I missed shipping last week due to a snow and ice storm that knocked our power out for a chunk of the week. I'd started writing it the old fashioned way: on a yellow legal pad. Wondering at the time if the pad would shape the words differently? Maybe not. But the process required different focus.

Which brings me to this week's topic: attention. Finding it. Spending it. We talk about our time as money. How we spend our time. Or squander our time.

We direct our attention to what's urgent. The beeping, notifications and interruptions that stop us from deep work. It takes an average of 23 minutes to regain focus after a 5 minute interruption. Think about that. Every time you check your phone, you potentially lose 23 minutes of deep work. No wonder we don't get the long-term upper right quadrant activities done. Or everything on our to do list. Which is really just a repository for things that need to get done without a plan attached or time scheduled to do them. Unless we're intentional about managing where we direct our attention of course. That takes effort.

You know who doesn't value your time?

Social platforms that sell your attention via one click after another for dollars and cents. Advertisers talk about monetizing eyeballs (also known as attention).

Facebook advertising costs vary wildly but let’s say around $0.50 to $2.00 per click. Most people spend 30 seconds to 3 minutes on the items they click on." - Codie Sanchez

Is 25 minutes of your time worth only $2.00?

Unlike money, your attention is finite. You can't gain more of it. Or increase its supply. And hence it has value. Which is why you should respect the attention of others and make time with you time well spent.

Given the additional 23 minutes you just lost, how's that for not valuing your time?

Mark Manson was talking about how attention has become bifurcated. That we either want really short snacks or go deep. Gone or dying are the 30 minute sitcoms and 2 hour movies in favor of 45 second videos or immersive series. There's opportunity for you in identifying where you want to focus. And a warning for those stuck in the middle unable to pivot.

Think about where you focus your attention. What things raise your internal awareness? Is it the sudden noises? Novelty? The ever shorter news cycle? Our distracted always-on world will take all of your attention if you let it.

Flip this around and think about how you earn other people's attention. What does it take to capture their focus? No matter what we do, we need to earn someone's attention at some point in order to achieve our goals. If you're building a business you need to attract an audience.

Long gone are the days when you could advertise your way to success for little. If you have deep deep pockets, you may be able to for a bit. But would be hard pressed to sustain it unless what you offered was so amazing people stuck around or kept coming back and also started sharing such amazingness with others.

But really, it's person by person by showing up. Providing the kind of value the people you want to reach want and need. I know I've said it before how important it is to show up consistently and delivery the goods. It's that simple and that hard. For you must decide where to place your attention in order to earn the attention you seek. That means making choices which means leaving something behind.

I am facing this with the photography I create and share. I am at present all over the map. I don't have a defined style or subject. You can't look at my Instagram feed and discern what exactly I'm all about. I've go some old buildings, sprinkles, color, black and white, location, still life, urban, country and cars. But there's no common thread. Sunday I posted some black and whites from wine country and today, a sleeping red paper.

Contrast that with Bart Kuykens, Serge Hamad, or Sheila Metzner, Ralph Gibsonand Cig Harvey among others. There's a thread through their work you can spot.

As a result, while I produce some really good work, I haven't attracted an audience of collectors. Those who want a particular style. Jay Maisel is known for his strong color. Ralph Gibson for his graphic style and often a white diagonal line.

What story am I telling? That my brain is messy and in disarray? You could say I haven't found my voice. You could say I'm flaky or inconsistent. Or you could argue I'm a multi-faceted chameleon. Problem is that doesn't work for building a brand and an audience.

For a time I was focused on the Highway 20 project and people started seeing a 'look'. But then I moved to other images in the absence of producing the next leg in light of COVID. Don't get me wrong, I'm having fun creating. I don't have regrets about the different image styles. My interests are varied. But as far as earning attention, I haven't provided focus or consistency. I haven't shown up in a way that people expect or can look forward to.

Matthew McConaughey was known for years as the rom-com guy. He could do those movies in his sleep and create a box office hit. As a result he got more and more roles for them. He didn't get the dramas. When he wanted to change what we was known for in Hollywood, he had to quit producing rom-coms. He had to turn down all of the work coming his way. It took over two years before people stopped reaching out and for him to get a chance at something serious. Something that stretched himself. Two years!

To earn attention means to have and know your 'why' as Simon Sinek so eloquently articulates.

What's yours? Why do you do what you do? Do you know? Or are you doing what you "should" be doing over what you "want" to do?

For a long time, I did what I thought I should do. What I thought people expected of me. Not always what fueled my soul. And not always what I was the best at. That's the rub. If you align what you're the best at with what people want you'll get "there" faster. And enjoy stronger results.

Me? I'm taking the circuitous route. Remember how I said in the last letter that by not choosing my options were still open? It's true. But at what point do you ask yourself it's time to choose. To commit. That's the question. Answer that and that is where you start attracting the people you want. And start doing the work you were meant to do. It's so easy, no? Nope. It's actually hard.

You have to close some doors. While that is really good we resist it. Businesses do too which is why they diversify. Many times they end up diluting what made them great in the beginning.

What about bubbles?

How do you know you're in a bubble and should hold off? Not lean into the hype? Bitcoin is one of those areas. It's gone up and down. And now seems to be going up and up and up. Just in December it was $19,000 for a single coin. Not it's around $47,000. Will it keep going or crash? Hype? Reality? Who knows? Should you buy it at $47K? Should you have bought it at $18K? Seemed risky to me then. Seems ridiculous now.

But then I know very little about cryptocurrency. Except that it's rapidly changing and hard to keep up with even for those thinking about it every day. The hype makes us susceptible to FOMO. Makes me think I should diversify "Like everyone else". I was listening to a Tim Ferris interview with Katie Haun, a federal prosecutor turned VC focused on cryptocurrency. At one time she prosecuted an agent who went bad and tried stealing 25,000 bitcoins. In today's dollars that's about a Billion.

Once again my interest is piqued. Yet I am not yet interested ENOUGH to focus my attention on understanding it fully. And I had fallen prey to the housing bubble in 2007 so I know a thing or two about being on the wrong side of a bubble. Cryptocurrency is on the periphery of my attention and I expect that it will rise up in time. Especially if it starts disrupting or replacing the dollar.

What I am intrigued by are NFTs: Non Fungible Tokens. The chatter is rising around them and I'm curious to understand how one buys and sells them. And in the digital era where everything can be copied, how you sell a unique digital work. What I will say is that I'm going to explore out in the open so look for more about "Nifties" in this space. Who knows where these dots will connect.

What dots are you connecting this week?