--- description: "As soon as I become careless or let my mind wander, my senses lead me astray" title: How to Be More Attentive in Life image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9c0805216b71658/698867f58e060135f0462d1e/man-listening-conversation.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Culture](/tag/culture/) ## Culture Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How to Be More Attentive in Life by [Shane Parrish](/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 13, 2015 4:01 AM CUT  Couple enjoying cafe bar Couple enjoying cafe barGetty Images by [Shane Parrish](/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 13, 2015 4:01 AM CUT A friend of mine has made the argument to me that you learn as much from fiction as you do from non-fiction. [_The Art of Hearing Heartbeats_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1590514637/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1590514637&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=PUBNKPVAMARUR2ZJ "undefined") supports that argument because it relates to things I’ve covered. On [attention and the focused life](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/07/winifred-gallagher-focused-life/ "undefined"): --- > “” --- [In praise of slowness](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/08/in-praise-of-slowness/ "undefined"): --- > “” --- On psychology and [mental models](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/mental-models/ "undefined"): --- > “” --- **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/09/the-art-of-hearing-heartbeats/ "undefined")**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/ "undefined")**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4070757/hearing-heartbeats/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4070757/hearing-heartbeats/"},"headline":"How to Be More Attentive in Life","datePublished":"2015-10-13T04:01:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:47:02.233Z","description":"\"As soon as I become careless or let my mind wander, my senses lead me astray\"","url":"https://time.com/4070757/hearing-heartbeats/","keywords":["Culture","Psychology","Books","Lifestyle"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9c0805216b71658/698867f58e060135f0462d1e/man-listening-conversation.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9c0805216b71658/698867f58e060135f0462d1e/man-listening-conversation.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"man-listening-conversation","caption":"man-listening-conversation","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/culture/","name":"Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4070757/hearing-heartbeats/","name":"How to Be More Attentive in Life"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: How to be Mentally Strong","description":"It’s estimated that you say 300-1,000 to yourself in a minute: keep those words positive","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uzXSRUbM/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-25T17:28:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uzXSRUbM.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4070757/hearing-heartbeats/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4070757/hearing-heartbeats/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```