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The quiet art of attention

(billwear.github.io)
865 points billwear | 4 comments | 13 Oct 24 15:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.616s | source
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mzajc ◴[13 Oct 24 16:43 UTC] No.41829454[source]▶
Well written! I can relate to most of the article. However, I find that

> To focus on one thing deeply, to give it your full attention, is to experience it fully. And when we do this, something remarkable happens. Time, which so often feels like it is slipping through our fingers, begins to slow.

doesn't really apply to me, or to many people I know and have worked with - it is when I focus on one task that "time flies", and it's distractions that end up throwing men out of the zone.

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1. Arch-TK ◴[13 Oct 24 22:14 UTC] No.41832162[source]▶
It is my experience that "flow" is not the same as "mindfulness" or "attention".
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2. moobsen ◴[14 Oct 24 06:46 UTC] No.41834864[source]▶
I think it is helpful to differentiate between mindfulness and concentration.*

I would associate flow more with concentration. And if there is no mindfulness together with the concentration, time will just "fly by". At least for me.

*As it is done in Buddhism, where both are separate spokes of the dharma wheel.

3. jcul ◴[14 Oct 24 08:14 UTC] No.41835353[source]▶
It's an interesting thing to consider.

They seem both similar but very different at the same time.

"Flow" to me feels like allowing the mind off its leash, but having it be completely focused on one task rather than its normal state of unfocused chaos.

Whereas "mindfulness" feels more like allowing the mind to rest and become still.

In the former time slips by so quickly, and the latter time can seem to stand still, but with both time becomes meaningless.

Maybe what both have in common is this disconnection from time.

4. mattgreenrocks ◴[14 Oct 24 12:45 UTC] No.41837011[source]▶
Flow can deplete you because of the singular focus. Mindfulness refreshes you because you simply are - there’s no motive for it.