Switching Attentional Channels: Gain Clarity and Overcome Obstacles

Our ability to respond to challenges in our lives and overcome them is highly dependent on our attentional styles and how flexible we can be with our attention at any given moment.

We can look at our attentional awareness and how this plays a role in our ability to overcome challenges and think (or physically work) through problems that we encounter.

To get a better understanding, we will discuss the Attentional Style Theory. This theory states that attention has two dimensions that intersect creating four quadrants, or channels.

Attention can have direction as well as width. Attentional direction can be INTERNAL (focused inward on thoughts and feelings) or EXTERNAL (focused externally on things and sensations outside of your body). Attentional width can be NARROW (focused on a single task) or BROAD (scanning many things at once).

There are four different attentional channels:

1)        ACTION CHANNEL (EXTERNAL/NARROW):

Allows you to perform a physical or interpersonal task like reading a book, having a conversation or going for a run

2)        AWARENESS CHANNEL (EXTERNAL/BROAD):

Allows you to quickly assess what is happening in your external environment, react automatically and gather external information fast

3)        SOLVING CHANNEL (INTERNAL/NARROW):

Allows you to assess information that you have already gathered, rehearse information in your head and think about specifics to a problem

4)        ANALYZING CHANNEL (INTERNAL/BROAD):

Allows you to take in information from your environment, compare it to previously stored information and develop a plan or strategy

You will use all of these channels throughout your day and you will likely switch channels while working on a single task. That being said, each one of us tends to have a dominant channel that we default to, even when it isn’t the most efficient channel for us in that moment.

For example, if you are in Analyzing Channel mode (internal/broad) most of the time, you might excel in strategic thinking and organizing the information that you take in, but you might get stuck in “analysis paralysis” and have a hard time taking concrete action towards solving a problem.

Another example includes individuals who operate mostly in the Awareness Channel (external/broad). People like this have great situational awareness and can detect danger in their environment and react automatically without thinking. This kind of attention is specifically trained into individuals who operate in environments where this is necessary, such as police officers or military personnel.  Although this is a critical skill to have in very specific circumstances, the inability to switch out of this channel can lead to hypervigilance.

If you find yourself operating in the Solving Channel (internal/narrow), you might have strong critical thinking skills, but often get stuck ruminating about negative thoughts or situations that you can't change.

Alternatively, staying in the Action Channel (external/narrow) means that you have the ability to take consistent action towards a goal or challenge, but may struggle to see the big picture and adapt to the situation when needed.

Failing to switch easily between attentional channels may lead to making mental errors (caused by missing important information from your surroundings) or becoming burnt out (constant rumination or thought spiralling).

If you can determine which channel you operate out of most of the time, you can learn how to switch out of that channel when it is no longer helpful to you.

Switching from narrow attention to broad attention requires you to “see the forest through the trees” or step away from the details of the situation and consider the bigger picture. This might mean that you think about how this situation will look to you in 6 months, 1 year, 5 years or 10 years.

Switching from broad attention to narrow attention would require you to start breaking down a task or situation into smaller chunks. If you are someone who gets stuck in analysis paralysis, thinking about an issue as a whole may be too daunting. Try breaking it down and focusing on a single step at a time.

Moving from internal attention to external attention requires you to "get out of your head". Mindfulness practices can help you learn how to detach from your thoughts and feelings and start to be present in your body, which in turn will help you learn how to become more receptive to your external environment.

Lastly, if you need to move from external attention to internal attention, you might find yourself reacting automatically to triggers or you might be in a constant state of “doing” instead of “being”. To get back into “being”, try intentional breath exercises with an emphasis on focusing on the breath moving in and out of your body. Not only does this calm the nervous system, but it also connects your mind with your body and slowly creates more control over your reactive behaviour.

Attentional control is a crucial element of problem solving, overcoming obstacles, and being able to stay resilient in the most challenging of situations. Learning how to switch between attentional channels is a learned skill that anyone is capable of mastering.