Grabbing Attention in a Multitask World

Kids today are bombarded by stimuli.  They get bored and lose focus quite easily.  The question becomes how do you get their attention and then even more important how do you keep it.  I've always tried to sell players on using basketball as their escape from the world.  To forget about classwork, girls, family problems, etc. for 2 hours and give basketball their full attention. While reading Toughness by Jay Bilas I came across a message that contradicts the multitask world we now live in...

You're committed to playing basketball so you might as well devote all of your attention to it.  It didn't do you any good to think about school while you were playing.  It didn't get you any closer to getting your school work done and it didn't get you any closer to playing your best...

Student-Athlete is a natural fit and the two words are used together frequently, but its not an effective multitask.  Worrying about your Algebra homework while shooting freethrows does not help your shooting percentage nor will it get you any closer to completing your homework.  Likewise, thinking about the scouting report for the next game while you're doing homework doesn't help you accomplish an understanding of either.

Student-Athlete should be separated and managed well through planning.  Give a few hours for basketball practice without worrying about school and then when its over move on to the task of completing homework.  Devote all of your attention to the task at hand, complete it and move on to the next task.