Comments on: Continuous partial attention, information overload or both?

By: Courtney

Courtney — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:58:58 +0000

I’m glad I’m not the only one! Thanks!! I, too, cannot seem to sit still and read nonfiction even though I really enjoy it. Fiction is easier since it is an escape for me as well, but I still have to really like the book to even start reading it. Since I also give priority to library books because they have to be returned, I have seriously considered checking out nonfiction books *that I already own* thinking it may better motivate me to actually finish them. Deadlines just help sometimes, and maybe I should consider this more.

By: Michelle McLean

Michelle McLean — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:47:11 +0000

Thank you all for your comments, there is some very helpful advice and some good reading in there that I will be following through. Thankfully, I can read them in short snatches.

By: anne

anne — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:31:30 +0000

Ah, now I know what to call it and that it is ‘not just me’ I think I feel better.

One of my problems is that now my train journey to work is too short to read more than a few pages – ok for fiction or a short article – whereas it used to be long enough to read at least a chapter – which it seems to me is necessary to follow the argument in non-fiction.

Have you seen the following report by the National Endowment for the Arts on reading in the US? http://www.nea.gov/research/ToRead.pdf

By: Abigail

Abigail — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:57:15 +0000

Have you ever considered something with your hands while you’re reading? I know for me a challenge at work is getting focused enough to make it through journals. I’m constantly checking to see what’s going on in the building, looking at my reader, checking email etc etc. This morning I cast on a project for my knitting group (participating in the world’s longest scarf). It’s mindless hand work for me and I’ve made it through more journals with better focus than I usually can.

So maybe if you can satisfy that need for something else going on (I also feel the compulsive need to fold laundry or iron while watching tv or a movie at home)–you might have better focus?

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:33:17 +0000

Like the other commenters, I’ve found this as well, though haven’t ever found a solution. I’m studying again at the moment, and am finding my state of continuous partial attention a real struggle, as I find it difficult to focus for the extended periods of time that it takes to write a paper – I keep wanting to flit out to other tasks, and then I lose my train of thought.

I think that librarians, to a certain extent, fall into the trap easier than some others. Our work (or mine, certainly)is often a state of continuous partial attention anyway – we move rapidly between a number of smaller tasks, and don’t as often have large projects that can focus our attention for hours at a time. Our work environment makes it very easy to be connected all the time to lots of information streams – indeed, it’s encouraged.

Mostly I just resort to cold turkey methods to get myself to focus. Turn the computer off, or unplug the connection, or go outside to write, and force myself to focus for the period that I have to…

By: T Scott

T Scott — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:49:09 +0000

You may find the work of David M. Levy (Information School at the University of Washington) illuminating. An excellent place to start is his article in the December 2007 issue of Ethics and Information Technology, “No time to think: Reflections on information technology and contemplative scholarship.” 9(4):237-49. If you have access online through SpringerLink the DOI is 10.1007/s10676-007-9142-6.

By: Michelle McLean

Michelle McLean — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:49:16 +0000

Well if nothing else, its nice to know I’m not alone in this.

By: snail

snail — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:38:18 +0000

I have no answers and have been experiencing this for years, though for me it covers most printed matter with little distinction for fiction, non fiction, newspapers, journals, etc. I tend to read more online, it’s true, particularly news and journal stuff. But I’ve never been particularly organised at home, and time tends to get eaten up with other things.

By: Michelle McLean

Michelle McLean — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:02:57 +0000

Thanks Genevieve and Amy, good thoughts both. I think I’ll have to focus on the chapter option, there is no hope of a few hours away from it all. Getting away from the Net is another thing, easy to think of, not all that easy to do – something else to work on.

By: amy

amy — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:10:12 +0000

i’m in a state of continuous partial attention too – but i have the opposite problem to you.
i can’t read fiction.
i just can’t.
i think it’s part of the “being a live node on the network” that has created a complete disinterest in anything NOT on the network (like fiction).
a librarian who doesn’t like fiction. sheesh. hope they don’t take away my MLIS… (once i get it, that is.)