Ping. Another notification. Another dopamine hit. Another moment of focus — gone.
You probably didn't even notice it. That's the point. The attention economy is a multi-trillion-dollar global industry built on grabbing your focus before you can decide where to put it. Every notification taps into your brain's dopamine system — the mechanism behind anticipation and reward — creating a loop that keeps you reaching for your phone. And research shows it can take up to 20 minutes to fully refocus after a single interruption.
We've never lived in a time where so much information competed for so little attention. Our phones are always with us. Our laptops are always open. And in the evening, there's binge-watching to fill whatever silence is left.
The good news: AI is starting to fight back — on your side. Gmail's AI prioritisation already filters to high-priority only. Outlook's Copilot triages your inbox and summarises threads. Tools like Shortwave bundle low-priority emails into collaps...
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