Why Protecting Your Attention Is the Most Radical Self-Care Move Right Now
Our attention is collapsing under the weight of digital overload, emotional exhaustion, and a culture built on distraction. In ‘Finding Focus’, Dr. Zelana Montminy explains why reclaiming your attention may be the most essential act of modern self-care.
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For years, people have lived with the feeling that something about their attention wasn’t quite right... that focusing required more effort than it used to. That our minds felt noisier, more scattered, less settled. For many of us, this isn’t new, and for some, just unnamed. Now, as conversations around burnout and nervous system health become more visible, what once felt isolating is starting to feel collective.
We’re not all of a sudden starting to lose our ability to focus. We’re recognizing how much mental strain we’ve been carrying.
Scroll culture and the unending ping of notifications have become ambient conditions. But beneath the surface, something deeper is happening. ‘Finding Focus’, the new book from clinical psychologist Dr. Zelena Montminy argues that we’re not dealing with a passing lifestyle shift or another cycle of digital overwhelm. We’re living through an attention crisis with consequences far beyond screen time.
“We are living through an attention epidemic,” she tells LA Times Studios, describing a world where “our attention is being completely hijacked by so many different things.” She sees it inside Fortune 500 companies, inside families, inside relationships... and in the emotional tone of daily life itself. And it’s not just the obvious culprits.
“Most people think it’s just devices,” she explains, “but it’s also about our addiction to the escape. We fill our days with things to do so we don’t have to sit with discomfort.”
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Why Focus Feels So Hard Right Now
Searches for ‘brain fog’ and ‘why can’t I focus’ have climbed steadily in recent years. Productivity culture, once aspirational, is rather exhausting. Dr. Zelena believes that’s because we’ve misunderstood the problem from the start.
“Focus is not discipline,” she says. “It’s not willpower. It’s biology.” That distinction matters. When attention is framed as a biological function rather than a personal shortcoming, the conversation can shift. The question becomes not “Why can’t I keep up?” but “What does my nervous system need in order to feel safe enough to focus?”
And that shift, from self-blame to self-understanding, is where something genuinely restorative can begin.
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What Chronic Distraction Does to the Brain
Research shows that chronic stress can elevate cortisol, disrupt executive functioning, and narrow cognitive bandwidth. Constant micro-interruptions flood the brain with novelty-driven dopamine spikes, reinforcing compulsive behaviors and shortening tolerance for quiet or sustained thought.
Pulling out your phone every few minutes doesn’t feel like a choice because, neurologically, it isn’t. “Our brain isn’t meant for so much input all at once,” explains Dr. Zelena. “We shut down neurologically. That’s why we feel so frazzled and tired at the end of the day.”
And what we call rest often deepens the problem. “Our version of a break is scrolling,” she says. “That’s not a break at all. That’s not a reset the brain needs.”
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The New Rules of Focus
Dr. Zelena’s approach is refreshing. She isn’t offering a rigid plan or a high-performance makeover. The premise of ‘Finding Focus’ is that focus is a muscle that requires rest, not pressure. “I wrote the book not as a productivity tool,” she says, “but as a way to come home to yourself and regain this fundamental skill set we’ve lost.”
That skill set begins with the nervous system. “Focus is shaped by emotional regulation, connection, and feeling safe,” she explains. “It’s not about willpower.”
Small, physiologically meaningful shifts matter most, and one of the simplest begins at the start of the day. “Your brain wakes up like wet cement,” explains Dr. Zelena. Reaching for your phone immediately interrupts that natural settling process. “If you wake up in someone else’s life, your brain is primed for distraction the rest of the day.”
Trying even a short buffer, a few minutes before engaging with screens, can actually change attention quality, she says.
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The Reset That Actually Works
Another core principle is strategic interruption. Before opening a new tab or reaching for your phone, she recommends a brief reset...one that works with the nervous system rather than against it.
The most effective is a breathing pattern: inhale for four, hold for two, exhale for six. “When your exhale is longer than your inhale, you stimulate the vagus nerve,” she explains. “It’s the body’s brake system.” The result is a measurable downshift in heart rate, blood pressure, cortisol, and mental noise.
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The Myths We Need to Let Go Of
Few cultural beliefs are as in our faces as the idea that multitasking means efficiency. Dr. Zelena sees the consequences daily. “Multitasking decreases productivity by 40 percent,” she explains. It also disrupts memory encoding, leaving people unable to recall what they actually did during the day.
Another deeply rooted myth is that business equals purpose. In reality, constant motion often masks avoidance. “We fill our days and lives with things to do so we don’t have to feel the feelings,” she says.
And a lot of people think struggling to focus means there’s something wrong with them. But Dr. Zelena pushes back on that idea by explaining that our focus doesn’t fail because of a lack of character, but that it can start to slip away when our systems are on overload.
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What It Looks Like in Real Life
Despite the depth of her ideas, the application is actually very practical. Those who integrate these shifts report meaningful changes, not just in productivity, but in how they feel.
Some start with visual distance: looking at something far away to reset the visual system. Others use brief movement (rolling their shoulders, standing up, going outside) to restore circulation and oxygen flow.
And others use a particularly effective tool Dr. Zelena calls the “brain dump.” Just writing things down...worries, to-dos, half-formed thoughts...so they’re no longer spinning in our heads. Putting them on paper helps clear mental clutter and gives your mind the sense of order it can’t always create on its own.
The common thread here is awareness. “Unplugging starts with awareness,” Dr. Zelena explains. “Not deprivation.”
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Why This Moment Matters
Those who integrate these practices often describe profound shifts. Sleep improves. Emotional regulation stabilizes. Relationships feel more present. Many describe a sense of returning to themselves. “It’s life-changing,” she says.
And so, as the new year begins, moments when many of us instinctively take stock and reset our intentions, reframing attention as a form of agency feels especially resonant. As Dr. Zelena puts it, “When you can own your attention, you start to own your life again.”
Click here to learn more about Dr. Zelena Montminy
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