Chapter 1: Meet Your Squirrel: Why We Can’t Sit Still (Mentally)
Picture this: a cute but mischievous squirrel, hopping from branch to branch inside the head of a person trying to focus on a book or computer.
You sit down to work, read, or just think about something important. And then… it starts! A thought about unread messages pops up. An idea for dinner surfaces. You feel the urge to check the weather. Oh, look, a bird just landed outside the window — how interesting! Sound familiar? Congratulations, you have a Distraction Squirrel living in your head!
Don’t panic, everyone has one. And you know what? It’s not your fault! Your brain is just… very eager. Too eager.
Why is the Squirrel so hyper? (Thanks, evolution!)
Long ago, when our ancestors lived in the wild, those who survived were the ones who noticed danger (a bear in the bushes!) or new opportunities (a juicy fruit on a tree!) the fastest. A brain that constantly scanned the environment, sought out novelty, and reacted to every movement or sound was incredibly useful. It saved lives!
The problem is, our modern world is a veritable THEME PARK for the Squirrel! Back then, the “tiger” was a real predator. Today, it’s:
Beeeeep! Phone notifications (messages, likes, news).
Blink, blink! Dozens of browser tabs, ads on websites.
“Urgent!” Colleagues, family members, the feeling that you need to do a hundred things at once (multitasking).
Just a random thought: “I wonder what’s on social media? Did I remember to pay that bill?”
Our ancient brain perceives all these signals exactly the same way our ancestors perceived a rustle in the grass! It has to react, to check: Is this danger? Am I missing something important? And so the Squirrel goes nuts!
Your Attention is a Garden
Imagine your attention is a beautiful, well-kept garden. Growing in it are your important thoughts, ideas, and tasks — your favorite flowers and trees. The Squirrel represents the weeds constantly trying to sprout. The modern world bombards your garden with millions of these weed seeds (notifications, temptations, anxieties). If you don’t tend to your garden, the weeds will quickly take over, and your flowers won’t have enough space or light.
Why do we sometimes feel like we have “brain fog”? That’s our garden, cluttered with the weeds of distraction. The brain is overloaded with signals it feels obligated to process. It struggles to find the right thought amidst all that noise.
So what do we do? Surrender the garden to the Squirrel? Not a chance!
The first step to managing your Squirrel is to recognize it and understand why it behaves this way. Now you know: your Squirrel isn’t an enemy, but an ancient survival mechanism that’s just a little out of place in the digital age. You are not lazy or disorganized! Your brain is just doing what evolution designed it to do — scanning the world for what’s important (or what seems important).
Practice: “Squirrel Spotting” — Let’s do it now!
To start taming your Squirrel, you first need to understand what specifically gets it so excited in your life.
Grab a piece of paper or open the notes app on your phone.
Pick ONE ordinary day (today or tomorrow).
Throughout that day, write down EVERYTHING that actually distracts you from what you wanted to be doing. Don’t filter! Write down everything:
“Checked phone (just because)”
“Heard colleagues talking, started listening”
“Remembered I need to buy milk”
“Opened a social media app”
“Reached for a cup of coffee/tea (even though I didn’t really want it)”
“Bird outside the window!”
“Thought: ‘What’s for lunch?’”
“Phone rang (wasn’t important)”
“Googled something unrelated to the task”
“Felt anxious, started ruminating on a problem”
“Child/partner/cat distracted me”
“Scrolled through a news feed”
“Thought about yesterday’s conversation”
Don’t judge yourself! This is just research. No “ugh, I’m so easily distracted.”
(Insert simple infographic: Icon of an eye + Icon of an ear + Icon of a brain. Arrows pointing to labels: EXTERNAL DISTRACTIONS (sounds, people, screens) and INTERNAL DISTRACTIONS (thoughts, worries, memories))
What will this practice do for you?
Awareness: You’ll clearly see which “tigers” (real or imagined) most often steal your focus. Are they external (phone, noise, people) or internal (thoughts, worries)?
Stress Reduction: Understanding that this is normal and not unique to you reduces guilt.
A Basis for Action: Knowing your main “squirrels” will allow you, in the following chapters, to choose the best tools to calm them down or protect your “attention garden” from them.
Your Distraction Squirrel is not a life sentence of scatterbrained-ness. It’s a legacy from the past, colliding with the chaos of the present. The first step toward focus is to stop blaming yourself and start observing. You’ve just taken that important step by doing the “Squirrel Spotting” practice!
Micro-Habit for Today: Just jot down 3—5 distractions that “caught” you in the next couple of hours. No need to catch them all! Just start noticing.
Next Up: In the next chapter, we’ll figure out what focus actually is and why it’s like a muscle that can be trained (but that also gets tired!). We’ll learn about the “laser beam” and “flashlight” in your head. See you then!
(Image: A person smiling, looking at a calm squirrel sitting on their shoulder, now not jumping but holding a tiny nut.)
