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I mentioned “Continuous Partial Attention” in a post recently, and a reader sent an e-mail pointing to this:

Linda Stone has thoughts on what it is and how it affects us:

Continuous partial attention describes how many of us use our attention today. It is different from multi-tasking. The two are differentiated by the impulse that motivates them. When we multi-task, we are motivated by a desire to be more productive and more efficient. We’re often doing things that are automatic, that require very little cognitive processing. We give the same priority to much of what we do when we multi-task — we file and copy papers, talk on the phone, eat lunch — we get as many things done at one time as we possibly can in order to make more time for ourselves and in order to be more efficient and more productive.

To pay continuous partial attention is to pay partial attention — CONTINUOUSLY. It is motivated by a desire to be a LIVE node on the network. Another way of saying this is that we want to connect and be connected. We want to effectively scan for opportunity and optimize for the best opportunities, activities, and contacts, in any given moment. To be busy, to be connected, is to be alive, to be recognized, and to matter.

I am as guilty of this as anyone, what with the laptop always on, my wife and her TV addiction, and the stack of books that I need to read.

How do you use your productivity practice to avoid the trap of Continuous Partial Attention and accomplish your tasks and goals?