The Practice of Attention: Cultivating Presence in a Distracted World

by Cody Cook-Parrott

A guide to reclaim your focus and live with presence through practices that embrace creativity and awe

“When our attention splinters, so do we….It is not an exaggeration to say this book will save your life. It saved mine.”—Holly Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of Quit Like a Woman

It’s no secret that our attention is fractured. We look for distraction anytime we have a spare moment or feel bored or uncomfortable. We yearn to be fully immersed in the moment―whether for deep work or pleasure―but we have almost forgotten how. The Practice of Attention opens the door to reclaim our focus so we can be more present with those we love, be more immersed in our work and play, and ultimately live more fully.

Beloved artist and teacher Cody Cook-Parrott invites us to join them in building practices that heighten our attention. Beginning with an exploration of what we’re avoiding when we distract ourselves, Cody offers an Attention Audit that helps us understand where we place our focus (and where we lose it) throughout the day and week. After getting a clear understanding of where we are, we can create a schedule and a life with more focus. Being present requires practice, and Cody encourages us to find the practices that resonate most with us. With a focus on the art of presence rather than the science of productivity, the book

• Digitally detoxing in ways that feel nourishing and meaningful
• Pursuing hobbies to add more fun, play, and spaciousness to our lives
• Movement to stretch our bodies and our minds
• Creativity to explore our deepest needs
• Spiritual practice that reconnects with ourselves, each other, and nature
• How being of service—in big and small ways—connects our attention with the world’s needs
• Cultivating curiosity and devotion, and letting go of perfectionism and people-pleasing

Shifting our attention has profound power on how we experience ourselves and those around us. Cody writes, “This is my that you feel less pull toward your screen and more pull toward your life.”

Kindle Edition

Expected publication March 17, 2026

About the author

Cody Cook-Parrott is an artist, writer, and movement practitioner living on the Leelanau Peninsula in Northern Michigan. They write a weekly newsletter and host the podcast Common Shapes. They are the author of six books, including The Practice of Attention out March 2026 with St. Martin's Essentials.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wish I had good things to say about this book. I was certainly excited to read it and it was the first one I chose to dig into after receiving a round of books to review, however, this was not the book for me. The writing is quite rambly and the author struggles to say what they mean without dancing around it dozens of times instead. The prose is not focused at all. It reads very much like a self published first book. And hey, one does have to start somewhere I suppose, but I personally found reading this to be a waste of time. The author does state the obvious, that social media is a time suck and reduces our focus, but they fail to connect this with actionable steps to be more focused. I suppose it is more memoir than scientific, when I was hoping for the latter. It is also very new agey, when again, I was looking more for science based and actionable plan. I'm sure it will appeal for some and I hate leaving a poor review, but at least for me, it wasn't a good read and it didn't add value for the time I put into the read.

Thank you to Sounds True Publishing and Net Galley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Nikolaj · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, for starters, for sending me a copy for review.

Ultimately, I found it unfortunate that I didn't enjoy this one as much as I expected to. In the modern, digital world, everything is a time suck, and it's easy to get involved in things that just don't matter in the long run - like, for example social media - but this felt less like a how-to and more like a memoir of sorts. In spite of the rambling and ironically unfocused tone, that's not why I disliked it. I disliked it because it's not quite what it says on the tin, which is a pity because it could've been a very helpful book for many people. That's not to say that no one will like or find meaning here, but I think that given the description, it will find its way into the hands of people who aren't the intended audience. To me, it felt like the intended audience would be someone to kind of commiserate with and bounce ideas off of, rather than someone looking for practical, immediately usable advice. There is advice here, but it's less about the advice and more about the story at times. Naturally, the best advice to anyone who is looking to combat digital distraction is to "just stop checking your phone" but we don't get much deeper than that. This one missed the mark for me, but if it finds its way into the right hands, I do think that there is an audience for it. Just not the one it's advertised to, unfortunately.

Thanks again to NetGalley!

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually only give 2 star ratings to books I found well written but somehow missed the point of book according to me. And that's the case again with this book. I am new to NetGalley and didn't know exactly how to select a book except by the books' titles. Attention is an important concept to me in my research and study of consciousness and as an engineer working with Artificial Intelligence Attention is particularly meaningful. But, IMO this book is Not about Attention (except the author's); instead it's about the Author's addictions and how she overcame them by making changes to her time-management focusing on digital media (esp. social media) as a Distraction. The author tells us she's not written the book to instruct us on how to overcome our social media addiction (or correct our economic deficiencies or any other thing we're avoiding handling in our lives). IMO the author is an egoist and has written this book for herself; to coach herself on maintaining her attention by eliminating her distractions. And adding back happy activity the author loves to fill any spare time she now accumulates. If you life closely matches the authors (overcoming alcoholism and debt avoidance) and you enjoy what she enjoys and feel escape from the Digital World is a means to accomplish this... this Is your book. For me, it was A nothing.