The first ten minutes in a new place often carry more noticing than the next ten hours.

Perception is at its sharpest before a place has been filed. In those first minutes everything is still information: the smell of the stairwell, the angle of the light, how loud people are willing to be. Then the brain does its efficient thing, decides it has the gist, and stops sending most of it through. Ten hours later you could not describe the room you have been sitting in.

Since the sharpness fades quickly, write things down early. Arrive somewhere new this week and give the first ten minutes your full attention, knowing you will not get them back.