Your attention is a budget.

We have a finite amount of attention. Every day, we are given a certain number of coins to spend. Every task, every distraction, every notification costs us one of those coins.

The problem is that we often spend our attention without thinking. We let our inbox set our agenda. We let social media hijack our focus. We say yes to things that do not matter. And at the end of the day, we wonder where our attention went.

To treat your attention as a budget is to become a conscious spender. It is to ask of every task: “Is this worth my attention?” It is to say no to the things that are not, so that you can say yes to the things that are.

What this changes in practice: At the beginning of each day, decide what you will spend your attention on. Make a budget. And then, track your spending.