By: Donya Akhavon
You thought right, you’re already fickle attention span is being worsened by the usage of screens.
On average, people touch their phones 2,617 times a day according to market researcher, Dscout. When you use your phone, your brain is constantly being stimulated with many different things all at once. So when you’re always switching back and forth, you’re giving your attention to many different things at once.
“The brain starts learning how to switch rapidly from one task to another to another,” says William Klemm, senior professor of neuroscience at Texas A&M University and author of Teach Your Kids How to Learn. “It becomes a habit. But this habit conflicts with focused attentiveness.” (aarp.org)
When your brain is used to this behavior, it is difficult for you to focus on one thing for a prolonged period of time.
Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School and author of The Attention Merchants says, “They [older generations] can stand being bored for more than a second. I think the generation that is most at risk are the millennials, who have zero tolerance for boredom.”
Sometimes your brain can become overstimulated too. Have you ever noticed that after switching from app to app, you’re not satisfied with the usual bursts of stimulation you would usually get from this routine? And now you have this itch that can’t be scratched because after a while, the apps you often use aren’t cutting it anymore. You’re constantly opening up Instagram or Snapchat to refresh your feed to view some stories, even though it’s likely that no one has posted something.
And as you decide to open up your book, you read maybe two or three pages before your eyes drift over to your phone. Then you pick it up, quickly checking for notifications of any kind just to have something more stimulating to do. Your focus doesn’t last more than a few minutes.
Receiving notifications also promotes interruptive thoughts that halt the flow of attention. Many people often check their phones over and over, anticipating a notification, but not actually receiving one.
Rather than constantly checking your phone, set a time during the day where you go on it when you are free from work. This will allow you to get your work done sooner and focus more of your attention on the work while also setting aside time for a “break.”
Jacob Siegel ’23 says, “I always put my phone out of reach when I want to get stuff done.”
When asked if she could focus for two hours without checking her phone, Sameh Esmaeili ’21 says, “I can’t do that. I need my phone away and silenced before I can focus for a long period of time, otherwise I can’t.”
She continues, “It’s got like my life on there. Me being in contact with people, my photos, my calendar, entertainment, everything basically.”
Emma Sanchez-Flores ’23 says, “I feel like the day just goes by when I’m on my phone, and not in a good way. And when I try to do something not phone related, I’m more distracted than I should be.”
We’re super attached to our phones too. The anxiety of accidentally leaving your phone at home is simple of a different nature than anything else that could cause stress. 73% of cell phone users claim to have experienced such a sinking feeling. And that’s because cell phones/screens offer a greater level of either positive or negative feelings along with it.
When you watch a video that gives off nice, happy vibes, you feel good. That’s a quick surge of dopamine. When you receive more likes on a post than usual, or receive a nice text message from a friend, you feel good. That’s more dopamine. (Especially released after successful social interactions). And thus we want to repeat these actions to continue feeling good.
This is why we’re so attached to our phones! Since we get so much of our stimulation everyday from them, which in return delivers us with FEELING, it’s become practically a necessity. There’s rarely anyone these days who doesn’t own a phone once they reach a certain age.
I would tell you what to do, but I am also finding it hard to ease off the screens. But, I have found that keeping yourself busy with non-screen related activities that stimulate your brain in a healthy way is a good place to start. Try and get your focus back, as well as your time.
Donya Akhavon
Tags: cellphones, rangers, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood journalism, savetime
