On Focus
A personal philosophy I keep coming back to. Not productivity advice. Just how I think about attention.
The Core Idea
Focus is one of the most important things I have. Not time, not money. Focus. Because time and money are useless if your attention is scattered across 40 tabs, 12 notifications, and an algorithm that knows exactly how to keep you scrolling.
Any application, platform, or thing in my life that steals focus from where I want to put it? I unreasonably hate it. Not dislike. Not "mild annoyance." Hate. The kind of frustration that makes you want to delete an app mid-scroll and then feel instantly better about your life.
The Instagram Problem
Here's my best example. I tried to use Instagram for one thing: health-related content. Meal prep ideas, workout form checks, nutrition science. I set it up that way. I followed the right accounts. I told the algorithm what I wanted.
And then, constantly, relentlessly, it sneaks in content designed to pull me off course. I'm trying to learn about protein timing and suddenly it's showing me engagement bait that has nothing to do with why I opened the app.
The thing that gets me isn't that the content exists. It's that I made a deliberate choice about how I wanted to use the platform, and the platform actively works against that choice. I want to be the best version of myself, and I try to set up my tools to support that. But the business model of most social platforms is fundamentally opposed to your focus. They don't make money when you find what you need and leave. They make money when you stay, scroll, and get distracted.
The Anxious Generation Connection
Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation put words to something I already felt. The way our devices and platforms are designed isn't neutral. It's engineered to capture and hold attention, and the cost of that is real: for kids growing up with it, and for adults trying to do meaningful work while carrying a distraction machine in their pocket.
I don't think technology is the enemy. I build with technology every day. I think unintentional technology use is the enemy. The difference between opening an app because you chose to and opening it because your thumb did it on autopilot while your brain was somewhere else.
How I Manage It
Aggressive pruning
If an app doesn't serve a specific purpose I've chosen, it gets deleted. I don't keep apps "just in case." Every app on my phone earns its spot or it's gone. This is part of why I'm running the online presence scrub: fewer accounts means fewer vectors for distraction.
Narrowing the lens when it matters
I love learning. I naturally run wide: business, finance, news, politics, tech, AI. I want to understand what's happening in the world and what's interesting. But when life gets busy or stressful, I narrow the lens all the way down to just what I can control. That usually means my job, the technology I'm building with, and my wife Bailey. Everything else can wait.
Podcasts over social media
I've largely replaced social media scrolling with podcasts. They're long-form, they go deep, and they don't interrupt themselves with algorithmic distractions. I always have something playing: commutes, walks, cooking. It scratches the "I want to learn something" itch without the attention tax that comes with a feed.
Building my own home base
This website exists partly because of this philosophy. Instead of posting on platforms that are designed to distract, I own my content here. One URL, no algorithm, no engagement bait. If someone wants to know what I think, they come here. On purpose.
The Bottom Line
I'm not anti-technology. I'm anti-losing-control-of-where-my-attention-goes. Every tool I use should make it easier to be the person I'm trying to be, not harder. When a tool works against that, it doesn't get my frustration. It gets deleted.
Focus isn't about doing less. It's about being intentional about what gets your best attention. Everything else is noise.