How to focus better: 3 strategies for reclaiming your attention

I have a small challenge for you, dear readers. Try to stay on this page for at least 47 seconds.

Focusing on one task can seem ridiculously short and easy, but research shows that the average time spent on a single screen has shrunk to less than a minute. Sure, you might find this intuitive. Did you fall down Matty Healy’s rabbit hole with his FYP on TikTok today?Have you ever gotten so distracted by conversations on Slack that you started emailing colleagues?Text a timely selfie to your family Did you interrupt him while he was doing some important task just to send it to his thread?

You are not alone. Even Gloria, her Dr. Mark, a psychologist who has studied human-computer interaction for more than two decades, sometimes pokes her neck into her anagram wordplay. Pangram when she should have done something else. It was in her research that she determined that the average on-screen attention span in the 21st century is 47 seconds.

In Mark’s new book, Attention Span: A Revolutionary Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity, she not only sympathizes with us, but also offers practical, science-based strategies for regaining your focus. Because she doesn’t allow tech companies to get away from creating products designed to keep people occupied and scrolling. Nor does it ignore the workplace grind culture that creates expectations.

In fact, Mark’s approach to focus runs counter to Silicon Valley’s relentless obsession with “productivity” (hello, Elon Musk), leaving companies with employees who don’t want to work until the weekend or stay up all night. They treat employees who don’t want to be treated roughly.

“We need to reframe our goals of using technology at work to put well-being first and foremost, rather than putting productivity first,” Mark told me.

What Mark is saying is people shouldn’t be exhausted by the end of the day. This is often the case when they and their managers overestimate their ability to process large amounts of information and complete a never-ending list of tasks. We are in the midst of constant digital temptation to click on new links. Instead, Mark presents a “menu” of options to give people control over their attention, and applies it to a rotating combination of complex, creative, and rote activities to keep the mind alert and alert. Adopting her strategies requires a fair amount of impulse control and insight into your boundaries and needs, but Mark says these strategies can be overwhelming or expendable. We hope it helps you end the day feeling fulfilled and energized, rather than a

When I asked Mark, the Chancellor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine, to share her go-to strategy for staying focused, she listed three tactics. day, and learn your own attentional rhythm. Keep in mind that her book contains many suggestions and lengthy discussions of how we got here in the first place.worth reading attention span for that comprehensive view.

1. Imagine yourself in the future.

Distractions may be planned but are welcome. However, people often find themselves in a flow of rocking themselves back and forth, unconsciously scrolling through his social media after looking for a particular piece of news, hitting the play button on one YouTube video and being drawn into the next. get involved. To combat this aimless digital wandering, Marc suggests imagining how your future self would feel if a work project with an important deadline was delayed.

Be specific when imagining results.mark writes attention span Detailed visualization makes changing behavior easier. For example, meeting deadlines may require working late into the night or missing daily runs. Think about the fatigue and disappointment that you feel as a result.

Mark argues that this kind of pre-thinking allows us to recognize the consequences of our current actions and how they will affect our future actions. With good intentions, Mark says, pausing before playing an online game and asking how it helps is natural. If the game gives you time to relax and reset your mind, use it to your advantage by spending only a short amount of time playing it, he or he twice, rather than throughout the day. Please give me.

After all, research, including Mark’s own, suggests that people need breaks to replenish their energy. Mark encourages you to ask yourself what would be more effective. It is to

Future you will not regret the deliberate choices you make to protect and enhance your well-being.

2. Create “negative space” throughout the day.

In her book, Marc debunks several myths, including the idea that the human brain can only focus on hard or demanding tasks for hours at a time. , people who don’t get enough breaks run out of cognitive resources or mental energy and start to drift away from their goals well before the end of their normal working hours.

Mark, like many, admits to trying to push through these lulls seamlessly. Her cancer diagnosis more than a decade ago helped her assess the cumulative fatigue she was feeling and prioritize her well-being over just her productivity. Now, one of her main techniques for improving focus and taking care of herself is creating “negative space” during the day.

A former artist, Mark uses the term to describe things beyond his focus, such as paintings and sculptures. That space helps frame what is being portrayed or is being portrayed, often in beautiful ways. am.

To sustain and strengthen his focus, Mark applies this principle and schedules free time during his day. You can use these periods for walking in nature, practicing mindfulness, and playing. Wardleor garden.

“Negative space is what serves you as an individual.”

“Negative space is what works for you as an individual,” Mark says.

Some may lament such breaks as useless or lazy, but Mark says they’re actually essential for reducing stress and generating fresh ideas. The more positive energy you have, the easier it is to resist distractions.

Of course, this strategy requires some control over the schedule. This may not be the case for employees whose company has back-to-back meetings or warehouse workers who must meet strict productivity goals. A short five-minute break might lead to an impulsive scan of Facebook, but according to Mark, it can be multitasking because it means organizing bits and pieces of information. As a result, the missing mental energy can be robbed. Whatever negative space you can claim, make sure you create restorative breaks that leave you feeling refreshed.

3. Learn the rhythm of attention.

one of attention spanMark’s research shows that people are just as likely to interrupt themselves during a task as they experience external factors. There are various reasons for this, including that people have grown accustomed to technical diversions. If all your friends consistently drop emojis on each other’s girlfriend’s TikTok comments, chances are you will too. Humans are social creatures and mindless digital activities can make us feel happy and calm, but this shouldn’t be judged harshly.

At the same time, Mark says people can learn their own “attentional rhythms” to better understand their peaks and valleys when it comes to concentration. Most people tend to experience optimal concentration between about 11am and mid-afternoon. Optimal conditions are when the brain is able to tackle its most difficult and most creative tasks. Instead of zeroing out your inbox during these periods, Mark recommends setting aside that time for your most difficult tasks. When your mental resources start to dwindle, Mark says you should take a break. Again, this helps prevent impulsive time-use choices made in moments of fatigue.

“Sometimes you can do more with less,” Mark says.

Answer these 19 questions to learn more about the types of circadian rhythms that affect your attention span. Mark also says that keeping a diary for the week to track trends such as peak productivity, dwindling attention, and refreshing moments of boredom can provide valuable insight into your attentional rhythms.

Mark has some practical tips, but he understands how hard it is to focus these days. She’s not interested in humiliating or blaming anyone who can’t stick to a screen for 47 seconds. However, she worries about how tired they are, because on the Internet she often wears out pinging back and forth.

Regarding digital distractions, Mark says: “Fatigue is normal for humans — it becomes normal. It’s really bad.”