I try not to as much these days, not really sure why. Might just be lifestyle changes mean I’m not in front of my triple monitor rig nor doing anything particularly interesting with my time lately.

But when I am/was working, and particularly before I developed a bunch of substance abuse habits, I would constantly second screen comfort movies and shows that I practically have the scripts for memorised. I found that “actively ignoring” a distraction would help me focus and stay in flow states. Again, likely ADHD/ADID gang shit.

But I’m trying to fully engage with the longform media I do consume now. Partially that’s just because I noticed I’d often miss things or find myself completely forgetting that I’d seen something then only have partial recollection when I’d realise I was rewatching something by mistake.

Mainly though its an active attempt to keep training my brain to maintain focus and not let my inattentive traits get worse. Seems to be working, too. I’m even getting way better at fully appreciating anime, where I used to find myself having to sorta choose whether I was going to follow the dialog OR appreciate the animation. Its nice.

It is hard to resist the urge to multitask when I’m watching stuff on a multimonitor setup and I imagine I’ll keep doing that in the case of active distraction focusing strats, but I definitely prefer putting my phone away to watch a movie or whatever for leisure these days. Feels better for my cognitive function overall and sorta “more respectful” to the people who made the media I’m consuming. (No intended moral judgment on second screeners here though, just a personal thing.)