Milwaukee – Do you feel that you can't focus? As if you never finish a book again? Like the only way to keep your mind and busy hands is to scroll through social networks for hours?
You are far from alone. A decades research I found the person average duration of attention For a single screen is 47 seconds, against 2.5 minutes in 2004. The 24/7 news cycle, uncertainty about the state of the world and countless hours of screen time do not help, according to experts.
“When my patients tell me about this kind of thing, there is often a feeling of helplessness or helplessness,” said Dr. Michael Ziffra, psychiatrist of Northwestern Medicine. “But you can change these behaviors. You can improve your duration of attention.”
Here are ways to start this process. When you read, challenge yourself to define a 2.5-minute timer and stay on this article without looking at another device or click.
Changing attention is an evolutionary characteristic, not a bug. Our brains are wired to quickly filter information and focus on potential threats or changes in what is happening around us.
What seizes our attentions has changed. For our ancestors, it could have been a rustle in the bushes that warns us for a hidden tiger. Today, this could be a wave of new alerts and telephone notifications.
Covid-19 pandemic distorted the meaning of many people and has increased their screen use like never before, Stacey Nye, clinical psychologist at Wisconsin-Milwaukee said.
Technology is not the only thing that influences our attention, say the experts, but the effects of these pinging notifications or hours that scroll 30 seconds can accumulate over time.
“Our duration of attention was really formed to focus only in these small, small brips and this interrupts our natural development cycles,” she said.
Experts say that “active” breaks are among the best ways to recycle your mind and your attention. They only take around 30 minutes, said Nye, and can be as simple as walking while noting things around you or moving to another room for lunch.
Do not be afraid to be creative. Develop a list of alternative activities or choose ideas randomly in a fish bowl. Try craft projects, a short meditation, repairing a quick meal or talking a walk outside. So much the better if you can also involve a friend.
The break should be a physical or mental activity – no passive scrolling of the phone.
When the brain is underestimated and looking for a change, it will generally have the first thing he sees. The smartphone, a “constant producer change machine”, is an attractive option, said Cindy Lustig, a cognitive neuroscientist from the University of Michigan.
Turn off the unnecessary notifications and put this “don't disturb” mode wisely, especially before bedtime. Even better, put your phone in a completely different room, said Lustig.
The multitasking can make you feel more, but brain experts recommend it.
“Be only one job,” said Nye. “Work on one thing at a time, for a specified period and start to progress.”
Lustig is a big fan of “Pomodoro technique”, in which you define a timer and work on something for 25 or 30 minutes before taking a five -minute break.
She says to herself: “I can do everything during this time”, and the world will always wait for her at the end.
It is not enough to have a hobby, said Lustig. It helps to choose hobbies which include a deliberate practice and an objective towards which to strive, whether it is to play the guitar for an audience or to improve in a sport.
It helps to choose something you also appreciate.
“You don't want to start with strong non-fiction or as” war and peace “,” said Lustig. “If you have to start with the Roman novel, then start with the Roman novel. You can progress.”
It is also important to be nice to yourself. Everyone has good and bad days, and the attention needs are different – and even vary from one task to another.
The key is to make an intentional effort, say the experts.
“It is in many ways similar to a muscle in the sense that we can build it with practice and exercises,” said Ziffra. “Conversely, this can weaken if we do not exercise it.”
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