Amarilloism

With the now more common understanding that “multitasking” doesn’t work, I’ve contemplated the effect of listening to or watching series and YouTube videos while I work on my attention span. I feel like it helps because when working on certain tasks, boredom sets in, and without additional stimulation, focus eludes me. It’s as if the unused parts of my brain throw a tantrum if they are not engaged in the task at hand.

I’ve used YouTube for this for years and recently started watching series like Grey’s Anatomy. While it seems to work—or rather, I seem to work through it fine—sometimes this video content distracts me from the task at hand. My work usually occupies the visual part of my brain, leaving the audio parts underutilized. This can also become a distraction when, for example, a random song or an embarrassing memory replays in my head.

I’m beginning to think of my attention as a drain with different channels. When I’m working on plans for an architectural design, the visual and spatial channels of my attention are in hyperdrive, but my audio and contemplative channels are barely utilized. When these channels are left unused, my attention seems to flow away from where I need it and into the unoccupied channels. For example, I’ll find myself thinking about random things and being distracted by them, failing to keep my attention on the work at hand.

I’ve been pondering how to balance my love for YouTube’s creative storytelling, educational content, video essays, and commentary with my need for focused attention. The current format of YouTube, with its short-form content and distracting recommendations, often causes me to hop from video to video. The visual demands of videos, such as when the speaker says “look at this ball painted with the blackest black,” can be particularly distracting. It might be time to find other ways to fill those needs.

With shows, there’s an added emotional channel. Sometimes the drama becomes consuming, drawing my attention to the events and characters in shocking and emotionally charged ways. It works both ways, though. My work can leave me feeling energized and inspired, but the death of a favorite character can leave me in an emotional daze.

There’s definitely a linguistic channel, I’ve noticed. When writing, apart from the contemplative and visual, the linguistic part of my brain is fully engaged, so it’s hard for me to listen to people speaking or singing. This means I can’t listen to podcasts or audiobooks while writing unless I’m taking notes on them, and I can’t listen to lyrics while writing about something else; It feels like being pulled in two directions, and its stressful.

This is not to say that audiovisual content is a bad medium. On the contrary, thinking of my attention as channelized means that there are clear lines about which activities are compatible with my focus. I might want to focus on a polished video essay on YouTube while eating popcorn, but focusing on that would consume my audio-visual and contemplative attention channels, sometimes even my spatial senses. This framework guides me to set time aside for that content outside of my work. When I want to focus on visual and spatial work, I know what channels I can allocate to other activities without compromising my focus.

Music, podcasts, and audiobooks have always been on my radar as more compatible alternatives to YouTube as background content for my primarily visual work. I’ve tried replacing YouTube with these before but struggled to find alternatives to my favorite YouTube content in podcast format. However, understanding my attention this way means I don’t need to give up YouTube or watching shows; I just need to allocate a clear time and context for them, and be mindful of how my attention flows.