Attention Budget and Session Card

Use with Protect Your Attention From Both Algorithms and Assistants.

Part 1: Seven-day attention log

First record a normal recent day as a rough baseline, then log every AI session for one week — even short ones. This is a personal observation exercise, not a clinical measure.

At the end of the week, circle every row marked “N”. Treat those rows as hypotheses about where a budget might help, not proof that the tool caused an attention problem.

Part 2: Attention budget

Fill in one row per recurring category of AI use in your day.

Part 3: Before/open/close checklist (use every session)

• Before opening: I can state the job in one sentence.
• While open: unrelated questions go into a notes list, not into this session.
• On close: I checked the job against what I got, and closed the tab/window fully.

Settings pass (do once)

• Nonessential push notifications for AI apps: off (keep any needed for accessibility, safety, or an approved workflow)
• AI apps removed from home screen / dock if that does not remove an accessibility aid
• Old open conversation threads closed out
• Dedicated browser profile/window for AI work, if usage is heavy

The drafting prompt

Here's how I currently use AI assistants across a typical day:
[describe: what tasks, roughly when, roughly how long each session runs]

Help me turn this into an attention budget: for each category of use,
suggest a specific trigger for when it opens, a one-sentence job
description specific enough to know when it's done, and a concrete
session-end signal (timer, deliverable, or exchange count). Flag any
category where I described no clear ending as the likely source of
drift.

Weekly review

• Which budget entries held for the full week?
• Which ones did you override on day one — and what does that tell you about the trigger or job description (too vague, wrong time of day, missing end signal)?
• Was use hard to control, markedly distressing, or affecting sleep or everyday functioning? If so, consider a trusted person or qualified professional as well as the practical steps here. See Stop the Chat. Reopening once is not, by itself, a diagnosis.