How Attention Works
In the late 19th century, William James noted that attention has two modes: effortless and directed.
The effortless mode is the attention we use when something grabs our attention. A great example is a bell ringing or a light flashing. The directed mode is the attention we use when we pay attention. It takes effort. You are using directed attention right now to read this guide.
Psychologists and neurologists have since come to understand that directed attention depletes as we use it. They've also discovered that our directed attention rests when our effortless attention is evoked. We can intentionally use our effortless attention to restore our directed attention.
Attention Fatigue
We spend our days in, what environmental psychologists refer to as demanding environments. These environments are all around us all the time—working, driving, talking, waiting.
The more time we spend in demanding environments, the more depleted our directed attention becomes. We enter a state psychologists called directed attention fatigue.
We become irritable, less sensitive to others, more error-prone, and more distractible. We feel stress and our autonomic nervous systems can even engage our fight, flight or freeze response.
Attention Restoration
We can restore our directed attention by evoking our effortless attention. When we effortlessly pay attention to something, our mind clears first, then our directed attention restores, then we engage in personal reflection. This is the process of attention restoration.
