The Attention Economy: Don’t blink your life into focus

There are certain rituals that have ingrained themselves into my daily routine. In the mornings, I brush my teeth and pass a comb through my hair. I wash a mug and position it under the coffee machine. If I'm bothered, I might even tear a page off of the almanac and let the day reveal itself to me. These are all learned processes; they require little physical effort or mental strain, and they benefit me. These tasks are mindful, deliberate and they allow me to be present. And then I bow my head and undermine them all by casting my eyes in blue light. 

Perhaps one of the greatest Chekhov’s guns of all time was hearing about “that damn phone” for the entirety of your youth only for the prop to reveal its true intent in your adulthood. The purpose or plot twist in question is cognitive decline. Excessive screen time has been linked to neurodegeneration, attention deficit disorders and dementia-like symptoms. This is the ‘gotcha’ moment of technological corporations we have grown up supporting through the defensive position of our digital addiction. Screen time justifies its existence in our lives by embedding itself into our schedule. In 2026, your designated hour for doomscrolling is as important as your mealtimes. Sometimes, they aren’t even separate, your eyes may consume media at the same rate as your physical appetite. Unlike the way your food metabolises, nourishes and sources vitamins, screens wear away and thin your cerebral cortex and cause your brain to atrophy (Dom-Wp-Admin, 2026). 

 At its advent, the digital age offered us an escape from reality. These days, reality often acts as a break from the byproducts of the internet. Short form content is beginning to frame the way in which we perceive the world and how we gauge entertainment. Vertical dramas loom on the horizon, “films” engineered to be digested quickly, histrionically and without nuance. Generation Z and early‑millennial cohorts now account for more than 70 percent of all vertical video consumption, preferring episodes under five minutes (Vertical Drama Market 2026 to 2034, n.d.) These micro-dramas are nothing more than bubble-gum for the brain with narratives that exist as digital page-turners. It is unfair to equate this media to literature;however, as a good micro drama equates to the worst novel you have ever read; a story that tells you who to root for, repeats itself often and strictly depends on you buying into the sequel. 

The theatrics expressed in bite-sized media have also influenced the ways we settle on mundane things such as recipes. Endless algorithm cycles have caused influencers to distinguish their content by appealing to the senses. The act of targeting the viewer through hyper-specific engagement comes with satisfying visuals like soap carvings, slime tutorials and the fetishisation of food.  Influencers market their creations on their ASMR quality or how craveable or convenient they appear. Viewers want meals which feast on the eyes, pasta dishes which stretch mozzarella five yards into the air with a fork, that can be made in one bowl. Brownie recipes have transformed into “the ultimate, quick and easy fudgy brookie recipe with a shiny, crackly finish.” You cannot sample food through the screen, therefore chefs will feed you their concoctions through superlatives, hyperboles and vivid descriptions which stimulate your brain like taste receptors. 

Our generation's cookbook is likely a saved folder on Instagram or Tiktok. Therefore, unlike a physical collection, recipe videos are now fighting for your attention. Every recipe must compete against its predecessor in some capitalistic manifestation of malicious indulgence and gratification. 

The death of the analogue:fridge magnets, photo albums and DVD archives, have fuelled Instagram carousels indefinitely. A digital diary master crafted against certain soundtracks, niche captions and those tagged acquaintances exists for the purpose of telling your followers who exactly you are. Snapshots are selected in order to channel a specific curated angle, somehow removed from the egocentric buffer that charges the most successful of profiles. Platforms can try and convince us that through removing ‘like’ counts, they also remove the rivalry or the anxiety that accompanies online validation. However, unless you keep a physical journal, a scrapbook or a collage, you will never post on the internet ‘for yourself.’ Moreover, by isolating yourself from the vicarious online avatar you keep, you also alleviate the compounding pressure to transfigure yourself in a way that pleases others. 

I would implore readers to not be passive in the great changes that are happening in the world today. Observe how many are mindlessly scrolling on their commute to work, overexerting their thumb muscles. Notice the soft tissue shift in your pinkie finger, moulding to suit the shape of your phone. Remain critical in an era that pushes artificial intelligence into every crevice it can get away with. Ask yourself why we carry with us a device that compromises our ability to think straight- like a devil on our shoulder or in our pockets. Consider time allocation and how precious every moment is, think about how more precious your time would be if it were strictly your own. 

Tomorrow morning, the ritual will repeat. I’ll brush my teeth, make my coffee, and try to unknot my hair and my mind. Yesterday’s date will stare starkly from the almanac and I’ll bother to tear it off. These are all learned processes; they require little physical effort or mental strain, and they benefit me. These tasks are mindful, deliberate and they allow me to be present. And then, I’ll hover between decisions.  

Dom-Wp-Admin. (2026, June 5). What excessive screen time does to the adult brain. https://lifestylemedicine.stanford.edu/what-excessive-screen-time-does-to-the-adult-brain/

Lewis, T., Addison-Smith, H., & Middha, B. (2025). What’s (not) on the digital food menu: from ‘visual feasts’ to a sustainable future food imaginary on Instagram. Cultural Studies, 40(2), 310–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2025.2576862

Vertical Drama Market 2026 to 2034. (n.d.). Intel Market Research. https://www.intelmarketresearch.com/vertical-drama-2025-2032-332-5712