Our Shortening Attention Span!
When was the last time you took up a book and read the whole of it, or started learning a skill and had enough patience to pursue it till perfection?
Or
When was the last time you just sat there at a place without checking or without having to check your phone?
Or
When was the last time you held a conversation with someone without getting distracted or preoccupied?
These questions may look probing but we should try and answer them honestly. This will help us in recognising our position regarding one of the major ailments of the 21st century – the shortening of our attention spans!
The first question raises the issue of our faltering persistence in sticking with one particular task. At first look, it may seem like a commitment issue, but, the underlying reason might still be our preoccupations which distract us, resulting in the short attention span.
The other two questions can be more directly related to our attention – its diversions or its deficit. Sitting at a place and doing nothing has been hard for people always, it has become even harder in this day and age of modern technology. In the same way, holding a conversation requires you to listen patiently to the person in front of you and analyse (even conversations over texts and phone calls too!). Inability to hold a conversation may highlight our lack of patience and attention deficit (or lack of interest!).
We can have more such similar questions and after analysis we may find that our short attention span has become one of the biggest culprits affecting our life negatively in many ways.
Why is the Shortening Attention Span a Threat?
1. Compromises Productivity
Our productivity is important not only for our professional success but also for our personal well-being. In order to be productive, we need to be able to concentrate on the job at hand. The shortening attention spans as well as the frequent ‘splitting’ of attention does not allow us to focus on one particular task. This may eventually lead to loss of quality as well as quantity of our work.
2. Puts Our Well-being at stake!
The unregulated giving away of our attention in different directions is not just creating a constant diversion, but is also encroaching upon the pool of time which we require for ourselves. The personal growth of a human requires regular self-inspection and introspection for which we should attend to ourselves.
There has been a rise in issues related to mental health across the world. In addition, the issues are not restricted to mental well-being only, they are affecting our physical well-being as well. At present, the issues of mental health like attention disorders, addiction to social media, etc., have started appearing in children also. This makes this conversation more serious and makes us beg the question – what went wrong?
3. Affects Personal Relations
As was discussed above, the art of communication plays a key role in interpersonal relationships. Nurturing any relationship requires us to provide it with necessary attention, which is also an indicator of our interest. For instance, one of the key areas where attention plays a key role is in establishing healthy communication and dialogue. In this regard, constant preoccupation and diversion, will hurt the process of listening and understanding on the one hand, and may also cede ground to misunderstandings and miscommunications on the other.
The shortening of attention span can also be one of the reasons for the deteriorating relations between parents and children. Inadequate attention and negligence towards their requirements may create long term emotional issues in children. It is a bad sign not just for individuals but also the society at large.
4. Creates Setback to Self-discovery
The lack of attention to our own self also does not allow us to become well-rounded human beings and realise our potential. It hampers the process of our self-discovery which is very important in our growth and development as human beings. To go through the process of self-discovery, we need to be able to have control over our attention and be able to focus it as per our own needs.
To read about self-discovery and how to start the process click here.
5. Hampers Originality of Outlook
As the attention span shortens, so does the time we give for our authentic analysis of the information and inputs. A WhatsApp forward, an Instagram reel or a Twitter trend – all are becoming instrumental media today as they capitalise on our shorter attention spans. All it takes is a cursory look for a few minutes through these short-duration feeds to build a full-fledged opinion on even the heavy and grave issues of communal harmony, equality, feminism, sexuality and so on. It’s only rare that anyone would give extended attention to an issue to do the fact check before forwards or validation from authentic sources before a like, share, comment, tweet or retweet. ‘What’s trending’ decides what goes into our thinking! Tech-savvy need not necessarily mean tech-smart! Smartness comes from originality, and that needs time and sustained attention!
Hence, we were able to establish that the lack of attention is affecting our life in multiple ways. But, what is the cause of this distraction? Let us look at some of the causes.
5 Major Causes of Shortening Attention Span !!
Multiple causes have been identified as affecting our attention spans. Some of them are discussed below.
1. Consumption is Consuming the Consumer!
We all are running the rat race!
The long working hours, the social commitments, keeping up with what’s all happening around us, the pressure of making ends meet – the list is endless. In case you don’t have enough on your plate, your phone rings and tells you that there is another notification for you – the benefits of ‘new media’, where everything and everyone is at our fingertips. Everything is vying for our attention and our time – making us occupied more than ever before.
This constant preoccupation is taking a toll on our attention. For instance, we have multiple things we have on our minds at any particular moment, which does not allow us to concentrate on the job at hand. If we analyse carefully, most of them would be of our own making – be it the social commitments or the notifications of some page we subscribed to. Amidst all these notifications and the constant buzz, a state of conundrum gets established – the consumption is consuming the consumer!
2. Our Attention - The Biggest Commodity!
In this day and age, our attention has become the biggest commodity that is available out there. This is also a corollary of the cause we identified above. Not only are we splurging our attention on our own, but there are products which are specifically built to get our attention. This is inevitable, as in a world where for all our demands there are multiple options, everyone wants a piece of our attention.
This constant demand for our attention exposes us to a barrage of notifications and advertisements. It is also helped by the fact that we as humans have lost our sense of control and become slaves of our senses. The sound of each notification evokes a reaction and grabs our attention by the scruff of its neck.
But, it would again be harsh to exclusively blame it on our incapability to control ourselves. The multitudes of available platforms and applications have almost created a situation where it seems that all the cards are decked against us and we are fighting a losing battle. Add to the top of it the peer pressure and the FOMO (fear of missing out) – the recipe of disaster is complete. Yes, the choice is limited – we either conform or perish!
3. The Myth of Multitasking!
The biggest myth pertaining to productivity is related to the hyped benefits of multitasking! Multitasking, more often than not, actually hinders attention. It takes an average of 23 minutes to regain the attention or state of flow on a particular task every time the brain signs off of that task (Study form University of California, Irvine)
The human brain is not actually designed for multitasking! In reality it only does multiplexing – giving small discrete slots of time to different tasks randomly, but still focussing on one task at one point of time. As a result, we fail to be attentive to any of those tasks and in fact feel fatigued more quickly even with not much real work done!
4. Lack of Purpose
Modern times have been dubbed as one of the easiest times in the history of mankind. We have more facilities at our fingertips, survival is the easiest ever, we are safer, more connected and collectively more prosperous. This safety and security has provided us more areas and freedoms of expression. But, at the same time, it has some side-effects too.
The absence of any major purpose or calamity also has the ability to make people directionless. For instance, the Wars provided men with purpose for action, gave a boost to economic engines, made people more vigilant, sturdy, robust, etc. The present generation living in easier times is finding it harder to channelise their energies and focus. This has also been pointed out as one of the reasons for emotional fragility and lack of patience (which earlier was driven by dire need) to listen or learn – broadly, a lack of attention!
5. Vicious Cycle
The reduced attention does not come alone but it is in fact a vicious cycle. When we lose focus on one task, it reduces our productivity there and also burdens us in our other time slots too. The increased burden, further distracts and affects attention.
Also, as pointed above, it is also affecting intergenerational changes. Children who are neglected, engross themselves more in social media and video games, eventually deepening attention deficits over generations.
The story of our attention presents a sombre picture. It may seem a very trivial issue at the surface but has the potential to cause enormous damage in times to come. But, is there no way out?
Stay Tuned for the next part “10 Simple Steps to Gain Control of Your Attention” to get the way out ..
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Contact the author at: abhijit@penperspectives.com
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