Your Attention Is Being Sold: 4 Strategies To Protect It

Forbes

3 days ago

New data underscores the booming business of attention—with advertising spend outpacing consumer ... More spend.
Feeling increasingly distracted? New data suggests it's not in your head. According to PwC, global entertainment and media revenues are projected to reach $3.5 trillion by 2029. What's fueling growth? Buying and selling attention.
The report highlights that advertising spend is projected to grow three times faster than consumer spend (6.1% vs 2% CAGR). When companies are willing to pay a cost per click, the world is designed to distract - and that design is profitable.
Distraction isn't a personal flaw. In 2025, when attention is more commoditized than ever, the smarter move is to prepare for distraction—and sharpen strategies for when it inevitably happens.
Attention: Profitable for Companies. Costly for Consumers.
Consumer focus is incredibly valuable - to companies. Just as an example, Meta's 2025 revenue, over $164 billion across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and more, comes largely from ads. But what these platforms really monetize is time and attention.
As a result, if attention is profitable for companies, it is costly for people in ways that add up:
Lost Productivity: Research aggregated by UC Berkeley shows it can take between 8 and 23 minutes to return to deep focus after an interruption. What does this mean? Getting distracted three times in a day, even if briefly, could mean an hour of overall lost productivity.
Mental Health: Studies link frequent phone connection to poor sleep quality and higher stress.
Addiction: Reports suggest that it can take just 30–35 minutes of scrolling on TikTok to trigger addictive patterns.
As Dr. Thekla Brumder Ross, clinical psychologist, addiction and well-being expert, shared in a Zoom interview, 'The average American spends 12 hours a day on a screen… it's rewiring our dopamine reinforcement loops. And there is no current criteria in the DSM-5 for general technology addiction."
Decreased Joy: Time away from phones, especially in motion, has been tied to higher life satisfaction. Small pockets of disconnection matter.
Attention Management: Four Strategies to Sharpen Focus
What can you do? One tactic is simply disabling alerts; a 2025 Reuters analysis found 43% of respondents turned off news notifications. However, in work and life total disconnection is rarely possible and platforms will continue innovating ways to pursue attention.
Better than unplugging is a plan: build a deliberate playbook to manage connection and handle distraction. Here are four strategies to do exactly that:
At least once a day take a 5-10 minute phone-free walk. Use the time for social connection or simply enjoy your own thoughts, not someone else's.
Try this: When you go get coffee, swing by a coworker's desk, or step outside, leave the phone behind at least once next week.
Use your phone to help manage your focus.
Try This: Go beyond 'Do Not Disturb' by programming focus modes by day, time and app for different work and life scenarios.
For example, if you prioritize deep work from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Wednesdays but still need to be reachable for family or a key client, you can program a mode that allows only those calls and blocks social apps.
As new scenarios arise, take 30 seconds to create a focus mode for it so you are ready next time.
Brumder Ross recommends a strategy called 'Release the Grip' to promote intentional phone use.
Try This: Instead of grabbing your device, place your palm gently on top of it, turn it face up and ask, 'What do I need in this moment?' This is a self-compassion check.
Maybe you need to knock out a few transactional tasks. Maybe you don't. Maybe you simply need to write a note and handle it later. The question interrupts the impulse to scroll and clarifies intent.
Every notification creates an opening. First Slack, then LinkedIn, then the pull to check one more thing. Instagram. Being reachable isn't just about responsiveness. It's about attention - and how easily it gets redirected.
As a result, managing distraction means managing expectations. 'No one is going to communicate your boundaries for you. You have to do that,' Brumder Ross says.
Try This: Clarify when you're reachable and how. Use tools people actually check: calendar blocks, Slack statuses or away messages like 'Heads down until 2:00 p.m., back after.'
However, setting the boundary isn't enough - you have to enforce it. If you respond during focus time, you're signaling that you're available.
Particularly for anyone leading a team or managing others, modeling how you manage your focus offers permission for others to do the same.
Companies Have a Strategy for Your Attention. Create Your Own. The attention economy is only getting louder. However, as Brumder Ross highlights, 'You can't control what the tech companies do, but you can control where you put your attention."
The news cycle will not slow. Work will not pause. Connection is part of modern life. However, you may not have to fight the current or disengage completely. The key takeaway is to simply have strategies for managing distraction and engaging with technology on your terms.
Reclaiming focus isn't about perfection. It's about practice - and power.