Lisa Weiss

February 27, 2026

Protecting Attention

Inside: Mark Zuckerberg on trial, a cultural shift in tone, and what it means for meaningful work

Zuckerberg is in a Los Angeles courtroom this week. The trial is about whether Meta deliberately designed algortithms and features to be addictive to children. Families who have spent years fighting for this moment are sitting in the gallery.

At home, I've been reading The Amazing Generation with my kids (Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price's adaptation of Haidt's The Anxious Generation). We read twenty pages at a time. And almost every time, I notice them wanting to pop up and check their school iPads. Which the school provides. Which the school requires. We made a conscious choice years ago to keep them away from screens, and it's not easy.

I notice myself wanting to check my phone too.

I'm not writing this because I've figured it all out. I have not. But I'm paying attention to how the irony feels when our reading gets interrupted. It doesn't feel good.

In my work, I see this a lot. Thoughtful people carrying serious ideas, struggling with fragmentation and distraction. Depth requires time. And time, right now, requires a fight.

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In this issue:

Practice The undistracted page Inspiration A tip from Catherine Price Plus A rare analog room

Practice

The undistracted page

Prime your space: Set a timer for 12 minutes. Put your phone in another room. Grab a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. ​ Choose one question you’ve been pondering, professionally or personally, and write without stopping until the timer ends. ​ hen the timer goes off, underline one sentence that surprised you.T hat sentence iwill probably be a lotcloser to your real thinking than tsomething you'd produce in a distracted hour. ​ Depth requires protected space.

Inspiration

"The key is to keep asking yourself the same question, again and again and again: this is your life - what do you want to pay attention to?"
​

—Catherine Price, Author​
How to Break Up With Your Phone
The Amazing Generation
The Power of Fun

A rare analog room

In April, I’m leading a small, in-person workshop at the Newberry Library. It’s designed as a protected stretch of thinking time with inspiring archival materials, guided writing, phones away. Imagine three hours of peace in a room built for research! If you’ve been craving depth instead of distraction, this is for you. Reserve your seat

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