Hi Reader,

96 times.

That's how often the average person checks their phone each day. Once every 10 minutes of your waking life.

Once every 10 minutes of your waking life.

After each interruption? It takes 23 minutes to fully regain your focus.

Do the math with me: we're bleeding hours of deep work, creative thinking, and meaningful connection every single day—and most of us don't even realize it's happening.

I've been there too. Grabbing for "just a minute" to check a message and emerging from a YouTube rabbit hole 45 minutes later. Or reaching for my phone the second I feel that tiny moment of boredom or discomfort.

But after years of experimentation and research, I've realized something important: this isn't just about lack of willpower or discipline. Those typical solutions (app blockers, digital detoxes, home-screen setups) keep failing because they only address the one aspect of the problem.

What we're really up against is a sophisticated three-front war designed specifically to capture our attention. Our focus is being systematically stolen, and it's costing us.

And once you understand how it works, you can build defenses that actually stick.

In this newsletter, I'll share the three-part 'Mind Fortress' system I've developed to defend against the triple threat to our attention: device design, content algorithms, and psychological vulnerabilities. By implementing these strategies, you'll be able to reclaim your focus in a world designed to steal it.

The Three-Front War on Your Attention

To solve any problem, you need to understand what you're really up against. Focus isn't just about avoiding distractions — it's about defending yourself in a war most people don't even realize is happening.

Front 1: Device Design

Your devices are no longer just tools — they're engineered to hijack your brain.

Nir Eyal, who literally wrote the manual tech companies use to make addictive products ("Hooked"), explains that our devices use something called the "Hook Model" — a four-step process that creates habits:

1. Trigger (notification)
2. Action (tap)
3. Variable Reward (something new and interesting)
4. Investment (posting, replying, creating content)

That's why you check your phone even when there's no notification. The physical design is deliberately crafted to make checking your device irresistible. The smooth glass, satisfying haptic feedback, red notification dots, and pull-to-refresh motion (which mimics slot machines) all create an irresistible experience.

Your phone has evolved far away from the simple "iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator" all-in-one tool that Steve Jobs originally designed.

It's a slot machine in your pocket.

Front 2: Content Algorithms

Once the device gets you looking, the content keeps you hooked.

Every major platform — Instagram, YouTube, TikTok — uses sophisticated algorithms designed to maximize "engagement." But engagement is just a sanitized word for addiction.

These systems track everything — how long you pause on certain content, what makes you click, what keeps you watching — and feed you more of whatever triggers your specific dopamine system.

The terrifying part? These algorithms know you better than you know yourself. They've processed more data about your behavior than you could ever consciously track.

Think about those moments when you close an app and immediately reopen it seconds later without even thinking about it. That's not an accident — it's sophisticated behavioral design at work.

Front 3: Psychological Vulnerabilities

The final and most insidious front exploits something fundamental about human nature.

Time management is actually pain management. We don't check Instagram or YouTube because we're weak — we do it because we're human. When we feel bored, lonely, insecure, or overwhelmed, distraction provides temporary relief.

And the modern world gives us plenty of discomfort to escape from.

We never have to be alone with our thoughts anymore, and we've lost the ability to sit with discomfort or boredom for even a few minutes.

This is where things get deeper: Our brains are wired to seek pleasure and avoid pain. It's a balance that evolved to help us survive and thrive in a world of scarcity. But in today's world of overwhelming abundance, that balance is constantly being tilted.

Think of dopamine as the "pleasure chemical" in our brains. The more of it we get, the more we crave. And the easier it is to access, the stronger the potential for compulsive behavior.

What's even more insidious? High levels of stimulation desensitize us to pleasure over time.

In her book "Dopamine Nation," Dr. Anna Lembke explains that with repeated exposure, our brain's pleasure-pain balance gets weighted to the side of pain. The result? We need ever-increasing doses to feel the same rewards (tolerance), and we find it harder to feel joy in simple, everyday experiences.

This is why our brains crave the constant stream of novelty and stimulation that technology provides. We're chasing a high that's always just beyond our grasp. Yet over time, our modern comfort-seeking culture teaches us to avoid even minor discomfort, making us hypersensitive to the slightest inconvenience or boredom.

This is why traditional solutions fail. App blockers, willpower, and digital detoxes are like bringing a knife to a gunfight. They only address one aspect of a sophisticated, multi-front attack on our attention.

What you need isn't just another productivity hack—you need a complete defense system that addresses all three fronts simultaneously.

Building Your Mind Fortress: The Three-Part Defense System

According to research from UC Irvine, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to a task after being distracted. If you're distracted even 5 times in a workday, that's nearly 2 hours of lost productivity — not counting the decreased quality of work from constant context switching.

This Mind Fortress approach directly counters each front of the attention war with a specific defense strategy. Let's break it down:

Step 1: Fortify Your Digital Environment (Counters Device Design)

First, you need to redesign your digital environment to work for you instead of against you.

Start with a 24-hour digital declutter. This isn't about throwing away your devices — it's about reconfiguring them to serve you rather than exploiting you.

On your phone:

• Remove all non-essential apps from your home screen, especially those with algorithmic feeds.
• Turn off ALL notifications except calls and texts from actual humans
• Use grayscale mode to reduce the visual appeal of colorful icons
• Set up app limits and downtime in your phone settings
• Setup your phone charger outside of your bedroom at night.
• Use a dumb-phone style launcher (optional)

On your computer:

• Uninstall non-essential applications
• Clean up bookmarks and favorites to only essential sites
• Use website blockers during focus time
• Create separate user accounts or use different web browsers for work vs. personal use
• Install a news feed blocker for social media sites

The goal isn't perfection — it's creating an environment where focus is the path of least resistance.

We basically want to turn our devices back into the practical tools that they were originally designed to be, instead of the dopamine slot machines they've become.

Step 2: Become a Producer, Not a Consumer (Counters Content Algorithms)

The most powerful way to beat the content algorithms is to flip the script entirely.

Instead of being a passive consumer of other people's content, become a creator of your own. This doesn't mean you need to start making YouTube videos (though I obviously think that's a great idea). It means shifting from consumption-first to creation-first in your daily life.

The Creation-Before-Consumption Rule

The simplest way to implement this is the "creation before consumption" rule. Before you allow yourself to consume anything—social media, news, videos—you must create something first. This could be:

• Writing or journaling
• Working on a project that matters to you
• Planning or organizing your ideas
• Creating something related to your work, studies, or personal interests

Do something, anything that adds value to your life or the world rather than just consuming from it.

Use time blocking to make this concrete — On my calendar I reserve the mornings every day as sacred creation time. Nothing else happens during these hours — no emails, no messages, no consumption of any kind. Just focused creation.

When you do this consistently, something magical happens. You'll find yourself craving creation time because it provides a deeper, more sustainable satisfaction than passive consumption ever could.

And when you do consume, try to do so with intention.

Cal Newport calls this "high-quality leisure" — activities that require presence and engagement rather than mindless distraction.

You'll find that having a meaningful focus project pulls your attention away from distractions naturally.

For me, apart from my day job, it's my YouTube channel and my writing. For you, it might be learning an instrument, building a side business, studying for school, or working on a hobby that challenges you.

The key is having something worth focusing on.

Step 3: Build Your Mental Defense System (Counters Psychological Vulnerabilities)

Finally, you need to strengthen your internal defenses against the psychological vulnerabilities being exploited.

First, understand how your internal triggers work. When you feel the urge to check your phone or hop on social media, pause and ask: "What emotion am I experiencing right now?" Boredom? Loneliness? Insecurity? Uncertainty?

Just naming the feeling reduces its power. Then use the "10-minute rule" — when you feel an urge, tell yourself you can give in, but have to wait for 10 minutes. This creates space between impulse and action and most of the time will be enough to extinguish the urge.

Now depending on how distracted the state of your mind is, I occasionally find it helpful to implement a simple dopamine reset practice:

For at least 24 hours, abstain from all optional technology, processed foods, and other easy dopamine hits. It's challenging at first, but it recalibrates your brain's reward system so everyday activities become more satisfying again.

I've also found that meditation (even just 10 minutes daily) dramatically strengthens this mental muscle. It's like a gym workout for your attention span.

Remember — your focus isn't just a productivity tool. It's the foundation for everything meaningful in life: deep work, genuine relationships, and the ability to be truly present in your own life.

Today's society is engineered to turn you into a mindless consumer. The Mind Fortress system helps you become something more powerful — a focused creator in control of your own mind.

Think about what you could accomplish if you could focus better than 99% of people around you. That's not just a productivity advantage — it's a life advantage.

Start with just one element from each defense front today. Reconfigure your phone, schedule 30 minutes of creation before consumption, and practice the 10-minute rule when you feel the urge to check something.

Your mind fortress won't be built in a day, but every brick you add makes the foundation stronger.

Do something today that your future, focused self will thank you for.

Miles

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P.S. If you're ready to take your focus and productivity to the next level, I'm creating something special for you. Join the waitlist for my upcoming program, Purposeful Productivity. It'll include the complete system for defeating distraction and achieving deep focus in your life. This isn't just another productivity course—it's a comprehensive approach to reclaiming your focus and using it for what truly matters.

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