Are the Adults Alright?
It’s been awhile since our last newsletter, which can easily be something to get down about. But we’ve been working on big changes in our product and in our community, and sometimes you have to learn to give yourself breathing room. I hope that you can see and feel those changes as you read the next couple issues, and that the message we are cultivating is a strong one that resonates with you. Thanks for sticking with us as we learn how to build the future together with a bit more clarity.
And if you’re a new reader, welcome! We’re glad to have you with us; I hope you find our work helpful and you’re inspired to make new connections.
I still can’t shake an article I read last week from Greater Good Magazine called “The Youngest Generation Isn’t Lazy: They’re Burned Out.” The study pointed out that what sets this generation apart is the sharp rise in expectations without the resources and support to handle them. These young people are emotionally exhausted and prone to perfectionism - both indicators of higher stress levels and increased overwhelm with the demands on their time.
Today’s students see themselves as a commodity. Why? Because that is what we have told them they are. They believe that every moment has to be filled and every action has to be monetized. They are always “on”, making all aspects of life feel like a performance. They perform for school. They perform for peers. They perform for parents. Everything is…too much. And thanks to technology, they are now doing this around the clock, 24/7 through attention-optimizing experiences. There’s no break from feeling looked after and looked at. So there is no room for failure.
It’s important to know that for kids, this means that increasingly, nothing they do seems good enough or safe enough. They are cautious, hard on themselves, and disillusioned about their future. And it’s important to ask, as adults: how did we get here? We have to widen our perspective to truly understand the contributory factors of this burnout.
So it’s important to admit that this generation is growing up overstimulated. Of course, it’s due in part to society, parents, and even teachers. And also partly due to the demands and expectations placed on them by media & social technology in itself. I mean, the story of kids struggling against society’s woes is not exactly a novel one. So the question becomes, why are we more demanding of kids than ever before?
The answer, likely, is that adults are overstimulated too.
Take parents, for example. Similar to their children, parents are also exposed now to the expectations of school and society through engaging digital experiences around the clock. You might even be caught up in this yourself. You’ve seen 100 times more stories and videos about what could go wrong than previous generations could have dreamed. So you can't help but get more cautious as a result. Decisions that parents wouldn’t have thought twice about 30 years ago are now being second-guessed and endless comparisons are made as we’re shown what could be. The possibilities go on and on, and our response is to demand it all and hope for parenting perfection.
This means that kids typically get fewer opportunities to explore and make mistakes. They see finish lines in the distance that are only accessible through academic achievement and commitment to a future that might not even be attainable.
“The frequent use of technology affects how we behave and connect with one another,” says Michael Manos, Head of the ADHD Center for Evaluation & Treatment at the Cleveland Clinic. It leads to worry and pressure, and this causes us to act irrationally. To lose focus. And in developing children, this can actually be damaging. Overstimulation short-circuits the frontal lobe, which can mimic (or heighten) mental health, learning, and behavioral disorders.
As you can imagine, that might fuel more worry - why are children lazy, stressed, unmotivated, angry?
And what about teachers? How might overstimulation be manifesting itself there?
So when we hear people say how can kids be so darn burned out when they have everything at their fingertips? …what we should say back to that is… exactly. How would your teenage self have dealt with being handed everything all at once?
This is why it’s difficult to look at the demands of society and technology in isolation. We don’t have enough of a picture. We are in a state of chronic stress. And on top of it all, we’re not sure if anything we’re worried about is right.
Our brains (and bodies) require frequent breaks from this behavior, but we’re not great at administering this. It’s hard to disrupt the cycle. How do we ensure we are all equipped with the ability to manage attention and find focus in a highly-stimulating world?
This is why we are expanding our own focus to include uses for both of these groups - adults and children - inside Focusable. We need embedded school, workplace, and cultural changes far beyond the siloed calls for more “self care”. And we hope to play a big role in shaping what this looks like.
How do you think overstimulation affects teachers? Let’s chat - hit reply and let me know your thoughts. Or, your can leave a comment on this post.
The Optima List
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📣 Community Expansion!
Now you can connect with Optimalists all over the world. We are excited to introduce the public launch of our community space on Discord! This is place to talk about mindfulness, focus, and the future of education in the age of AI.
Click below to join our server. ⤵
💬 #Optimalist Chat
On 12/8, Principal Mike Earnshaw led our bi-weekly Twitter chat in a conversation about recharging and restoring to make sure you can focus and be at your best. A perfect topic for the busiest month of the year that can easily get away from us.
If you missed the original chat, you can view all of the insights from participants in this Wakelet collection.
Next week: Tim Belmont guest hosts on 12/22 with Fresh Eyes, Fresh Focus - an honest chat about having a clean slate to build focus in the new year. As many of us head into the beginning of winter break, it’s a good time for resetting as well.
⭐ Member Spotlight
This month, Andrea Trudeau shared Focusable as part of the Future Ready Schools Digital Learning App Smash.
In the video below, Andrea shows us how she uses a Progression in Focusable to help her self-regulate, reflect, and find focus when her attention drifts. “Before I used this tool I thought I was great at managing my time, but I’ve realized I’m not as focused as I thought. It’s been incredible for self-awareness,” she explains.
Thanks to Andrea for her continued enthusiasm for helping more people manage their attention for better mental health.
🌅 On the Horizon
We are approaching the end of the first year of this newsletter, and with that will come some reflections on our accomplishments and what we want to improve. You should expect more frequent writing delivered to your inbox, regular ways to gather and collaborate, professional learning opportunities, and support for the work people are doing to prioritize mindfulness & focus in education.
📰 The Optimalist Recommends
As we mentioned above, adults are overstimulated too. But we didn’t experience it in our childhoods the way today’s youngest generations are. Does this shape the way we have to think about what they need? It sure does. I can feel that tension in this article, and I think it’s important to understand the complexity:
Does SEL Make Students Ready for Work? We Asked Educators
Thanks to Stacey Roshan for posting this next piece in our Discord community last night. It’s a refreshing outside look at the work that goes into prioritizing focus as a practice that you work on every day, with effort. The author calls it “a state, rather than an end-game”. Check it out here:
Stop Thinking About Productivity and Start Thinking About Focus
Let us know your thoughts about SEL, productivity, and focus in the comments section below. I’m sure other readers would love to have a conversation.
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