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From skills-for-humanity
Maps attention environments to diagnose focus problems. Identifies capture threats and depletion sources, then designs workflows and environments that protect cognitive bandwidth.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/skills-for-humanity:s4h-cognition-attentionThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Attention is the scarcest cognitive resource — and unlike memory or reasoning, it cannot be trained to be unlimited. It can only be allocated, protected, and defended. Most focus problems are not character failures; they are design failures. The environment, the workflow, or the communication system is structured in a way that systematically fragments attention and prevents sustained engagement...
Attention is the scarcest cognitive resource — and unlike memory or reasoning, it cannot be trained to be unlimited. It can only be allocated, protected, and defended. Most focus problems are not character failures; they are design failures. The environment, the workflow, or the communication system is structured in a way that systematically fragments attention and prevents sustained engagement with what matters most.
The attention economy framing, developed from William James's foundational work on voluntary and involuntary attention, treats focus as a resource subject to supply and demand. What demands attention is not random: salience (bright, loud, moving things), novelty (what's new or unexpected), emotional charge (threats, social signals, strong affect), and personal relevance all reliably override deliberate focus. Design your attention environment knowing what the competition is.
The key distinction: attention threats come in two forms. Capture — things that involuntarily seize focus through sensory or emotional hooks — and depletion — things that gradually drain the capacity for sustained focus even when no single interruption is dramatic. Both matter. Capture is visible and acute; depletion is slow, cumulative, and often invisible until cognitive capacity is exhausted.
Step 1: Define the Attention Context Identify whose attention, in what context, for what purpose. Individual focus (a person trying to do deep work)? Group attention (a team, a meeting)? Communication attention (an audience you need to hold)? The diagnosis differs by context.
Framing check: Confirm the specific attention context before continuing. State what you've identified — whose attention, in what setting, and what the goal is — in one sentence, then use AskUserQuestion:
Step 2: Map Attention Demands List everything currently competing for attention in this context. Separate into:
Step 3: Assess Current Allocation Where is attention actually going versus where it should go? Estimate the proportion of cognitive bandwidth consumed by each category. Identify the gap between actual and ideal allocation.
Before narrowing: Use AskUserQuestion to confirm the demand map before proceeding to solutions:
Step 4: Diagnose the Core Problem What is the primary failure mode? Choose the dominant one:
Step 5: Design the Defence For each identified threat, prescribe a specific structural intervention. Defences fall into four types:
Before proceeding, use the AskUserQuestion tool. State your interpretation of the situation in 1–2 sentences — what the core attention problem is and what the most significant threat is — then ask:
Proceed based on their selection. If the user reframes, incorporate the correction before running any analysis.
Attention Demand Map
| Source | Type | Estimated % of bandwidth | Legitimacy |
|---|---|---|---|
Core Problem: [dominant failure mode + brief explanation]
Defence Plan
| Threat | Defence Type | Specific Action |
|---|---|---|
Priority Actions: [Ranked top 3 interventions — the highest-impact changes to make first]
Protected Time Structure: [Specific recommendation for how to schedule and protect focused work given the demands identified]
Attention management is not willpower management. Recommending that someone "just focus more" is the cognitive equivalent of recommending that someone "just be healthier." The leverage is in designing the environment and workflow, not in strengthening resolve against a hostile system. This skill should produce structural, actionable changes — not exhortations.
The nearest neighbor is /s4h-cognition-cognitive-load — which addresses working memory capacity within a focused session. Attention is the gateway problem (can you sustain engagement at all?); cognitive load is the capacity problem (can you hold the necessary complexity once you're engaged?). Both often need addressing together.
For the communication design case — holding an audience's attention — pair with /s4h-communication-audience-modeling.
After delivering this output, use AskUserQuestion to offer the next move:
/s4h-cognition-cognitive-load — Address working memory limits within the focused sessions you've now protected/s4h-cognition-metacognition — Assess whether you're monitoring and adjusting your thinking well within those focused sessions/s4h-mindset-flow — Design for flow states using the protected attention environment as a foundationnpx claudepluginhub human-avatar/skills-for-humanityRoutes cognitive science requests to the right tool for attention, mental models, metacognition, or cognitive load. Use when thinking feels unfocused, complex, or unclear.
Designs distraction-free workspaces by removing digital and physical interruption sources. Uses notification management, website blockers, and communication scheduling.
Conducts structured meta-cognitive meditation to clear context noise, improve task focus, and observe reasoning patterns. Useful when transitioning between tasks, feeling scattered, or before deep work.