GUEST EDITOR
Marcello Rinaldi
My phone buzzes for the fifth time in 10 minutes. Three new emails demand my immediate attention. A colleague is messaging me about a “quick question” that I already know will inevitably spiral into an hour-long discussion. The news alert on my phone warns me of another global crisis. My smart watch reminds me to stand. And somewhere in the background, my thoughts are racing through an endless list of tasks, appointments and worries that seem to multiply with each passing moment.
This is not just a busy day — this is “The Everyday.”
I find myself staring at my computer screen, unable to recall what I had been working on just moments before. The report due tomorrow? The presentation for next week? The strategic plan that has been “almost finished” for the past month? My mind feels like a web browser with 50 tabs open, each competing for processing power, each draining the battery of my attention until nothing remains.
The irony is not lost on me.
As a professional dedicated to helping organizations optimize their talent processes, I struggle to optimize my own thinking. As someone who advises others on strategic decision-making, I struggle to make basic choices about how to structure my day. The tools and technologies that promise to make me more efficient, more connected and more productive have instead left me feeling scattered, overwhelmed and increasingly ineffective.
And how are we trying to solve this? With more technology: ad-blockers, focus apps, one-task word processors, notification killers, spam blockers and so on.
This is noise. Not just the audible kind, but something far more insidious — a constant barrage of inputs that fragments our thinking, fractures our focus and ultimately diminishes our capacity to perform meaningful work.
We typically think of noise as unwanted sound — the construction outside our window, the chatter in a crowded café, the hum of office equipment. But in today’s hyperconnected world, noise has evolved into something far more pervasive and damaging.
Noise is the endless stream of notifications demanding your attention. Noise is the torrent of information flowing from multiple devices at once. Noise is the internal chatter of your mind as it tries to process an overwhelming number of inputs. Noise is the emotional static generated by constant digital engagement.
This cognitive noise doesn’t just distract us momentarily, it fundamentally alters how we think, decide, create and live. It’s the background radiation of modern professional life; it is so constant that we’ve stopped noticing its presence, even as it steadily erodes our ability to think with clarity and purpose.
To truly understand the challenge we face, we need to recognize that noise operates across multiple dimensions of our experience:
Informational noise
Digital noise
Environmental noise
Internal noise
The average knowledge worker checks email 74 times per day and spends 28% of their workday managing email. Most professionals switch tasks every three minutes and five seconds, with half of these interruptions self-initiated.
This is concerning for everyone. This is even more concerning for knowledge workers. This is incredibly more concerning for people, like you and me, who are in the business of ensuring people and organizations know what to do, how to perform.
This is a personal challenge, a professional challenge and an industry-wide challenge. I’ve decided to immerse myself into this subject, study it in depth and publish a book titled “Noise - Focus and Distraction” (coming later in 2025).
As I work through the chapters of the book, some elements have become clear to me. These can probably help you on your journey:
Digital detox is not enough. Being intentional about what we expose our brain to is important, but we cannot be luddites in a tech-driven workplace. We must embrace all the opportunities that technology brings and try to intentionally limit the problems.
Attention is your most valuable asset. When all potential knowledge is at your disposal, one tap or click away, it’s the clarity that comes from focused attention that becomes a value driver. How can you make sure your work helps people regain attention? How can you reduce distractions? How can you ensure deep work is happening?
Clarity is practice, not a state. It’s a dynamic condition that requires ongoing cultivation, particularly as the sources and nature of noise continue to evolve.
The journey toward clearer thinking isn’t about achieving perfect silence — an impossible goal in today’s world. Rather, it’s about developing the ability to identify which inputs deserve your attention and which constitute noise to be filtered out. It’s about creating enough mental space to think deeply, decide wisely and work with intention rather than reaction.
The path to clarity begins with a simple recognition: The noise within and around us is neither inevitable nor insurmountable. With the right understanding and practical techniques, we can turn down the volume and hear ourselves think again.
Marcello Rinaldi is an international learning director at AbbVie. You can email Marcello at Marcello.rinaldi@abbvie.com or connect through linkedin.com/in/marcellorinaldi.
