Staying in this doom loop is untenable: Rethinking how we gift our attention

ADHD-informed musings on the focus required to make the world a better place, no matter how much doom and distraction we face.

When your attention feels like this, there are concrete things you can do. (Image: B.G. Merkle)

I have a lot of friends, colleagues, and family members who are immobilized by the volume and nature of change happening in the U.S. right now. I won’t pretend I’m not impacted by it, either. Beyond the actual, direct effects¹, I’ve spotted a pattern that’s compromised my moods and how I spend my time.² Every time I indulge in a doomscrolling session, I wind up with an attention/motivation hang-over that lasts at least a week.

This hang-over guts my focus and motivation. I struggle to complete basic professional and personal tasks (let alone the extra things that make life more meaningful and pleasant). It becomes deeply tempting to cancel meetings, avoid social events, and hunker down. After a few cycles of this, it’s easy to get caught in a rut of despair, frustration, and rage. These feelings manifest as an inability to do anything but keep doomscrolling and then rant about it to anyone who…