Anyone who’s meditated for even a minute knows the mind is in a habitual state of anarchy. A random thought arises, shouts for attention, only to be elbowed aside by another and another in rapid succession. This most human of conditions has been called monkey mind.

Now imagine our minds as we bury ourselves in social media, the Internet, smartphones, laptops, game consoles and televisions — often at the same time! This experience repeated often enough is producing what one University of Washington researcher calls “popcorn brain” — described as “a brain so accustomed to the constant stimulation of electronic multitasking that we’re unfit for life offline, where things pop at a much slower pace.”

So here’s something anyone with a brand, story or message might want to ponder: What happens when the monkey mind meets the popcorn brain?

Monkey mind on speed or monkey mind squared? Living life online has to be the best gift the monkey mind has ever received. The monkey is blissfully free to swing from tweet to video to blog to Like to text to app to TV to email to search to … you get the picture.

The monkey is in heaven. Businesses and nonprofits that want to capture someone’s attention, not so much. Even before “online” existed, organizations had their work cut out to get noticed. Humans are easily distracted. What’s changed – virtually overnight – is the breadth and depth of distraction made possible by new networking technology.

What’s an organization to do?

If you listen to the advice of social marketers, the answer is to move online where your audience is. Build your social media “presence”: your Facebook fan page, Twitter stream, smartphone app, YouTube uploads, search engine optimization, blog, sharable content and on and on. In other words, feed the monkey more popcorn. Everyone else is!

And therein lies the problem for marketers and storytellers.

Instead of slowing the world down so we can listen, be heard, build a relationship, create and keep a customer, we’re collectively speeding it up, threatening to create some mutant form of attention deficit disorder.

Still, we can’t ignore the staggering numbers of people and increasing amount of time spent online. As communicators, we have to be where our audience is, right?

The more pertinent question is how do we get someone’s attention once we’re fully online? A monkey mind on speed is not exactly an optimum candidate for engagement.

Building rest stops

Here are three suggestions for getting noticed and, even better, starting or deepening relationships with people who matter to you most:

• Simplify your message. Maybe this was optional once upon a time. Today it’s an organizational imperative. Make our audience work to understand you and what you’re offering and they’ll be gone in a click or tap. Simplifying your message involves what authors Chip and Dan Heath call “finding your core.” I strongly recommend their book, “Made to Stick.” Their recipe for stickiness? Simple Concrete Credible Emotional Stories.
• Build rest stops. Can you slow your audience down as they flit across the Internet? Give them reasons to hit the pause button, take a deep breath, maybe even engage you in conversation. Show them you’re not in a hurry and are genuinely interested in who they are and what they want. Maybe then they’ll be open to knowing more about you and what you have to offer.
• Be generous. Once you slow your audience down, they’ll linger longer if you freely share valuable content. Valuable equates to meeting a need. Chilean Manfred Max-Neef defines nine fundamental human needs: subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, leisure, creation, identity and freedom. Which among these needs can you meet with content that is also consistent with your core business and identity?