WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I kind of feel like 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 my attention spam is dying 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 knocks on the door 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's just like 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 whenever I try and do anything, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I start craving some sort of distraction 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I can't just focus on one thing at a time 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 even if that thing is sleeping. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But I have things I wanna do, things I focus on 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I just don't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because refreshing Instagram is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 always going to be easier 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ... and it's a problem! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And I'm tired of it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I am tired of feeling like my life is so far out of my own control. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So today, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we are figuring out how to stop scrolling, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and how to start paying attention. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thank you to our Patreons for supporting the channel, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and headspace for sponsoring 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a portion of this video. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 With focused music, motivational exercises, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 guided meditations, and more, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 headspace has over a thousand pieces of content 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to help you be kind to your mind. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If you want to see how headspace might be helpful to you, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you can try it out completely for free for 60 days. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 All you have to do is sign up 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with our link in the description 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or scan the QR code on screen. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [slam] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, what's in the box? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [box opening] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This is an electroencephalogram, or an EEG. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It measures electrical activity in the brain 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 which are associated with certain performance metrics 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like attention, excitement and stress. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Does that look good? How's that - How do I look? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Now these things usually look a little bit more 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 threatening and wire-y, however 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I reached out to this brand called Emotiv 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that creates more simplified consumer options. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They gave me a little discount 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so I could actually afford this for the video. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And I look like a cyborg. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I think it looks cute. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Okay, so these are my brainwaves 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and if I focus on it 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 really hard 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it should be able to translate these 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 into more understandable metrics... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like attention! Look at that! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You see the building of tension and spike in excitement; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that's my brain! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I kind of feel like a videogame character and these are my stats. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's cool. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Now I should note that EEG data can be pretty noisy 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and things like movement can really impact the results. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 However, I think that having any level of recording is an improvement 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because I basically never pay attention to my attention. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It only every really comes up when I'm feeling guilty about my screentime, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or I realise that I've done nothing all day. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And only having these really infrequent and negative interactions with my problem 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 makes it really hard to be objective about the whole thing, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to understand how bad it actually is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and see if it's getting better or worse. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But now, with the help of this brainscanner, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I finally got to measure a baseline for my attention span 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 without getting bogged down by guilt, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or forgetting to focus on my focus. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [typing] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I wore the EEG while I worked, ate, exercised and relaxed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I did take it off a few times because it gets pretty uncomfortable 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 after really long stretches. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Woah! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But, overall, it was pretty easy to ignore 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 while I just lived my life for the rest of the week. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Alongside the EEG, I installed a program to automatically track 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how often I switched tasks on my computer, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I recorded how many times I picked up my phone. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Did you know that you can't actually export you screentime data! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then I wrote a quick script to compile all this data and visualise it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Here is my life for the past three days. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Ooh. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The x-axis is the number of hours in a day. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 These blue bars represent the number of times I picked up my phone. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This grey line tracks how productive I was at my computer, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and these coloured lines are the median performance metrics from my EEG. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Now, some highlights include this moment 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where I picked up my phone to start debugging the app that I was using to scan my brain, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and then I ended up [uh] opening Instagram and spending the next two hours on it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [laughs] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 However, during my meeting the next day 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I was like super interested and attentive, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 right? Great? No. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's because I kept picking up my phone! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I was supposed to be on call! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I kept opening up Instagram! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But it's not all bad news.