Body + Soul: It’s not just you. The global attention-span drought is why you can’t stay focused.
Do you know how you got here? Really?
Perhaps this headline caught your attention during a social media scroll, or stood out in your infinite inbox.
Your phone may have buzzed in your pocket, or lit up on your desk. Maybe you were searching for information on the topic - or a different topic entirely. Can you remember why you picked up your phone, or what you set out to do in the first place?
If you answered no, you’re far from alone.
We’re facing an attention crisis, according to Johann Hari, author of Stolen Focus: Why you can’t pay attention - and how to think deeply again. Hari, a UK-based journalist and New York Times best-selling author, has spent three years investigating the cause of our globally deteriorating attention spans.
We’ve summed up his findings in an article that will require roughly four minutes of your attention - can you make it to the end without distraction?
The forces hijacking your focus
Chances are, probably not. We’re quick to blame ourselves for falling down mindless rabbit holes and struggling to complete tasks or stay present with loved ones. The truth, Hari found, is more alarming.
There are a number of external forces burrowing those holes, and luring you in. They include (but aren’t limited to):
1. Accelerated consumption and the myth of ‘multitasking’
Experts have long warned our brains can’t actually multitask. Yet we flick between Instagram, Gmail, and Whatsapp and attempt - in vain - to consume the unprecedented ‘firehose of information’ we’re blasted with. The more we switch tasks, the more we corrode our ability to think deeply, and perform accurately.
According to Hari’s research, the average American worker is distracted once every three minutes. It takes 23 minutes to regain your focus after it’s interrupted. In 2016, we touched our phones 2,617 times every 24 hours. This number is likely higher since COVID-19 surged our screen time and saw a 300 percent increase in people Googling ‘how to get your brain to focus’.
2. Big tech tracking and manipulating you
It’s tempting to blame devices alone for the demise of deep thought. Eerily, the detriment lies in the way tech and products are designed (for addiction) and the incentives for people designing them.
Meta makes more money for every second you stare at their feeds. The surface avenue for this - advertising - is obvious. The deeper one - dubbed ‘surveillance capitalism’ - is disturbing.
It’s widely known that some of our online activity is tracked. Hari writes: “The truth is creepier. It’s not that they are listening and… do targeted ad serving. It’s that their model of you is so accurate, it’s making predictions about you that you think are magic.”
Big tech companies reassemble ‘all the metadata you don’t think is meaningful’, to manipulate and exploit your attention and ‘change your behaviour, without you knowing you [are] being changed.’ We lament being addicted to social media, but as one expert told Hari: “It’s not your fault you can’t focus. It’s by design. Your distraction is their fuel.” They call us users, afterall.
3. Constant stimulus and a surge in stress
When was the last time you went for a walk without a podcast or playlist? Or waited for a friend to arrive, without looking at your phone? Our mind-wandering has been disrupted, and our creativity and other crucial forms of thinking are suffering.
One expert told Hari that mind-wandering allows “more extending trains of thought to unfold, which allows for more associations to be made.”
The constant stimulus combined with longer working hours increases our stress, which ‘shatters attention’ and - crucially - disturbs our sleep.
What’s the solution?
Hari emphasises the need for change on a systemic level - calling for a ban on surveillance capitalism and mandated four-day work weeks - but stresses individual change is an important and impactful start. In addition to prioritising proper sleep and eating for your mind, he recommends:
1. Pre-commit’ to stop switching tasks
Pre-commitment, a highly studied self-control strategy, is “when you realise that if you want to change your behaviour, you have to take steps now that will lock in that desire,” writes Hari. He uses a kSafe to lock his devices away for hours at a time, and software to block internet access.
Other methods include turning off notifications, removing apps from your homescreen and setting usage timers.
2. Find your flow
Rather than shame spiralling about your apparent lack of willpower, find a task that gets you into a ‘flow state’, which has been proven to help the mind focus deeply. To find flow, Hari learned you must have a singular and clearly defined goal - such as, ‘I want to finish this painting’ or ‘I want to rearrange this room’. It must be something that is meaningful to you, as we are most engaged when intrinsically-motivated, and challenging but within your capabilities.
3. Dare to daydream
Allow yourself time each day to let your mind wander. This may be going for a long walk without your phone, or resisting the impulse to take it out when you’re waiting in a line or for a friend. Hari found: “Precisely because I give my attention space to roam, my thinking is sharper and I have better ideas.”
The most effective antidote to hijacked attention will look different for everyone, but Hari’s message is as clear as it is compelling: “Do we value attention and focus? Does being able to think deeply matter to us? Do we want it for our children? If we do, then we have to fight for it.”
