🧠 Your own attention economy
Every day you notice things that spark something. An article you want to read later. A reference that feels important. A post that puts language to a feeling you haven’t quite named yet. And then the scroll moves on, the tab closes, and that moment of attention disappears like it never mattered.
That’s how most apps want you to operate. They want you to keep moving, keep scrolling, do not put your phone down.
If attention is a finite resource, then being intentional about where you put it can make your days feel calmer, more centered, and less like your brain is open in 37 tabs.
Today I want to talk about a few tools I use to treat attention as something I actively curate, not something that gets siphoned off by whatever is loudest.
Attention as a practice, not a vibe
Being “intentional” with your attention can just mean having a place to put things when something catches your eye so your brain doesn’t have to hold onto it.
Bookmarking is underrated as an attention skill! When you save something properly, you’re telling yourself: “I saw this. It mattered. I’ll come back to it on purpose.”
Two tools that help with this in complementary ways are Are.na and the Notion Web Clipper.
Okay, who here misses Tumblr? ::raises hand::
I use this tool in the same way I used Tumblr to visually share things I was drawn to and saving them for my own reference later.
It’s like a public notebook for curiosity. You CAN share things publicly but you also don’t have to. It can just be for you.
You save links, images, PDFs, videos, text blocks (whatever!) and organize them into “channels.” Over time, patterns start to show up. You can literally see what themes you keep returning to, what aesthetics you’re drawn to, what questions you keep circling.
This is powerful because it slows your attention down.
Instead of saving something with the vague hope you’ll “remember it later,” you’re placing it next to other related things. You’re collecting things. The act of deciding where it belongs forces a moment of reflection.
Some ways you might use Are.na:
A channel for creative references you want to study, not just admire
A running collection of articles that shape how you think about work or money
A personal research board for a project that doesn’t have a deadline yet
It works best when you treat it as a living map of your interests, not an archive you feel pressure to optimize.
Notion Web Clipper is more about integration with your existing systems and notes.
The web clipper lets you save pages directly into Notion databases. That means your saved links can live alongside tasks, notes, projects, and decisions rather than being stranded in a browser bookmark bar you never open.
This is especially useful if you:
Want to attach research directly to active projects
Save articles you plan to summarize or reference later
Need a “read later” list that actually connects to your work
The key difference is intention. When you clip something into Notion you can associate it with things you’re already working on or a specific topic.
Reducing distraction at the source
Of course, saving things intentionally only works if you’re not constantly being pulled away in the first place. This is where app blockers can help!
I like Opal for this. You can block specific apps or sites on your phone during certain times of day, or create focus windows where distraction-heavy apps simply aren’t an option. I use it daily and it’s been a game changer.
When fewer things are competing for your attention, the things you choose to engage with get more space to land.
A small experiment you can try this week
Pick one place where you’ll save interesting things this week (pick an app/method)
Every time something catches your attention, save it there instead of opening a new tab or trusting your memory.
At the end of the week, look at what you collected.
You’ll probably notice two things:
You remember more than you expected.
Your attention starts to feel less scattered, even if your workload hasn’t changed.
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