The War for Your Attention
Fighting back—and winning—is achievable, important, and actually enjoyable.
Look the Wrong Way
Look for things nobody wants you to look for. Look slowly. Look repeatedly.
Life Is a Game
Make tedious tasks fun and meaningful by inventing amusing goals and rules.
Adventurous Listening
Reprise a piano-less piano piece, or tour your neighborhood for distinctive sounds.
Come To Your Senses
Smell, touch, and taste something new, weird, or interesting. Write about it.
Beyond the Five Senses
Discover forms of perception that defy easy categorization.
The Power of Conditional Thinking
“What, among everything you encounter, could be made better, somehow?”
Break Out of Routine
Embrace novelty by changing things up—your routes, schedules, and more.
Attending to Others
Connect to strangers, friends, and colleagues through writing, listening, and learning.
Creative Noticing
Take a photo without a camera. Curate your own public art. See where your mind goes.
Care for Something
“Commit to making the time to attend to what really matters to you.”
Practice Paying Attention
Apply what you’ve learned to invent your own creative ways of noticing.
Getting Grounded
Anchor yourself to the present by engaging all of your senses.
Attention as a Gift
Deliberate focus can give even ordinary experiences profound meaning.
A Jot of Care
Capture small moments of luck and delight with quick notes and short phrases.
Crate Dig Reality
Algorithms play what we already know. Patience and attention help us hear new hits.
Mission as Exploration
Discover your city anew by turning local attractions into personal quests.
Find Your Fourth Place
We have spaces for family, work, and community. Make one for solitary reflection.
Practice Mindful Materialism
Uncovering hidden stories in everyday objects helps us distinguish treasure from clutter.
Imaginative Engagement
Sensing with creativity can transform ordinary encounters into vivid experiences.
Curiosity as Action
Following through on our inquisitive thoughts can lead to unexpected opportunities.
Generate Ignorance
“If you're not learning to ask new questions, you're not learning.”
Ask “Craft” Questions
Elicit details that are surprising, personal, and imaginative.
Enlist a Curiosity Collaborator
Co-exploration of everyday marvels can deepen relationships and broaden perspective.
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The Art of Noticing
In The Art of Noticing, Rob Walker—a journalist, author, and educator—invites us to attend carefully and playfully to everyday curiosities that most of us tend to overlook.
“Fending off distraction isn’t quite the same thing as making the most of our attention.” By engaging the senses, Rob says, we can enrich our daily lives with meaning, boost creativity, and even “reframe the way we take in the world.”
to listen to all 24 sessions in this series.
Artwork by Ryan Miller