In this IP, I was asked to record what I pay attention to.

Below is my raw data of where my attention went for 12 hours on Febuary 14, 2024. During this time, I was working at UBC-V Campus.

Time	What I did	Where my attention went	Emotion
8:00	Turn off alarm. Check notification.	phone	tired
8:00	Brush my teeth/wash my face	mirror/self	tired
8:00	Eat breakfast. Mom talks to me	Person(mom)	neutral
8:00	Change clothes, put on make up	miror/self	neutral
8:00	Wear earphone, set up connection to the phone.	phone	neutral
8:00	Head to work by public transit	music	frustration
9:00	Arrive work. Take off earphone and set up workspace.	surrounding	tired
		laptop	neutral
9:00	Walk to kitchen and grab water, say hi to coworker	surrounding	neutral
		laptop	neutral
9:00	Heard students talking outside of window	people (students)	neutral
		surrounding (outside of window)	neutral
10:00	Continue to work. Printing workshop materials.	printer	neutral
		surrounding	neutral
10:00	Coworker sends news on my mobile phone	phone	curious
	Watch news on laptop	laptop	curious
	Reply to my coworker via text app	phone	neutral
	Go back to work	laptop	neutral
	Skin feels dry. focus on hand	hand/self	anxiety
	Go back to work. prepping for meeting at 11:00	laptop	neutral
	Notification popped up on phone. attention goes to phone	phone	curious
11:00	Walk to another building for a meeting	people	neutral
	Bumped into my coworker. My cowoker was wearing a nice bike jacket	people(coworker)	happy
		bike jacket	happy
	Arrived to meeting location. my coworkers were there	people (coworkers)	neutral
	Meeting (in-person) start. the agenda of the meeting is on the laptop	people(coworker who is talking)	neutral
		laptop	neutral
12:00	Lunch. go to a restaurant. order food. the restaurant was surroudned with posters.	poster	neutral
		people	neutral
	At the restaurant finding space to eat	surrounding	neutral
	Asked one of the student on the seat to ask if the space is empty. the student answers yes	student	neutral
	The food arrived, and start eating food	food	neutral
	The student asked me if I can watch her laptop. I kill time by checking notification in phone	students’ laptop	neutral
		phone	neutral
	Finish eating. put the dishes away	dish container	neutral
	Walk back to office.	students	neutral
	Rent HOPR (bike rental service) .HOPR requires me to open an app to rent.	phone	frustration
		bike	frustration
	Get on HOPR bike.	surrounding	neutral
		people	neutral
	Return HOPR bike using app.	bike	neutral
		phone	neutral
	Walk to office. bumped into cowokrer	people	happy
1:00	Back to work	laptop	neutral
	Headphone is tangled. untagle	headphone cord	frustration
	Focus on work	laptop	neutral
2:00	Notification pops up on phone	phone	curious
	Focus on work	laptop	neutral
	coworker borrows charger	person (coworker)	neutral
		charger	neutrla
	back to work	laptop	neutral
	coworker wants to return charger	person (coworker)	neutral
		laptop	neutral
	Stretch. Look away from laptop	surrounding	tired
	Receive text message from parents.	phone	neutral
	Back to work	laptop	tired
	Got an email saying there’s mouse in the office. started looking at the floor.	floor	anxiety
3:00	Meeting (zoom)	laptop	neutral
4:00	Stretch look away from laptop	surrounding	neutral
	Go back to work	Laptop	neutral
	Head home	Surrounding	happy
	Rent a ebike to head to downtown	Bike	happy
		App	neutral
5:00	Ride a bike. Turn on music	Surrounding	neutral
		Music	tired
6:00	Park the bike	Parking station	tired
		Bike	tired
	Eat dinner at a restaurant	Menu	tired
		Person	tired
		Phone	tired
7:00	Rent a bike	Bike	tired
		Music	tired
		Surrounding	tired
	Park the bike	Parking station	tired

I cleaned up the data and made analysis based on the raw data. During the process, I combined:

• all of the attention of human being (including coworker, mom, etc) to “people” and
• all of the attention of my body parts (full body, hand) to “self”.

Data Analysis

As I go through the raw data and visualization of the data, I noticed several interesting patterns. 

Multitasking

When examining the raw data, I noticed that I engage in a considerable amount of multitasking. For example, I listen to music while biking and review notes on my laptop as I listen to a coworker during a meeting. This behavior aligns with the concept of organic/social convergence as outlined by Jenkins (2021),where consumers multitask to navigate the complex information environment . Additionally, I recognize a tendency towards hyper-attention, where my focus rapidly shifts between various tasks (Citton, 2016, p. 10). Throughout a one-hour meeting, my attention went back and forth between my laptop and coworker.While this allowed me to multitask, such as following the meeting’s agenda on my laptop, it sometimes leads to missing important comments from coworkers.

By the end of the day’s end, specifically from 6 to 7pm, I recorded feeling “tired” which can be caused by the constant switching of attention between tasks. However, multitasking is not always bad. Citton, referencing Christopher Mole, pointed out that the ability to engage with a task inattentively can be a sophisticated skill (2016, p. 185). For example, listening to music while commuting or biking represents a positive form of multitasking. Without music, my attention would be focused on monotonous surroundings for an hour, which can be very energy-draining.

Controlling the Attention

As Citton (2016) has mentioned, it is possible to control the environment’s attention, though this control can be limited (p. 176). During the 12 hours, I attempted to manage the environment’s attention by setting my phone to silent and keeping it at a distance from the monitor. Nevertheless, my attention still shifted to the phone when a notification appeared. I receive notifications on my phone that are both work-related (Outlook, Slack) and personal (news, messages from friends and family). Until I check my phone, I cannot differentiate between work and personal messages, leading me to believe I have become accustomed to checking phone notifications even when the device is set to silent. Fleming (2021) discusses how it is cognitively challenging to ignore phone notifications, which can even tax one’s self-control resources. I keep my phone on the table in case there is an emergency call from my family. However, I probably need to make more deliberate decisions about which app notifications should be activated.

Attention in Office Environement vs at Home

As I examine the visualization of the graph (Figure 1), I notice that my attention is evenly distributed. This distribution is likely influenced by the fact that I recorded this while working in the office. In such an environment, a variety of events can cause shifts in attention, including encountering coworkers, receiving requests from colleagues, or observing students. I anticipate that if I were to record this during a work-from-home day, my attention would be more concentrated on my laptop and phone. I find the office environment is similar to what Citton has described as “polyphonic attention” where attention is distributed across multiple stimuli, tasks and information. (2021, p. 188) I personally prefer the office environment because it forces me to spread out my attention, whereas in a work-from-home environment, my attention would be concentrated on my laptop and mobile phone.

Attention in Education Context

In my work, I facilitate a professional development workshop for faculty, students, and staff. As a facilitator, I find it important to engage with the audience in a meaningful way.

Citton suggested enhancing polyphonic attention as a way to manage and diversify focus across various stimuli and tasks, thereby enhancing audience engagement (2021, p. 188). During the workshop, I try to create multiple engagement points, such as group discussions, where participants are encouraged to share with their peers and then with the audience. This approach allows the attention of the audience to be distributed among other participants, slides, and facilitators, which can lead to a richer experience for the audience.

I also notice that I utilize joint attention when directing the audience on where to focus their attention. Citton highlights the significance of shared attention by stating, “Joint attention shifts from a dyadic to a triadic relationship, where two subjects coordinate their attention towards an object” (Citton, 2016, p. 18) .An example of this is when I demonstrate how to log in to a course wiki site during workshops. I instruct, “Log in using the login button on the top-right side of the screen,” thereby directing the audience’s focus to the screen. I also zoom into the login screen so that the focus is narrowed down to the login area. Without this coordination of attention, the audience might be lost when trying to find the login screen.

References

Fleming, A. (2021, December 16). Distraction disaster! Notifications are ruining our concentration – here’s how to escape them. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/dec/16/distraction-disaster-notifications-hell-ping-phone-interruptions-escape

Jenkins, H. (2001, June 1). Convergence? I Diverge. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2001/06/01/235791/convergence-i-diverge/

Yves Citton. (2016). The Ecology of Attention. Polity. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=nlebk&AN=1453389&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=s5672194