All posts tagged: Attention

Jay McGuiness: “Musicals are a safer way of getting attention”

Jay McGuiness: “Musicals are a safer way of getting attention”

Published by Daniella Wilson

While Jay McGuiness is best known for a run of 2010s club bangers and perhaps the most-loved jive in Strictly history, he is, in fact, more at home under the roof of a West End theatre. The Wanted singer has appeared in many a major musical since 2019, from the UK tour of &Juliet to the London debut of Big the Musical – where he was praised for “charming” and “starry-eyed” version of Tom Hanks’s original role. Now, he’s heading back to the stage again, to star as Iker in the world premiere concert of Sea Witch – a brand-new retelling of The Little Mermaid. Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, McGuiness said starring in musicals was him “reverting to type” and going back to his performing arts roots. “It was always something that I loved. It always felt like a safe way of getting attention, because everyone on some level, likes a little bit of attention. But in the first year of auditioning, one of my auditions was for a big record label boy band, and …

Attention cyclists and exercise bike riders—complete our survey for a chance to win a 0 Amazon voucher

Attention cyclists and exercise bike riders—complete our survey for a chance to win a $300 Amazon voucher

Published by Jenni Sidey

Here at Fit&Well, we’re on a mission to inspire you to try activities that could improve your wellbeing. In this case, I’d like to inspire bike owners (including those who own an indoor exercise bikes) to complete our survey about cycling. And how could that improve your wellbeing? Well, agree to share your name and email and you’ll be in with a chance of winning a $300 Amazon voucher (or £250 if you’re based in the UK or Ireland). Hopefully that covers the inspiration bit, too. The survey should take between 10 and 20 minutes to complete and will ask about how often you cycle and why, the equipment you own and where you buy it from, and where you get your information about cycling, among other things. You may like The survey is open until March 26, 2026, with full T&Cs available to review before you begin the survey. Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox. Source link

Do you like cat photos? Are you constantly distracted? You’re probably actually quite good at focusing: 10 myths about attention | Life and style

Do you like cat photos? Are you constantly distracted? You’re probably actually quite good at focusing: 10 myths about attention | Life and style

Published by Sam Flores

It’s believed that we have about 50,000 thoughts a day: big, small, urgent, banal – “Did I leave the oven on?”. And those are just the ones that register. Subconsciously, we’re constantly sifting through a barrage of stimuli: background noise, clutter on our desks, the mere presence of our phones. Every second, 11m bits of information enter our brains. Just 0.0004% is perceived by our conscious minds, showing just how hard our brains are working to parse what’s sufficiently relevant to bring to our attention. It’s no wonder you feel distracted. Formidable though they may be, our brains’ processing powers are a poor match for the fast-paced modern world, the constant pings of our devices and sources of distraction. Many of us routinely feel overwhelmed, and struggle to focus on what we need to get done. But a new book suggests doing so may be easier than we think. In Focus On-Off, Dutch experts Mark Tigchelaar and Oscar de Bos argue that we can better harness our attention by better understanding our brains, and learning …

How training your gaze could help you master sports — and your own attention

How training your gaze could help you master sports — and your own attention

Published by Jenni Sidey

Professional sports are the playgrounds of the physically gifted. But size, speed, and strength aren’t the only factors that matter. For all of the tall, fast, and chiseled elite athletes, there are a few who look, well, like the rest of us. Soccer’s Diego Maradona, basketball’s Steve Nash, and hockey’s Wayne Gretzky come to mind. Yet despite these athletes’ comparatively unexceptional physical attributes, they still reached the pinnacle of performance in their respective arenas. What, then, sets them apart? More than four decades ago, Joan Vickers developed a hypothesis. This inkling emerged when Vickers was a PhD student learning from some of the greatest cognitive scientists of all time, including Anne Treisman and Daniel Kahneman. From perception psychologist Stan Coren, she learned how to record eye movements with sophisticated trackers. In that lab, she thought back to her past dalliances with greatness in her own small corner of the sporting world.  As an undergraduate at the University of New Brunswick more than a decade prior, Vickers had played four years of varsity volleyball and varsity …

People Who Are Desperate For Attention Say These 11 Phrases On A Regular Basis

People Who Are Desperate For Attention Say These 11 Phrases On A Regular Basis

Published by Jenni Sidey

There are people in our lives that we will meet who are natural attention-seekers. They desire to be the center of attention. They’ll stop at nothing to make themselves noticed by everyone else. People who are desperate for attention will do things that rub the average person the wrong way. They’ll post questionable things on social media to get attention. Making unusual comments is another thing they are comfortable doing. They’ll say what they think, when they think it, to pull the attention from others onto themselves. People like this can be difficult to be friends with. It might feel draining at times. If you notice someone saying these phrases often, they are likely attention-seeking. People who are desperate for attention say these 11 phrases on a regular basis 1. ‘No one cares about me’ Antonio_Diaz from Getty Images via Canva When someone wants to be the center of attention, they may say something like, ‘No one cares about me.’ It’s an easy phrase that leaves a genuine person feeling guilty. Naturally, most people would want …

Trump heads to Iowa hoping to refocus attention from shootings to the economy : NPR

Trump heads to Iowa hoping to refocus attention from shootings to the economy : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

President Trump arrives at Reagan Washington National Airport. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption toggle caption Alex Brandon/AP President Trump is heading on Tuesday to Iowa, where he’s looking to change the subject to his economic agenda as his administration faces growing backlash over his immigration crackdown in Minnesota. More Republicans are calling for an investigation after a second U.S. citizen was shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis. The president is expected to tour a local business and give a speech on energy and the economy. His chief of staff, Susie Wiles, says the trip is the beginning of what will eventually be weekly travel across the U.S. in support of Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections. But Trump is unlikely to escape the controversy surrounding his administration’s immigration tactics in Minneapolis. “The primary news story at the moment isn’t just the ICE-related shooting. It’s the response to the ICE-related shooting,” said Ryan Williams, a veteran Republican strategist who helped lead Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. “That’s what’s going to be the focus. And the president …

Reboot your brain: 3 steps to fix your attention span to get your focus back

Reboot your brain: 3 steps to fix your attention span to get your focus back

Published by Sam Flores

It’s no wonder our attention spans are shrinking. When we’re engaged with the world in front of us, pings and dings interrupt. And in the lulls, we use screens to outrun moments of boredom, anxiety and loneliness. These digital distractions have made it hard to sustain focus – while working, reading a book or spending time with friends and family. Some people find that they struggle to keep their minds trained on a single task even with phone and email notifications turned off. But attention is a learned habit, said Daniel Smilek, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. And just as short-form content and endless scrolling can condition your brain to chase novelty, you can also build routines to reclaim your focus. STEP 1: DO AN ATTENTION AUDIT In general, people underestimate how much they use their phones and how often their minds wander, Dr Smilek said. But spotting these little detours can blunt their impact and make them easier to defend against, he added. Next time you start …

Zelensky Blasts Europe’s Inaction, Paralysis As Greenland Sideshow Consumes Attention

Zelensky Blasts Europe’s Inaction, Paralysis As Greenland Sideshow Consumes Attention

Published by Jenni Sidey

“Europe loves to discuss the future but avoids taking action today.” As Bloomberg has described it, a visibly angry Zelensky Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tore into European leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. “Where is the line of leaders who are ready to act?” he questioned. Highlighting that his own capital is in the midst of a power and water crisis after nightly Russian bombardment, Zelensky shamed European capitals for being unwilling to stop Putin, now nearly four years into the war. This included emphasis on the failed push to outright seize frozen Russian assets in Europe. Is he taking a page from Trump’s playbook, taking the opportunity to blame and lash out at Europe? The talk had themes of a fragmented Europe which looks lost in the face of much stronger and more decisive US power and Trump’s demands. Zelensky in Davos, Shutterstock/BBC “Why can President Trump stop tankers from the shadow fleet and seize oil, when Europe doesn’t?” Zelensky posed. “If Putin has no money, there is no war for Europe.” “We …

5 Things People Who Naturally Set The Tone Do That Make Others Pay Attention | Crystal Kulpcavage

5 Things People Who Naturally Set The Tone Do That Make Others Pay Attention | Crystal Kulpcavage

Published by Jenni Sidey

A common complaint I hear from women working in Corporate America is that their ideas, their opinions, and their input are rarely heard and applied. It can be incredibly frustrating to dedicate your time and energy to your work, to give serious thought to how to improve the company, and then not be able to convey or implement those brilliant ideas.  And, let’s face it, even if you’re not a working woman who wants to force change up through the ranks, we all deal with this issue at home, whether it be with our spouses, our children, or anyone else, for that matter. If you find yourself repeating points over and over again, or constantly bringing up the same topic, check out these tips for how to naturally set the tone of the room and have your voice heard once and for all. Here are 5 things people who set the tone do that make others pay attention: 1. They choose when to speak When you want to be heard, you first need to listen …

Social media, not gaming, tied to rising attention problems in teens, new study finds

Social media, not gaming, tied to rising attention problems in teens, new study finds

Published by José Betancourt

The digital revolution has become a vast, unplanned experiment – and children are its most exposed participants. As ADHD diagnoses rise around the world, a key question has emerged: could the growing use of digital devices be playing a role? To explore this, we studied more than 8,000 children, from when they were around ten until they were 14 years of age. We asked them about their digital habits and grouped them into three categories: gaming, TV/video (YouTube, say) and social media. The latter included apps such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, X, Messenger and Facebook. We then analysed whether usage was associated with long-term change in the two core symptoms of ADHD: inattentiveness and hyperactivity. Our main finding was that social media use was associated with a gradual increase in inattentiveness. Gaming or watching videos was not. These patterns remained the same even after accounting for children’s genetic risk for ADHD and their families’ income. We also tested whether inattentiveness might cause children to use more social media instead. It didn’t. The direction ran one …