IGMT #056 | What if attention isn't the problem? What if it's volume?
What a great day, Reader!
I was working on some doctoral research the other day when I noticed my browser was slowing down. Nothing dramatic, just enough that I became aware of it. Since my first instinct is always to blame technology before myself, I started looking around to see what was going on. That's when I noticed the top of my screen.
Thirty-seven tabs.
Research articles. Volleyball websites. Amazon pages. ADHD resources. Things I planned to read later. Things I had already forgotten about. Things that seemed incredibly important three weeks ago and had somehow become permanent residents of my browser. As I started closing them, I realized something interesting. I was hesitant to let them go. Not because I needed them. Not because I was actively using them. But because some part of me was convinced I might need them someday. The reality was that most of those tabs represented unfinished thoughts, unanswered questions, and ideas I wasn't quite ready to let go of.
...and it got me thinking.
One of the biggest misconceptions I hear about ADHD athletes is that they struggle because they can't focus. Certainly there are times when focus can be a challenge, but I think we often misunderstand what is actually happening. When I sit down with athletes and start unpacking what is going on in their world, it rarely looks like an empty browser waiting for information. It looks more like my computer did that afternoon. School is open in one tab. A recent mistake is open in another. A conversation with a coach is sitting in the background. Recruiting, social media, friendships, family expectations, and the pressure they put on themselves are all running simultaneously. Then we bring them into practice and ask them why they seem distracted.
The older I get, the less I think performance is about learning how to focus harder. I think it is about learning where to place your attention and, maybe more importantly, where not to place it. Coaches are often guilty of adding tabs. Parents are guilty of adding tabs. Athletes are certainly guilty of adding tabs. Every mistake gets saved for later. Every criticism gets bookmarked. Every comparison gets left open in the background. Eventually the athlete isn't struggling because they lack effort or ability. They are struggling because they are carrying around so much mental clutter that everything starts running slower.
A few years ago I read Leidy Klotz's book Subtract. The premise is simple. When we encounter a problem, our instinct is usually to add something. Add another rule. Add another drill. Add another reminder. Add another strategy. What we rarely consider is subtraction. We rarely ask what can be removed, what can be simplified, and what no longer deserves our attention. I think there is a lesson there for athletes. Sometimes the next breakthrough isn't found in adding another mental performance skill. Sometimes it comes from finally letting go of a mistake, a fear, an expectation, or a comparison that stopped serving you a long time ago.
When I finished closing those tabs, my computer immediately ran better. The funny part was that I couldn't even remember what most of them were. They had felt important enough to keep around, but not important enough to actually use. I wonder how many things we carry around are exactly the same. Old mistakes. Old fears. Old expectations. Thoughts that continue taking up space long after they have stopped being useful.
This week, take a look at your browser.
More importantly, take a look at your mind.
There may be a tab or two that is long overdue for closing.
Until next time...
#DontSuck
