your back!

www.producthunt.com/posts/lemio-dopamine-detox-app

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Stephan

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to my journey on learning to become The Attention Master.

If you find yourself constantly consuming new information then episode 27 is for you.

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• How to start treating any addiction.

• Why we constantly seek novelty.

• Actionable steps to escape information addiction.

🙏 But before we jump in, I have one ask 🙏

If you like the newsletter, could you please forward it to a friend / colleague who you think would also enjoy it? It will help to create more and even better content in the future.

Let's dive in!

Let’s be honest: we often lie to ourselves that flipping between Reddit, YouTube, news outlets, or our work apps is beneficial. We call it 'research', 'networking' or 'keeping up to date', but often it's just procrastination wrapped up in a productive-looking package.

Answering emails might be urgent, but is it truly important if it derails our core goals for the day?

In the end, these micro-distractions rob us of deep work, clarity, and the sustained effort required to achieve meaningful goals.

Here’s where this behaviour comes from and what to do about it:

1. The Brain’s Quest - Why We’re Wired for Novelty

Our brains are hardwired to seek novelty, a trait inherited from our ancestors who needed to spot new threats and opportunities to survive.

Whenever we discover something new, our brain rewards us with a hit of dopamine, the same neurochemical linked to pleasure and motivation. It’s why we feel drawn to open just one more tab, scroll one more feed, or peek at the latest news update. We’re chasing that brief spark of curiosity that makes us feel informed and in control.

But in our modern, hyper-connected world, this natural drive can become relentless. As soon as we feel bored or stressed, we reach for something “fresh” to ward off discomfort or potential failure.

2. Is Information Addiction a Real Thing?

Information addiction is the compulsive need to keep gathering data or updates, far beyond what’s truly useful.

A 2019 UC Berkeley study revealed that information activates our reward systems just like junk food or money. We crave it, whether or not it serves a real purpose.

When we block or delete social media apps for being "too distracting," we often turn to information apps like Reddit, news sites, or even Spotify to feed the same itch. Yes, these sources may seem more "intellectual" or "productive", but that's the sneaky part. We tell ourselves we're learning, but more often than not we're just wasting minutes and hours.

3. The Founder’s Dilemma - Ambition Meets Overstimulation

Ambitious people, especially founders, are even more prone to information addiction.

Why is that? Three reasons:

1. The Nature of the Tasks: Founders tackle problems that are characterised by uncertainty, open-endedness and no predetermined steps or timelines. Each project can feel like uncharted territory, fueling stress and fear of failure.
   

2. The Urge for Responsiveness: What unites founders, team leaders, investment bankers and consultants? They are all expected to respond quickly to employee or client requests. Ambitious people don't just get more emails and messages on their phones. They also feel the urge to respond quickly because responsiveness is closely tied to their role, their salary and therefore their status.
   

3. Their Ego or Identity: My founder coach Julius Bachmann likes to say: "You are not your work" (→ great LinkedIn post) - that's the wishful thinking ambitious people should strive for. Nevertheless, work and career success are and always will be extremely important to ambitious people. It's their validation to the outside world (= ego) or to themselves, the inside world (= part of their identity). Since information equals power, it's obvious that ambitious people thirst for it.

Now the urge for responsiveness (2) pulls you into your phone constantly.

Constant use of your phone causes context switching.

Context switching drains your mental resources.

When you're drained, you can't work on difficult or annoying things.Your willpower to start is low and the friction is very high due to the nature of the tasks (1).

Instead of pushing through the messy middle, it's easier to switch tasks, check a new article, refresh emails, scan Slack notifications - anything that feels 'useful' for the moment.

Because when it feels useful, it flatters the ego or fits your desired identity (3).

So your brain has presented you with an excuse that you now believe.

And the flood of tiny dopamine hits offers relief from the overwhelming thoughts of "What if I can't do this?" or "What if I'm going in the wrong direction with this task?

The downside?

These micro-distractions quickly become a pattern of avoidance, halting real progress and feeding the cycle of stress that started it all.

4. Breaking the Cycle - Actionable Steps

So, what can we do?

First, recognize that information apps aren’t inherently evil; they do serve a purpose. But as with any addiction, moderation is key:

Apply American psychiatrist Anna Lembke’s three steps:

1. Acknowledge the behaviour and that it needs to change. If you're the "Yeah, I know, but it could be worse" type, you can stop reading here.

2. Be honest with yourself (and someone you trust) about why you seek information. Your ego? Your identity? What do you get out of it? And can you get that positive thing from something else, ideally offline?

3. Identify all the ways in which information addiction interferes with your true goals and values.

Second, please, change your mindset.

Human thinking is so reactive, it’s hilarious.

So please, change your perspective and ask yourself instead: How can I create conscious moments now that reduce the number of unconscious moments later?

Simply put, be proactive, not reactive.

Third, leverage these 3 consious strategies:

1. Offline Breaks: A break is an ambitious person's worst enemy. I know that feeling. Doing nothing feels awful to me and to you. And it always will, until you change your perspective on breaks and their impact on this formula: Productivity = Output / Input

Or you might even find something that is more important to you than productivity. The moment I put creativity before productivity, it became easy for me to take breaks.

2. Access Windows: Have you ever noticed that when you're not online, your mind goes blank and you suddenly stop reaching for your phone? That's what many parents do with their children. They tell them that they can only have their phone at a certain time of the day for a limited period of time. Once your brain has accepted this rule, it's at piece for the rest of the day. So: Time-box

Instead of checking your newsfeed or Reddit dozens of times, set specific windows, also called time-islands. Make hard blocking the default, not the exception.

3. Access Frequency: For information apps and websites, I usually recommend the "grandparent rule". The newspaper would only be delivered once a day. Our grandparents would only open it 1-4 times, let's say in the morning, on the way to work and again after work. It's hard to predict for how long, because it really depends on the quality of the content on any given day.

Apply this to the phone: It's fine to consume information 2-3 times a day, as long as it's in deliberately longer sittings. Nobody would have opened a newspaper 57 times a day. So: Restrict the access frequency.

Recap:

• Novelty is a trait inherited from our ancestors to thrive and survive.

• The Viscious Cycle: The Urge for Responsiveness → Phone → Context Switching → Stress → Brain Drain → Low Willpower + High Task Friction → Procrastination + Ambition = Information Addiction → No Breaks → More Stress & Bad Sleep → More Procrastination.

• No change without acknowledging the problem.

• Micro-distractions quickly become a pattern of avoidance.

• Ambitious people avoid tasks primarily because of stress or fear of failure.

• Breaks have a net positive effect on performance. They promote work intensity and therefore productivity.

• The best way to calm your brain is to limit access to information through fixed daily time windows and access restrictions.

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Stephan

Sources:

1. Dexa.ai/Huberman

2. Anna Lembke about Dopamine and Addiction

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.

Hi everyone,

Time to step out of Lemmy’s shadow. My name is Stephan and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

If you find yourself scrolling instead of acting on your dreams, then episode 25 is for you. Let's dive in!

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• How identity and habits are linked.

• Why identity is your secret weapon against procrastination.

• One actionable exercise to find and forge your identity.

What if most people wait for the right moment to start. And then it never comes.

So what is this "right moment" feeling we are waiting for?

The answer is: Safety.

Whenever we look at a desired future outcome, we weigh the pros and cons.

If we are confident that we can achieve it, this creates a sense of reward anticipation. This releases the energy we call motivation.

Unfortunately, the future is often highly unpredictable. That's why we start to doubt the desired future outcome.

This doubt creates anxiety.

Anxiety is

• making up a fear about the future,

• that’s causing you to have a feeling about the present

• which robs you of the energy to do the very thing

• that would stop that negative future thing from happening.

Not doing that thing, that's procrastination.

So procrastination isn't the problem, it's the symptom. And mindless scrolling is just one form of procrastination.

The real vicious cycle is this:

Lack of Confidence → Doubt → Anxiety → Procrastination → Screen Time → Social Media → Comparison → Lack of Confidence

1. How to get what you want

People who lack confidence and doubt a positive future will never achieve anything in life because they have the wrong mindset.

They are stuck in their heads because they live by the Have - Do - Be - Principle: “When I have this job, I do buy this car. Then I am cool.”

@morechrisgriffin

One of the all time messages… BE DO HAVE. This is a snippet from @The Pocket w/ Chris Griffin 🙏🏼 #bedohave #mindsetshift

The same concept applies to time:

"If I could reduce my screen time, I would have more time. With more time, I do build my side hustle. If this is successful, I’ll be free (from the job that currently enslaves me)".

Drumrolls. Here comes the plot twist:

Most people wait for a moment of safety, or a feeling of some certainty about the outcome. But certainty about the future is an illusion.

So instead of worrying about it, change your mindset and your identity:

The correct mindset = Be - Do - Have

Who do you want to be? Do what they do. And you will have what they have.

Don't wait, start acting. The rest will fall into place.

Sounds simple, but staying consistent is one of the hardest things in life.

That's where identity comes in. It's your cheat code to consistency.

2. What is identity, and does it change?

Identity is who you are and the broader self-concept you have of yourself.

How to discover your identity:

Take time to reflect on your thoughts, feelings, beliefs and values. Ask yourself meaningful questions about who you are, what is important to you, and what brings you joy and fulfilment. Consider your strengths, passions and aspirations.

How to change your identity:

Our identity is shaped by the consistency of our actions and experiences over time.

• Jordan Peterson explains that identity shifts through interactions with others. It evolves from an egocentric phase in children to a socially negotiated identity as they grow up.

• He suggests that part of developing as an adult (or simply as a human being) is knowing oneself well enough to know when to be firm in one's beliefs and when to be open to reconsidering them based on new information or perspectives.

• In addition, identity change often requires examining the traits and beliefs inherited from one's parents. Adults may unconsciously adopt or resist these traits.

3. Why identity matters in achieving your goals

Athletes don't need to be forced to exercise or eat well. They do it because they want to. They have created an environment where they feel like doing the things that are in their best interest. Conversely, their bodies and minds make them feel bad if they don't behave 'well'.

I am sure you are asking yourself now: "How can I do the same?"

The answer: By making an action part of your identity.

According to neuroscientist Dr Andrew Huberman, identity plays a crucial role in how habits are formed and maintained.

There is a distinction between immediate goal-based habits and identity-based habits.

The former focus on achieving specific, immediate outcomes, such as exercising regularly to achieve a diet goal.

The latter, however, involves integrating the behaviour into a broader self-concept where the habit becomes part of an individual's identity - such as becoming a 'fit person' or an athlete - which can increase motivation and persistence in maintaining such habits. You simply don’t stop when a numeric goal has been reached.

4. Exercise: A letter to your future self

A great exercise to bring it all together is to write a letter to your future self in 5-10 years time.

Step 1: Write down your current identity. The good and the bad parts of it.

What to think about:

1. Memories

2. Feelings

3. Actions

4. Strenght & Weaknesses

5. Traits, Beliefs, Mindset, Thoughts, Values

Step 2: Determine who you want to become = what is your future self:

Ask yourself:

• What does your future self want to remember about this time period?

• What does your future self not want to remember? If you are still the same person in 5 years, what will you regret?

• How does your future self feel?

• How does your future self act?

• What do you eat?

• How do you talk about money?

• How do you operate?

• …

Step 3: Compare the present with the future self. State the facts.:

1. What thoughts and actions are you having today that are in alignment with who you want to become? = strength to keep

2. Where do the gaps come from? = self-criticism, things to change

Step 4: Print or send it

Once you have written your letter, there are two nice things you can do with it:

1. Pin or frame it somewhere, so that you can read it every morning or at least once a week.

2. Have it delivered in 5 years. I found this cool service that makes it possible.

FutureMe: Write a Letter to your Future Self

Write a letter to the future and read the public (but anonymous) letters from others. FutureMe has been delivering letters to the future for millions of people since 2002.

www.futureme.org

Step 5: Change consistently

What can you change today? Take small steps every day.

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• Faith and doubt are both beliefs about the future.

• Faith creates energy to move towards a desired outcome.

• Doubt → Anxiety → Procrastination → Screen Time.

• The Be - Do - Have mindset: Who do you want to be? Do what they do. And you will have what they have.

• Identity = Memories & Experiences + Feelings + Actions + Strengths & Weaknesses + Traits, Beliefs, Mindset, Thoughts, Values

• Identity changes through interactions with others

Sources:

1. Money, Mindset, Manifestation Podcast

2. https://dexa.ai/huberman

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.

Hi everyone,

My name is Stephan and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

If you find yourself scrolling without any good reason, then episode 24 is for you. Let's dive in!

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• How overuse leads to addiction.

• Why too much pleasure is a problem.

• Why mindless scrolling kills your motivation for important things.

• Actionable tips for digital diets.

What if I told you that mindless scrolling not only kills your time, but also your drive and, most importantly, your joy!

Most of you are here because you think that more time will solve all your problems and make your dreams come true.

You want to get to a point where you can enjoy your life and live it to the fullest.

But you don't need more time to get there. Time is a choice. We all have the same 24 hours.

So what do you really want? You want to make the most of your time.

And the fuel to do that is drive.

Here’s why mindless scrolling kills both, your drive and the joyful state you seek:

1. How pleasure and pain are connected to drive

Dr. Lembke, an American psychiatrist who is Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University was a guest on The Huberman Lab podcast.

She explained something really interesting about how our brains balance pleasure and pain.

When we do things that we enjoy - like eating our favorite food, playing video games, or achieving a goal - our brains release dopamine. Dopamine makes us feel excited and motivated, like a "fuel" that keeps us going. Essentially, dopamine is our drive.

But here's the catch: after we feel good, our brains try to balance things out. For every bit of pleasure we get, there's a small amount of pain or discomfort that follows. We may not feel that pain right away, but it is very unsatisfying and therefore usually makes us crave more of whatever made us feel good in the first place.

This is how repetitive behaviors are established, and scrolling through feeds is the ultimate repetitive behavior.

So far so good, but where does this become a problem?

If social media gives us pleasure, why does the world claim it is addictive?

The answer: over time, we begin to feel less pleasure, even as we get more dopamine.

When you need more of something to get the same effect, you develop a tolerance that eventually leads to addiction.

Here’s why you start to feel less pleasure:

2. Downregulation of dopamine

Excessive activities that flood the brain with dopamine — such as playing too many video games or spending too much time on social media — can make dopamine receptors less sensitive.

Think of dopamine receptors as bridges to your brain. When these receptors are overused, they become fragile, disrupting the natural flow of dopamine.

When you overstimulate your brain with social media, your dopamine from natural sources may become less effective. Natural sources of dopamine are activities like working, playing sports, or creating art — anything that requires real effort.

These activities are usually fulfilling, but the amount of dopamine they produce is limited. This isn't an issue as long as dopamine effectively reaches your brain. However, if your dopamine receptors are overstimulated, this can change.

As a result, you may experience decreased motivation, mood, and cognitive function.

3. Actionable tips

To reset your dopamine balance and revitalize your receptors, Dr. Lembke says we need to give our brains a break. We should spend some time doing things that aren't exciting — like just relaxing or even feeling a little bored. This helps our brains "reset" so that we can enjoy things again without feeling like we always need more.

We recommend The 3×30-Detox-Rule: Every day, go fully offline for at least

• 30 minutes of your lunch break.

• 30 minutes at the end of your work day.

• 30 minutes before you sleep.

On top of that, you should do a real Digital Detox for

• 1 day every month, and

• 2-3 days once a quarter or (if you are up for a challenge) a full week once a year.

Additionally, sunlight exposure can increase dopamine receptor levels, particularly the DRD4 receptor. This enhances the effects of circulating dopamine throughout the day, which in turn boosts motivation and mood.

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• You don’t lack time to reach your goals, you lack energy.

• Dopamine = Drive.

• Social media gives us pleasure.

• The pleasure is followed by pain.

• To get rid of the pain, we seek more of the pleasure.

• The more we seek pleasure from one source (such as social media), the more of it we need because the effectiveness goes down.

• The overstimulation through artificial sources of dopamine (e.g. social media) makes the brain less receptive for natural sources of dopamine (e.g. work or sports).

• Weakend dopamine receptors = less joy.

• Offline breaks = Reset for dopamine & receptors.

• Try to stop stimulation of your brain for 90 minutes every day, ideally seperated into 3 × 30min bouts.

Interested in more of our work?

If you’ve made it this far, perhaps you’d be interested in our other FREE resources:

1. Most read of all time: The Happiness Checklist

2. Our Procrastinator Quiz to identify your unique procrastination type. (We all have at least one)

3. Our Screen Time Program that will bring down your overall screen time by 25% and more.

If this email was forwarded to you, click HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.

Sources:

1. Huberman about Pain & Pleasure

2. Anna Lembke about Dopamine and Addiction

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.

Hi everyone,

My name is Stephan and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

If you find yourself using your phone as a tool for procrastination, then episode 23 is for you. Let's dive in!

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• The excuses you use to justify procrastination.

• How to reverse-engineer procrastinaton.

• The flaws in your mindset.

• A quiz to determine your procrastination type(s).

The first app against mindless scrolling that actually works. Available on App Store now!

What if I told you that procrastination is not exclusive to you, lazy people or low performers?

What if I told you that founders and CEOs are even more prone to procrastination than employees?

In fact, we all procrastinate. It’s human nature.

Here’s why:

1. Your brain avoids discomfort

The brain works hard to keep everything in balance. This balance is important for the body to work well. Andrew Huberman says the brain checks how each organ is doing to keep the body healthy. This checking helps control things like heart rate, breathing, and how the body uses energy. By keeping balance, the brain makes sure the body stays stable.

At the same time, our nervous system helps us take a guess on what will happen around us. When things change, for better or worse, it disrupts these guesses and causes us to feel stress.

This reaction is called the Fight-or-Flight response.

It is a natural response in our bodies when we feel threatened or stressed.

When the brain senses danger, adrenaline is released.

This causes the heart to beat faster, breathing to speed up, and makes us more alert.

All of these changes help the body get ready to either face the danger or run away from it.

Guess what: running away is much easier.

Running away from an unpleasant task = procrastination:

"The act of delaying or postponing something."

To sum it up:

Facing an unpleasant task, challenge or change → Discomfort → Brain senses danger → Flight response → Procrastination = Mindless Scrolling

2. Your brain makes you lie to yourself

Since running away is easier than the fight response, your brain tries to convince you with some bull**** excuses that build on top of an actual truth.

For example:

• Truth: "I don't have everything I need." → Excuse: "I have to wait until I do."

• Truth: "I do not have enough experience to solve the problem. Excuse: "I can't do it without experience.

3. From Flight to Fight

So how do you turn things around?

The answer is: Use procrastination against procrastination.

Reverse-engineer it:

Mindless Scrolling → Excuse for Flight Response → Discomfort → Negative Emotion → Face the Task

1. Prevent mindless scrolling before it happens with a visual signal (e.g. an app like Lemio)

2. Ask yourself: Do I really want to be on the phone right now? If not, then:

3. Use this moment as a trigger to question your justification for procrastinating. Is it true or is it an excuse? If excuse, then:

4. Ask yourself: What feeling made me feel uncomfortable, run away, and chose Flight over Fight?

5. Change your unhelpful conclusion to a useful conclusion. (see table* below)

6. Start doing the task for only 2 minutes. If it flows, continue. If it doesn’t, just stop. If you can’t start, just sit with it and think about it.

*Table: Does any of these excuses sound familiar to you?

4. The Mindset to beat procrastination

You might ask: “Isn’t there an easier way to get to the root of the problem and just make tasks enjoyable to avoid the discomfort?”

Well listened Sherlock, and indeed there is such a way. Unfortunately, it's hard and it's not something you can change in a day.

The thing you need to understand first is this: A task is unpleasant for you when it goes against your mindset.

Whenever you see a task as “unpleasant”, it clashes with your mindset.

Part of your mindset is some false beliefs. When these clash with the nature of a task, it creates the discomfort that causes you to procrastinate.

Depending on your mindset, science has labeled your behavior by defining 6 different procrastination types.

Once you know your procrastination type, you can reverse-engineer again to identify the flaws in your mindset:

Type → Negative Emotions → Task → False Beliefs

Here’s one example for better understanding:

1. False Belief: “Things should be done my way”.

2. Task: Your boss gives you a boring task without any context as to why it's important.

3. Belief conflicts with the nature of the task.

4. Reaction: “I’m not gonna do it”.

5. Label for Reaction = Procrastination Type → Here’s a quiz to find out if you are this type ;)

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• Your brain seeks balance.

• Discomfort disrupts balance → Your brain tries to avoid discomfort or get rid of it asap.

• Discomfort is caused by negative emotions.

• Negative emotions such as frustration, anger, fear of failure and disapproval arise when a task conflicts with your mindset.

• Other negative emotions perceived as discomfort: loneliness, stress, anxiety, boredom, FOMO… (full list of 158 negative emotions here).

• Reverse-engineering procrastination = Turning unhelpful into useful conclusions

• Your mindset comes along with some stubborn or persistent "false" beliefs.

• A task is uncomfortable for you when it conflicts with these beliefs.

• Your procrastination type is the key to eliminating your mindset flaws.

Sources:

1. https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/looking-after-yourself/procrastination

2. https://dexa.ai/andrewhuberman

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.

Hi everyone,

My name is Stephan and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

If you find yourself giving in to phone temptations too quickly, then episode 22 is for you. Let's dive in!

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• The ability chain.

• How to lower the ability of bad habits.

• Actionable tips for each component of the chain.

Quick review from last time: Behavior happens when motivation, ability and a prompt come together. B = MAP (Dr. BJ Fogg, Stanford University)

Apps like Instagram are so addictive, because

• the prompt comes from inside of you and can’t be taken away (your internal riggers aka. negative emotions)

• the motivation is super high because you are wired to get rid of the discomfort and your phone offers the fastest solution to get relief

• the ability is super high because these apps are for free, quick to access, require no physical or mental effort, and barely interfere with existing routines.

Similarly, if you want to get rid of a bad behavior (like mindless scrolling), you can:

• Remove, avoid or learn to ignore the prompt (→ episode 21)

• Reduce your motivation for a behavior (→ next episode)

• Reduce the ability of a behavior → This is the easiest and most concrete, and what we will cover today.

https://behaviormodel.org

In simple words: Let’s make scrolling more annoying.

Here’s how:

/

1. Increase the TIME

How to do it:

1. Turn off your phone if you don’t need it for the next hour. Rebooting time = friction

2. Put it in another room. Walking distance = friction

3. Blocking apps with healthy interventions like breathing exercises to delay access time.

Why it works:

When a negative emotion hits you, you unconsciously reach for your phone. Your brain is on autopilot, this behavior has become a sticky habit like walking or driving. You end up on social media and 10 minutes later you are wondering why you picked up your phone.

If you delay accessing your phone or the time-wasting apps, there's a good chance the impulse will go away, or at least you'll ask yourself: Do I have a good reason to use my phone right now?

Often the answer will be no, and the friction (like getting up, walking to the phone in another room, or just waiting) will be so high and annoying to overcome that you will often decide against it.

Humans love comfort. Leverage your laziness to make scrolling more annoying.

2. MONEY: make it more expensive

This is a difficult one. Because we have to make a clear distinction here.

You can make a financial pre-commitment to be a “good boy”, but this is more likely to reduce your overall Motivation (remember B=MAP) and not so much your Ability in the moment when you are about to be a “bad boy”.

The concept is based on the behavioral principle that people are more motivated to avoid losses than to seek gains.

Pre-commitments could be:

• Paying for an app

• Donating money to a charity when you fail

• Buying dinner for your partner, siblings or friends → real accountability, they'll check in on you

The important thing here is to make the pledge big enough that it really hurts you to lose it. You should not be able to pay it every day.

However, it can be associated with great failure, shame, and very negative emotions.

To make bad behavior more expensive in real time, an application would have to make you pay for every minute you spend in problematic applications, or every minute you exceed your limits.

That's a very sado-masochistic approach, which is probably why it hasn't been implemented yet.

Would you like such an application? → DM me and we will build a prototype as soon as 50 people want it ;)

3. Increase PHYSICAL effort

Simple rule: Before I use my phone, I have to do 1 push-up.

How will you remember? Put a rubber band around your phone so you are reminded every time you pick it up.

I mentioned putting your phone in a different room.

If you are sitting at your desk, getting up and walking is the exact opposite of what you are doing.

This is also physical effort.

4. Increase MENTAL effort

In the context of scrolling, this only applies if you have to make a mental effort to unlock your phone or certain apps.

That's why Apple created a 4-digit password, so you can't just click "one more minute," but unfortunately, 4 digits is too short. We remember 4 digits as easily as we drive a car, so we type them in on autopilot and the effect is gone.

Fortunately, there are applications that allow you to create a password that you can't remember. This password can then be stored with a friend, in your notes or email, or in an app like Password Locker.

In addition to passwords, some apps offer mental games that you have to play, such as puzzles, quizzes, or vocabulary, before you can log in.

5. Create conflicting ROUTINES

Last but not least, you can make the bad habit conflict with important routines.

For example, if you love to play tennis, hate losing to your hitting partner, and at the same time you have a hard time going to bed because you're always scrolling at night, the best thing you can do is schedule tennis for early in the morning.

If winning at tennis is really important to you, then scrolling in bed will interfere with that important morning routine.

6. This only works if…

No matter which one you do, all of them will annoy you on a regular basis.

Because whenever you come with a real intention, you have to accept that you now have to wait, or pay money, or make an effort anyway. This can be super annoying.

So all of the above only works if you change your mindset.

The intervention is for you, not against you. Whenever you have to stop, it doesn't steal your time, it helps you develop resistance and patience.

Embrace boredom and embrace annoyance. It will make you a better person and a better performer.

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• Make scrolling harder by increasing the access time, …

• or by financial pre-commitments: charity, gifts, etc.

• or by physical friction: push-ups, walking, etc.

• or by mental friction: passwords, puzzles, etc.

• or by conflicting routines: letting scrolling get in the way of your important stuff

• This only works if you embrace annoyance and patience

Sources:

1. Tiny Habits, B.J Fogg

2. https://behaviormodel.org

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.

Hi everyone,

My name is Stephan and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

If you find yourself giving in to phone temptations, then episode 21 is for you. Let's dive in!

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• How behaviour works

• How Instagram exploits your weaknesses

• Why it's so hard to resist the phone

• Actionable tips for building willpower

Have you ever wondered why Instagram is so addictive?

The reason is the way the founders designed the app.

The founders of Instagram and many other consumer apps took an elite behavioural science class at Stanford University. The professor of that class, B.J. Fogg, developed a system to describe how habits are formed.

Instagram used this system to create highly addictive features. You can use the same system to hack back.

Here's how:

1. Behaviour as a formula: B = MAP

Dr. BJ Fogg states: Behavior (B) is formed when motivation (M), ability (A), and a prompt (P) come together.

https://ui-patterns.com/

Let's apply this to Instagram.

The ability (A) to use a free and super well-designed app could not be greater. We always have our phones with us, so there is no time, money, physical or mental effort involved in opening Instagram.

And apart from showering, sauna and bungee jumping, Instagram doesn't interfere with any of our routines.

https://behaviormodel.org

A prompt (P) is something that triggers us. The trigger to go on Instagram comes from inside us. We call these internal triggers, negative emotions that come up every day at different times throughout the day.

Because we are wired to avoid discomfort, we run away from these feelings. And Instagram welcomes us with a warm hand:

Loneliness -> Stories from friends and DMs
Stress -> watch some relaxing videos
Boredom -> entertaining Reels

The list goes on.

2. Managing the Prompt

There are ways to reduce the motivation (M) to bend towards your phone and more ways to make the ability (A) harder. I will cover these in the next episodes. But for today, let's just look at the prompt (P).

There are 3 ways to deal with prompts.

1. Remove them

2. Avoid them

3. (Learn to) Ignore them

But if you are using your phone as a coping mechanism, it is simply not possible to remove the internal triggers. You can't control them, they happen unconsciously.

Avoiding your phone is possible, but super difficult and impractical. It's a Swiss Army knife that we need all the time because it makes our lives easier (payments, communication, etc.). You can avoid it from time to time by physically dissociating yourself from it, putting it in another room when you're working or using an alarm clock when you're sleeping, but 90% of the day it's there or very close.

So the only practical and realistic way to deal with internal triggers is the last one: ignore them.

And when I say ignore, I really mean "not ignore".

Because what you do now: the trigger comes and you subconsciously ignore it by running to Instagram.

Where you want to be: The trigger comes, you stop and become aware of it, you think about it, you let it go (=ignore it) or you find a better way to deal with it than mindlessly scrolling through Instagram.

This is called self-control. Self-control is the ability to monitor internal conflict.

It starts with awareness, because when you lose awareness, you lose self-control.

It ends with willpower, because you need willpower to deprioritise short-term gain (the quick win) and make a conscious decision for long-term gain.

So: Self-control = Awareness + Willpower

Before we dive into actions, let’s develop a better understanding of willpower first.

3. What is willpower?

We have a specific hub in the brain responsible for willpower and persistence called the anterior mid cingulate cortex (aMCC). The bigger it is, the more likely we are to be disciplined and do hard things.

It's the ability to persist in a goal, idea or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement. It's about doing the thing we least want to do or not doing the thing we most want to do at a given moment.

4. How to avoid low willpower

Willpower tends to be low under several specific conditions:

After exertion:

If you've spent a lot of willpower on a task, you may have less willpower available for subsequent tasks. This concept was illustrated by an experiment in which people who resisted eating cookies (harder for most people) had less persistence in solving an unsolvable puzzle than those who resisted eating radishes (easier to resist).

Low glucose levels:

Maintaining steady glucose levels can support willpower. Studies have shown that when people consume a glucose drink between tasks requiring willpower, their ability to maintain willpower improves. Conversely, low glucose availability can quickly deplete willpower.

Reduced sleep and high stress:

Poor sleep and high stress can significantly reduce your willpower and persistence. Balanced autonomic function, which includes proper sleep and stress management, is critical to maintaining willpower over time.

5. Actionable tips: how to train willpower

1. Mental exercise:
   Do "no go" exercises by deliberately not doing something you want to do, such as reaching for your phone. This helps build the ability to resist reflexive actions and increases top-down control from the prefrontal cortex.

2. Behavioural techniques:
   Engaging with tempting objects in a non-consumptive way, such as talking to a marshmallow, can help delay gratification.

This mimics the strategies used by some children to succeed in the marshmallow test:

Practical tip on how to combine 1 & 2 to train your willpower to resist phone temptations in the future:

Put your phone in a lunch box or put a rubber band around it. Both act as a physical barrier. This will make you aware of the moment when you want to access your phone. Then talk to your phone:

"I'm not going to use you now because..."

"I'm only going to use you for ... and then put you away."

3. Embrace challenges:
   Engage in activities that require effort and perseverance, such as learning a new instrument or taking up weightlifting. Challenging tasks build mental resilience and make it easier to delay gratification because they condition you to work towards long-term rewards.

By implementing these strategies, you can gradually improve your self-control and ability to resist instant gratification.

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• Behavior = Motivation + Ability + Prompt.

• Prompt = Trigger.

• Prompt for unintented phone use = internal triggers = negative emotions.

• We are wired to get rid of discomfort at all cost.

• Ways to deal with prompts of bad habits: remove, avoid, ignore.

• Learning to ignore = Self-Control.

• Self-Control = Awareness + Willpower.

• Willpower = ability to persist or resist in the face of obstacles.

• Willpower is harder to bring up when tired, stressed, at low glucose and when needed at high frequency.

• Willpower can be trained: no-go exercises, direct confrontation with tempting objects or challenges that require effort and patience.

Sources:

1. Tiny Habits, B.J Fogg

2. Andrew Huberman Dexa AI

3. https://behaviormodel.org

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.

Hi everyone,

My name is Stephan and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

If you find yourself sitting on your couch, mindlessly scrolling when you have more important things to do, then Episode 20 is for you. Let's dive in!

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• The cognitive friction that is holding you back

• The two states that cause this friction

• Actionable tips for fighting back physically and mentally

Have you ever had a hard work day?

You arrive at home, feel exhausted, get dinner and drag yourself to the sofa with the last bit of energy left.

You pull out your phone and start scrolling.

After a while, a thought crosses your mind. "I could go to the gym right now. Or practice my instrument. Or call my parents. Or read a book. Or work on my side hustle."

But even though you have the time, you don't.

You really want to, but you can't.

You feel paralyzed.

Here's why:

1. Limbic Friction explained

"Limbic friction" is essentially a measure of the resistance you feel when you try to change your current behavior. When limbic friction is high, it takes a lot of effort or activation energy to engage in a new behavior or break your current habit (e.g., chilling on the sofa).

When limbic friction is high, you are much more likely to procrastinate.

There are two main states that can cause limbic friction. One is a state of anxiety, where you're so anxious that you can't calm down and engage in a particular activity. The other state is when you're feeling too tired, lazy, or unmotivated.

Both of these states are related to the function of the autonomic nervous system, which acts as a sort of swing between alertness and calmness.

Naturally, our bodies go into a resting state in the evening. Unfortunately, this is when most of us have all of our free time.

We are slaves to our employers, giving them the best hours of the day.

So the next time you find yourself on the couch with no energy, don't call yourself stupid or lazy. You're not.

You may just be in the quiet state of the cycle.

Here are some things you can do to switch back to wakefulness when you feel calm, relaxed, or tired:

2. Physical strategies to create sympathetic activity

Cold Exposure: Activities such as a cold shower or cold plunge can stimulate the release of catecholamines such as norepinephrine and dopamine, which increase alertness and arousal.

Movement and Exercise: Physical activity, especially high-intensity interval training (HIIT), can activate the sympathetic nervous system, increasing heart rate and energy levels.

Diaphragmatic Breathing: Practicing diaphragmatic breathing, specifically inhaling more than exhaling, can stimulate the sympathetic nervous system. This technique involves inhaling deeply and exhaling more quickly or passively.

Implementing these methods can help transition from a relaxed or tired state to a more alert and active one by increasing sympathetic activity.

3. Mental strategies to overcome limbic friction

Engage in a Short Activity: Start by engaging in a short activity related to the task you're avoiding. For instance, if you're procrastinating on exercise, just start with a minute or five of exercise. This can help you move out of the state of procrastination.

Do Something Worse: If the short activity doesn't work, consider doing something that's worse than the task you're avoiding, but still safe. For example, a cold shower or ice bath can be a useful tool to get you out of a state of procrastination.

Leverage Morning Hours: Your brain and body are more action and focus oriented in the 0 to 8 hours after waking up. This is a good time to tackle tasks that have a high degree of limbic friction.

Use Procedural Memory: Visualize the specific sequence of steps required to execute the task. This simple mental exercise can shift your brain towards a mindset of doing things in a particular order, which can help reduce limbic friction.

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• Limbic Friction = Resistance felt when you want to change current behavior.

• High friction = high activation energy needed.

• Anxiety, stress, tiredness → high limbic friction → high probability of procrastination.

• Your autonomic nervous system naturally switches between alertness and calmness throughout the day.

• You can overcome limbic friction through physical and mental exercises.

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.

Hi everyone,

My name is Stephan and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

If you often find yourself in a low energy state at the end of a work or study day, then Episode 19 is for you. Let's dive in!

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• Why context switching is the biggest enemy of attention

• How it drains your energy

• Which apps are traps

• Actionable tips to avoid context switching

Have you ever finished a day's work so "brain dead" that even the thought of watching Netflix seemed too much?

Don't worry. It's happened to all of us. Here's why:

1. Context Switching

Context switching is the cognitive process of shifting attention from one task to another. This ability is essential for managing different tasks in everyday life, but it comes at a cognitive cost.

Neuroscientist and Stanford professor Dr Andrew Huberman describes how the brain switches from one task or context to another by comparing it to how cars change gears.

Just as a car uses more energy to accelerate when it shifts up a gear, the brain uses a lot of energy when it switches between contexts.

He emphasises that constant switching, such as frequently checking email or being interrupted by phone notifications between tasks, is not only inefficient but also metaphorically like "burning more fuel".

This suggests that frequent context switching can lead to reduced cognitive efficiency and increased mental fatigue.

Think of your brain as a tank. Because of context switching, you run out of fuel faster, and because you kill every free minute of your life with input (=information consumption), you lack the mental breaks during the day to refill the tank.

To cut a long story short: you end up brain dead at night.

No mental energy left to do anything useful. Hello Netflix.

2. What causes context switching

"I'm waiting for that important email" or "My friends will be mad if I don't reply quickly". Sounds familiar?

Well, great, then you are part of the 99% of people who make excuses for their FOMO.

Damn right, we are all liars to ourselves.

And that's perfectly normal, because we all fear rejection and disapproval. After all, we are social creatures. As a result, we have fear of missing out (FOMO).

Let me tell you a secret: Absolutely no one in the world expects you to reply to a message or email sooner than 2-4 hours after you send it!

A same-day response is perfectly fine 99% of the time. Because if someone needs your response faster, they will let you know, you can be sure of that.

And if they can't call you in an emergency, that's their problem, not yours.

With Lemio, we looked at the screen time statistics of hundreds of people and found that these are the most common apps for context switching:

• Email

• Personal and professional messengers, such as Slack or WhatsApp

• News alerts

• Dating app notifications

• Hybrid apps that combine chat and entertainment, such as Instagram or Snapchat

3. The Protocol to take ACTION

Badges instead of Notifications

• Turn off all notifications, at least for your lock screen (= when your phone is turned off)

• Put all messaging apps on one home screen page.

• Enable badges for these apps.

• Go into the individual settings of the apps to get red badges only for what you want. For example, most people only want to know when someone has DMed them on Instagram. If you want to take this to the extreme, get an app like Beeper. It consolidates all your inboxes from all your messengers.

Use Transition Rituals

Incorporate short rituals or routines between tasks. This could mean taking a short walk, doing some breathing exercises or even meditating for a moment. This helps to reset the brain's focus and close the mental tabs from your previous context before jumping into a new one.

Distinguish between Active - Reactive - Reflective Work

• Active: Doing something you have chosen to do, such as creative or deep work.

• Reflective: Time to think. Strategising, planning, organising.

• Reactive: Others have chosen what you need to do. Email, meetings, messages.

Schedule Time

• In general, it's best to put time in your calendar for all your tasks. This is called Time Boxing. But doing this for all your work is hard and sometimes annoying. So the "light" version is to do this only for your reactive work, with a priority on emails:

• 2-3 times a day is usually enough.

• Batch emails with a similar context.

• Don't allow yourself to respond to emails outside the scheduled times.

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• Context switching = switching attention from one thing to another.

• This switching takes energy.

• More switching = more energy consumption.

• Notifications and FOMO are the main reasons for context switching.

• Categories of apps that often cause context switching: dating, social media, news, messengers, email, games.

• Quick fix for work: Batch and time box your emails.

• Turn off all notifications, use batches instead.

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.

Hi everyone,

My name is Stephan and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

If your (personal or professional) to-do list is getting longer instead of shorter, Episode 18 is for you. Let’s dive in!

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• Why to-do lists have little value.

• Why timeboxing sucks.

• The two mistakes you make when planning your day and tasks.

• Actionable tips for getting things done.

Have you ever closed your laptop on a Friday and found your to-do list getting longer, not shorter?

Don't worry, you're not lazy. It has happened to all of us. Here's why:

1. Why to-do lists are distractions

(Disclaimer: The following paragraph is excerpted from an article by Nir Eyal, a noted productivity author. See the full article here)

To-do lists are supposed to keep us on task. They don’t. Rather, running your life using a to-do list leads to more distraction, not less.

When I used a to-do list to run my day, I’d start the morning ticking off tasks, thinking I was on point. I didn’t realize I was letting my to-do list lead me towards distractions that were preventing me from reaching my goals.

For instance, even when I knew I had a big project looming and needed to spend the morning working on it to meet my deadline, glancing at my to-do list gave me permission to escape into doing something (anything) else.

To-do lists allow us to get distracted by the easy or urgent tasks at the expense of the important work.

We run faster and faster in the name of getting things done, without realizing we’re headed in the wrong direction.

When we realize we didn’t allocate the necessary time to work on the most important tasks, we justify it by telling ourselves, “there isn’t enough time left anyway,” and with a few clicks, we make the hard work disappear by pushing it off to the next day or the next.

2. What Nir Eyal suggests instead

What Nir suggests instead is another time management concept called timeboxing.

In a nutshell: Instead of writing down your tasks on a list, you schedule them into your calendar.

Sounds great in theory, but it fails in practice.

Meetings get postponed, your kids need an unexpected pickup, and your dog gets sick. Life hits you multiple times a day, and each time you have to rearrange your time-boxed calendar. It's super annoying.

But even if nothing happens, your timeboxing efforts will fail because of 2 major estimation errors we make:

1. The Planning Fallacy

2. The Time Availability Fallacy

3. The Planning Fallacy

The planning fallacy is a phenomenon in which predictions about how much time will be needed to complete a future task show an optimism bias and underestimate the time needed. This phenomenon sometimes occurs regardless of the individual's knowledge that past tasks of a similar nature have taken longer to complete than generally planned.

In a 1994 study, 37 undergraduate psychology students were asked to estimate how long it would take to complete their senior thesis:

• The average estimate was 33.9 days.

• They also estimated how long it would take "if everything went as well as it possibly could" (average 27.4 days),

• and "if everything went as poorly as it possibly could" (average 48.6 days).

• The average actual completion time was 55.5 days,

• with about 30% of the students completing their thesis in the amount of time they predicted.

On average, the task took 1.63 times as long as estimated.

Simple math applied: Whatever you write on your to-do list on Monday, the best-case scenario is that you get 61% of it done.

So you lose 39% before you even start.

A terrible feeling, right?

And it gets worse because of...

4. The Time Availability Fallacy

8 hours of work. 8 hours of sleep. And 8 hours of "free time," right?

At least that's what many people think, so it's no wonder they get depressed when they look at their screen time and realize they haven't done anything useful with their free time and are falling behind on business goals.

But the truth is different.

We think we have more time than we do.

There are many activities that take a lot of time out of our day:

• At work: Commuting, smoking & coffee breaks, small talk with colleagues, ...

• Eating and drinking: People 15 and older in the United States spent an average of 85 minutes per day

• Toilet visits: 4-10 per day at 3-5 minutes = 15 - 50 minutes

• Food preparation: The average modern adult spends one hour per day cooking and preparing food (2020)

• Grocery shopping

• Cleaning

• Showering

• Morning & bedtime routines

• The list goes on...

It just adds up. Therefore, the actual "free time" you have left after work for activities may be 2-3 hours instead of 8.

The same goes for work. According to various studies, the time for effective work is about 50% of your total working hours. The remaining time is lost to the factors mentioned above, administrative work and meetings.

Simple math applied: You may plan 30-35 hours of tasks, but in reality you only have 20 hours.

So you overestimate the time available by 1.5 - 1.8, both in your free time and in your working time.

5. The Protocol to take ACTION

1. Stop beating yourself up. You are not a loser. You are just as bad at estimating as anyone else.
   

2. Track your time meticulously for 1-2 weeks. Write down every single thing you do, when you did it and how long it took. This will tell you exactly how much time you actually have at hand to allocate. If you are too lazy to do this, start with 2 hours of free time for your evening and 50% of your total work week.

3. Use the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize your tasks, estimate the time needed for each of them and multiply it by 1.63. If you are unsure, ask your manager what you should work on first.
   

4. Timeboxing 2.0: Start with the highest priority task and block time for it in your calendar. One task at a time. Ignore everything else.
   

5. When you are finished, note how much you actually worked on each task to compare the number with your estimate. Over time, you will find your own "estimation error coefficient" that you can apply to future planning.
   

6. Most importantly, change your mindset: Completing 1 important task a day is better than working on 10 but getting nothing done.

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• To-do lists allow us to be distracted by the easy or urgent tasks at the expense of the important work.

• Time-boxing is impractical because life disrupts your plans every day.

• Tasks take 1.63 times longer than expected.

• Available time is 1.5 to 1.8 times less than expected.

• Focus on 1 task at a time.

• Prioritize with your manager and team members. Use the Eisenhower Matrix for discussion.

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.

Hi everyone,

My name is Stephan and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

If you struggle with motivation, Episode 17 is for you. Let’s dive in!

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• Why motivation is unreliable.

• Why goals are spongy.

• The difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

• Actionable tips to get things done.

Have you ever signed up for something you were super excited about (like a gym membership), told all your friends about it, stuck with it for two weeks, and then dropped it one day?

Don't worry, you're not lazy. It has happened to all of us. Here's why:

1. Why motivation is unreliable

A common trap of the human mind: You overestimate your future motivation. You start with something new and your motivation is high, but then it drops rapidly.

Motivations are changing, invisible, competing, and conflicting.

That's why this element of behavior is so hard to pin down and control.

2. Why you should forget about goals

People often believe that motivating themselves toward an aspiration will lead to lasting change.

So they focus on aspirations. And they focus on motivation. And that combo doesn't really produce results.

What is a goal anyway? B.J. Fogg, a behavioral scientist at Stanford, even says:

Don't invest your time and energy in an abstraction. Invest it in actionable steps.

A distraction, by definition, takes your attention away from something else you are trying to focus on. A task, a desired outcome, a direction. Something that matters.

You can't be distracted from a non-existent target!

So if you want to master your attention, you have to define your aspiration and your desired outcome. Always.

3. The difference between aspirations, outcomes, and behaviors

"I want to be a good mother" is an aspiration (= abstract wishes/dreams).

"I want to reduce my screen time" is a desired outcome (= measurable).

"I'm going to put my phone away” is a behavior (= actionable task).

A behavior is something concrete that you can do right now.

Aspirations and outcomes can only be achieved over time by performing the right specific behaviors.

Behaviors lead to outcomes, and outcomes make your aspirations come true.

4. Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

Of course, motivation is not a bad thing, and it can help you get started on a task when you don't feel like it. You just can't count on it naturally.

However, there are a few hacks you can add to your routine.

If you do so, they will help you bring up the starting energy that you need to get off the couch and get started on even the most unpleasant tasks.

Rule of thumb: Choose intrinsic over extrinsic motivation.

Here is everything you need to know about the difference:

Twitter tweet

In a nutshell:

Extrinsic motivation comes from external factors such as money or praise. These sources create short-lived motivation boosts. They work at first but they fade fast.

Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, comes from within. It’s long-lasting, self-sustaining, and compounds over time. With intrinsic motivation, you work because you want to - not because you have to.

You'll never find hard work easy unless you switch to intrinsic motivation.

5. The Protocol to take ACTION:

We have created a series of questions you can ask yourself to activate your intrinsic motivation when you are struggling to get started on a task.

Instagram post

Here are some examples:

1. Purpose: Why does your work make a difference, even if it involves unpleasant tasks?

2. Personal Growth: What are you learning from the task?

3. Achievement: What career goal does completing the task bring you closer to?

4. Life Benefits: What will you do tonight if you complete the task on time?

5. Collaboration: Who on your team relies on your work and will be extremely grateful for your input?

6. Mastery: How does the task help you become an expert in your field? Experts make more money!

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• You overestimate your future motivation.

• Talking about goals is unprecise.

• Behavior → Desired Outcome → Aspirations

• Intrinsic > Extrinsic Motivation

• Intrinsic = long-lasting + self-sustaining + compounding

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.

Hi everyone,

My name is Lemmy and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

In Episode 16, I want to make you aware of the biggest fallacy people make when it comes to screen time.

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• Why screen time is irrelevant.

• How marketers have sold you a lie.

• Actionable tips to reduce your screen time.

This week’s community challenge

It’s the end of a weekday. You managed to spend 4 hours on your phone while not investing one minute in learning, personal growth, or your side hustle. Again!

You think, "Damn, what could I have done with 4 extra hours? Or at least the 1 hour I spent on social media?"

You feel like a failure, a loser, and you beat yourself up about it.

And why? Because marketers are liars and they tell you that you could have done the most amazing things with that 1 extra hour.

They are liars because they tell you what you want to hear: That you can have more time.

The truth is, you can't. Here's why:

1. The time convertibility flaw

These marketers make you compare apples to oranges. They oversimplify things because the easier it is for you to understand, the more the message will resonate with you.

They tell you to look at your accumulated screen time or social media time and ask you: "What could you have been doing with all that time instead?”

Here's the flaw: You're not wasting that 1 hour in one chunk. You waste it in 20 x 3 minute sessions spread out over the day.

So why do all these companies tell you what to do with this time, but none of them actually help you do it? You guessed it right, because they can’t.

I mean seriously, what are you supposed to do with 20 x 3 minutes? Learn an instrument or a language? Come on, it takes me 2 minutes to even find my harmonica and the last thing I want to do in between some stressful back-to-back meetings is solve some Italian Duolingo exercises.

It's crazy to tell you that you can win back this "time confetti".

It's even crazier that you believe it. And a tragedy that you beat yourself up about it.

Let's get this straight:

• You are comparing yourself to something that doesn't exist. What you are imagining is pure fiction.

• 1 hour of "useless" screen time is a waste, but it can't just be added to the end of your day.

2. What to look at instead

Does that mean there is no hope for you? Absolutely not!

I just wanted to make this clear: Ignore your accumulated screen time, it doesn't tell you much.

That's because we do a thousand useful things with our phones. We use it for work, shopping, research, and messaging. Apps that we definitely don't want to live without, because without the phone and these useful apps, there wouldn’t be any time that can be wasted ;)

So instead of looking at screen time, you should look at other metrics. Here is what you want to know and where to find it:

1. How much of my total screen time is actually wasted?
   → Check out the Most Used section. You can switch between individual apps and categories (such as "Social," "Entertainment," or "Information & Reading").
   

2. Which apps are pulling me in?
   → Check out the Pickups section and look at the numbers for First Used After Pickup numbers.
   

3. When am I most vulnerable?
   → Check out the Daily Timesheet for your most problematic apps. It will show you exactly when you used an app and for how long. This will show if you are struggling in the morning, at work, or in the evening.

Here is a quick tutorial video that walks you through Apple's Screen Time stats:

(Note: For Android, it's very similar and called Digital Wellbeing)

3. How to deal with time confetti?

Many of you will be saying: "Okay, I get it, so can I continue to constantly check social media and the news whenever I have a 2 minute break and don't know what to do with it?"

The answer is: Absolutely not!

You do this because the only thing worse than doing something "useless" (like social media) is doing nothing at all.

At least, that's what you're thinking right now. You think that doing nothing for 20 x 3 minutes a day will cost you 1 hour a day.

In fact, the opposite is true. If you use these tiny time confetti moments for mental breaks, you will

1. Prevent context switching, the main reason you struggle to focus in the second half of the day and are brain-dead at night after work.

2. Protect your sleep by allowing your brain to process things it would otherwise have to process at night.

Plot twist: Do less and you will achieve significantly more.

4. The Protocol to take ACTION:

1. Reminder: Use an app like Lemio that triggers every time before you are about to access social media, dating, news or email apps. When the app triggers at the end of your day (e.g. in bed), use it as a reminder to review your screen time stats.

2. Learn from them and make adjustments for the next day.

3. The next day, when Lemio triggers, change your identity by telling yourself “I achieve more when I consume less”. Embrace short breaks in these moments.

4. Amazing actions for 2 minute breaks: Stand up. Move. Open the window. Breathe. Drink water. Stretch. 1 pushup. Close your eyes. Look outside the window. Widen your view. Meditation. Daydreaming. Manifestation. Prayer. More ideas? Reply to this email!

This knowledge comes at 0 cost

If you learned something,
be generous and share it with friends or family.

See ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• Community Challenge: Check your app statistics at the end of the day.

• You can’t convert time confetti into deep work blocks.

• 20 x 3 minutes IS NOT the same as 1 hour.

• The only thing you can use time confetti moments for: breaks.

• These breaks and boredom in general are not your enemy, they are the enabler for even more success (productivity + energy + sleep).

• A mental break = no consumption (no screens, no audio, no conversations). Just you and your thoughts.

ONE MORE WAY WE CAN HELP YOU

We know that mastering your attention is extremely difficult. It's not going to happen in a day. That's why we've created Lemio, an app designed to be your personal buddy on the journey.