Split View: Seeing Differently in a Distracted World
Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it means to feel connected and not just plugged in. As an introvert, I crave community but not constant company. I’ve realized that being part of a thoughtful online community, one filled with experimenters and curious minds can be just as connective and life-giving as being in a physical space. It reminds me that community isn’t about proximity; it’s about presence.
That thought deepened this week when I received an unexpected email from Derek Sivers who is one of my favorite thinkers. Years ago, I created a Now page as part of his project, a simple online space to share what I’m focusing on right now. I had completely forgotten about it. Reading it again five years later stopped me cold. So many things have changed. So many dreams were quietly replaced by new ones. Some still wait patiently.
It made me realize how fast life moves when you’re not paying attention and how essential it is to regularly ask: What am I doing now? Not what I’m posting, or producing, or planning, but what I’m actually living.
Theme Statement:
This week is about seeing differently through screens, reflections, and habits and rediscovering what it means to focus in a world that keeps trying to split our view.
The Glass Shift
Tech/AI Idea: Amazon’s new smart glasses for delivery drivers blend augmented reality with logistics. They display directions, delivery details, and live updates in the driver’s field of view blending a real-time overlay of work and world. It brings me back 9 years ago when I had the Microsoft Hololens.
Personal Tie-in:
It’s fascinating to see AR quietly entering everyday jobs, not as a flashy gadget but as a subtle interface for attention. For years, I’ve wondered what it would look like when augmented reality stopped being a futuristic idea and started shaping daily labor. It feels like a metaphor for all of us trying to navigate between the information that helps and the overload that blurs.
Atlas and the Infinite Tab
Tech/AI Idea: OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Atlas browser reimagines the web as an active, thinking partner. Atlas keeps a ChatGPT sidebar open on any site, summarizes content in real time, and even remembers your browsing context. This podcast that I listen to all the time gives a good video demo.
Personal Tie-in:
I’m both amazed and cautious. A browser that thinks with you could change how we learn, but it also risks dulling the muscle of curiosity if we let it search for us instead of with us. Still, I can’t wait to explore it (and yes, I’ll report back soon). Currently waiting for weekend to explore more.
Split Your Focus (Literally)
Tech/AI Idea:
Tired of juggling endless browser tabs while researching, lesson planning, or working with AI? Chrome’s new Split View experiment lets you see two sites side by side in a single window with no resizing or dragging madness required.
Personal Tie-in:
This tiny feature feels symbolic of the whole week: learning to divide attention with intention. It’s perfect for comparing an AI output to the original article, keeping your notes open beside a website, or writing reflections while watching a tutorial. It’s one of those small updates that, if used well, can change the way we see our work.
How to enable it:
Type
chrome://flags/into your address bar.Search for Split View.
Enable it and relaunch Chrome.
Right-click a tab → Add Tab to Split View.
Watch my video guide:
The Quiet Work of Becoming
Tech/AI Idea:
In a culture that measures progress by visibility of posts, metrics, and productivity, quiet can feel like invisibility. But maybe the next stage of our relationship with technology isn’t louder or faster. Maybe it’s more deliberate.
Personal Tie-in:
I came across a post by Dr. Stoic Wisdom that said, “You build confidence by keeping quiet.” That line stayed with me. I’ve been quietly making changes, stepping away from the constant hum of the internet, focusing on the few people and projects that matter most. I’m reclaiming my health, my stillness, and a sense of simple well-being. Super difficult and I continue to stumble and fall back to old habits, but I feel the change for the better coming. Confidence doesn’t come from being seen; it comes from keeping promises to yourself. In an age of endless sharing, there’s something radical about living unpublished.
The Joy of Finishing (and Beginning Again)
Tech/AI Idea:
In a world built on infinite scroll, it’s easy to forget the satisfaction of finishing something like a thought, a project, a book.
Personal Tie-in:
I finally finished Innovation-ish, and it was everything I needed as a refreshing, validating reminder that I’m not alone in how I think. I’ve marked over a hundred tabs for follow-up notes (and a future podcast conversation with the authors). Finishing it reminded me how energizing it feels to stick with one idea long enough to reach the other side.
Then, I picked up The Will of Many, a fiction recommendation from one of my favorite podcasters (via YouTube). After so much nonfiction, it feels good to sink into another world and remember the power of imagination and escape by the power of the written word. I share all this to say that finishing and starting again are both acts of focus, choosing to give your time, fully, to something that expands who you are.
The Ironic Side of Focus
Tech/AI Idea:
Even as I talk about slowing down, I can’t help but love the chaos of tech and play. Curiosity has always lived in the tension between stillness and stimulation.
Personal Tie-in:
So yes, I’m still waiting for a Sora invite code (if you’ve got one, let’s talk). I’m excited to explore the searching world of ChatGPT Atlas and already planning to compare it with Anthropic Comet. And when I’m not exploring new AI frontiers, I’ll be knee-deep in board games, video games, and LEGO builds.
So maybe focus isn’t about avoiding distraction and instead it’s about choosing which distractions are worth our wonder.
Links I Emailed Myself
(because sometimes the best bookmarks live in my inbox)
Big Tech is paying millions to train teachers — A sharp reminder that education’s future is being shaped in boardrooms as much as classrooms.
Leading Learners by Trevor Ragan — I’ve been lucky to hear Trevor speak before and love his work. His new project on leadership and curiosity is high on my list to explore deeper.
Platformer: The Compelling Mess of AI Slop — Casey Newton captures the odd fascination of AI’s surreal genres — from “slicing through glass fruit” to “shrimp Jesus.” It’s weird, mesmerizing, and very human.
Analog Renaissance (Ness Labs) — “The average person now logs nearly seven hours of daily screen time.” Maybe it’s time to start living offline again, one hour at a time.
GM + Google AI Partnership — Because even cars are becoming cognitive companions now.
Digital Challenge
Try using a new digital tool or feature this week, but do it with awareness. Observe not what it does, but how it changes how you see.
Analog Challenge
Spend one hour with no screens, no background music, no multitasking. Notice how time stretches differently when your mind stops refreshing.
Closing Reflection / Question
Maybe this week isn’t about optimizing anything, maybe it’s about noticing what deserves to be seen again.
What have you forgotten to look at lately and what might happen if you gave it your full attention?
Listen to my latest podcast episode #221 which is a deeper dive into curiosity, connection, and what it means to live wide-awake and being willing to change how we once thought about things such as AI.