The Difficulty of Resting
April 2, 2020•188 words
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Continuing on the topic of slowing down, resting, and relfection, let's talk about why the hell can't we take some rest?
I blame technology for that inability to slow down. Constant notifications, pop-ups, alerts, and all the rest. Our computers, which have become a key part of our work, are terribly distracting and demanding tools.
Slack, MS Teams, and all instant messaging requires one's attention 90% of the time. You need to be online to know what's going on. It's really hard to catch up on everything that's been written in the chat just once or twice per day. There's no escape from the information extravaganza.
As author Nir Eyal writes in his book, Indistractable, our attention has become something of an asset for software companies. More attention means more dollars.
So why can't we just disconnect and rest? Why is it so hard to stop working? Even after a whole day of meetings, write-ups and everything else?
Because software is designed to be irresistible. It's a rabbit hole you voluntarily enter every single day, only to realize soon after how hard it is to get out.