We live in an ever-present world

Odds are you're reading this on your phone. Chances are you were on a social platform minutes ago, or texting a friend. By the time you finish this letter, and let's be honest, a good third of you already have, our attention spans don't hold that long anymore; you'll probably be straight back into one of those apps at least until something in the real world pulls you out again, for a moment or two.

Slack, on your phone, is a disease. Delete it. Every social platform on your phone is a disease too. Delete those as well. All of them quietly eroding the same thing: an attention span that's already thinner than it used to be.

So, what can we actually do about it? Three things. Simple ones.

1. Go outside. Leave the phone.

The odds of missing something life-altering are close to zero. If you're worried about missing a good photo, a nice street cat, say, buy a second-hand digital camera on eBay for a tenner and carry that instead. Better still, buy film. You can't review what you've taken. That's most of the point.

2. Rediscover a book.

Keep watching your true crime documentaries, no judgement. But pick up the book too, fiction or non-fiction. Loved that documentary on Commodus and ancient Rome? (Personal favourite emperor, for what it's worth.) Read about him instead. You'll likely enjoy it more, and come away richer for it.

3. Phone people. Actually phone them.

The easiest one. They might be out on a walk, ignoring their own phone, in which case good for them, they'll call you back. If they call while you're out too, you'll end up in a small, pointless loop of missed calls until someone finally picks up. Or just text ahead and arrange a time. Either way, hearing someone's voice does something a message never quite manages.

That's three ways to loosen burnout's grip. Four, really, if deleting the apps counts as its own step. It should. Do it. You won't miss them the way you think you will.

Go. Wander. Miss a few calls. Sit in the sun, or the rain, either works. Give your eyes and your brain a rest from the screen.

You'll feel better for it.

Ash