Article Summary: How to Focus Like It’s 1990 by Dana G. Smith

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Imagine sitting at your desk in your office. You pull up a spreadsheet and start working. Then you check your email. Back to the spreadsheet. Now you open a web page to get some information. Is your phone on silent? Better check for a message then. What were you doing again? Ah, the spreadsheet. How do you think your concentration compares to that of a typical knowledge worker? Do you think you switch tasks more often than you did 10 years ago? In this New York Times article, science writer Dana G. Smith describes the inattention of the digital age, along with some possible solutions.

Take-Aways

• Human attention spans are shortening, and mobile devices are the likely culprits.
• Turning off your notifications alone won’t deter you from checking your device.
• You don’t have to quit your phone abruptly. Instead, try timed “tech breaks.”
• To strengthen your focus, spend progressively more time each day reading physical books or newspapers.

Summary

Human attention spans are shortening, and mobile devices are the likely culprits.

Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, entered an office building back in 2004, armed with a stopwatch. Her mission? To calculate how frequently a typical knowledge worker switches tasks – for example, flitting between web pages, spreadsheets documents and emails. She found that workers switched tasks every 2.5 minutes on average.

“The internet is omniscient, our phones omnipotent, and together they demand and destroy our concentration. Even when we really try to focus on a task, we often find we can’t, our eyes glazing over and our thoughts drifting.”

Mark repeated the research in 2012 and found that the average time that workers spent engaged in a task had dropped to 75 seconds. By 2022, just 47 seconds. It’s no coincidence that the precipitous drop in attention coincides with more engaging versions of the internet and more powerful phones.

Turning off your notifications alone won’t deter you from checking your device.

In a study of moderate and heavy smartphone users, research psychologist Larry Rosen took his subjects’ cellphones, placing the devices close enough so the participants could hear the chime of notifications, but far enough away so they couldn’t see their screens. Skin conductance monitors suggested that participants experienced heightened anxiety when they heard their phones chime but couldn’t check the notifications. Thus, turning off notifications seems like the obvious solution. But Mark’s studies show that in 50% of cases, the cues that prompt people to switch tasks or lose focus are internal, and turning off notifications won’t quell the craving to check your cellphone. In fact, when people took steps to limit external disruptions, the internal itch to switch tasks arose more often.

“When the number of external interruptions waned, the number of self-interruptions rose.”

Heavy smartphone users experience high levels of cortisol and other physical indicators of stress. It’s unclear whether high stress causes people to reach for their smartphones more often, or if heavy smartphone usage leads to higher stress.

You don’t have to quit your phone abruptly. Instead, try timed “tech breaks.”

Mark suggests building self-awareness of the internal pressures that lead you to your screen. As you reach for your phone, notice how you’re feeling. Are you tired, stressed or both? Scrolling through Instagram or playing a quick video game is OK if it helps you relax. Set an alarm for a few minutes. When it goes off, ask yourself if you’re still benefiting from using the app. If not, put the phone down and get back to a more productive task, or ditch the phone and relax your mind with another activity. A meditation session or a quick walk is more likely to give you the mental respite you need.

While you can block certain apps and websites, or schedule “phone-free days,” you’ll most likely slide back into old habits as soon as the self-imposed restrictions are over. Build (or rebuild) your concentration by introducing timed tech breaks throughout the day. Start by setting a timer for 15 minutes, then ignore the impulse to look at your phone for those 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, permit yourself to check your favorite apps and websites – but only for a minute or two.

“Tech breaks aren’t only for work settings; you can use them any time you want to be present in the moment.”

If you alternate 15-minute work sessions and short phone breaks, eventually you’ll find yourself wanting to work longer than 15 minutes. Slowly, you’ll lengthen your phone-free sessions to 30- or even 45-minute periods.

To strengthen your focus, spend progressively more time each day reading physical books or newspapers.

Think about how you read on a screen compared to how you read on paper. Screens are designed for quick scrolling and skimming, while paper makes for a more focused reading experience, allowing “sophisticated mental processes like critical analysis, inference, deduction and empathy.” But a quick switch to paper won’t immediately immerse you in a deep reading experience. Your reading style defaults to the medium you use most frequently. Maryanne Wolf, a professor-in-residence at the University of California, Los Angeles Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, suggests reading for pleasure – on paper – for 20 minutes each day. It may take a few weeks to re-acclimate, but as a result, you may find that you have more control over your attention for other tasks as well. And in a modern, distracted environment, attention is power.

About the Author

Dana G. Smith writes about science, health and society. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Atlantic, STAT, Vice, and other publications.