In school, we are expected to take six classes for six hours a day. This leaves about six hours of daylight for other things, which most people fill with electronics and videos. Due to the access to anything in the world on the internet to serve as a distraction, our attention spans have been severely shortened since the creation of the internet and cell phones.
Most people’s entire lives revolve around the internet and electronics in general. According to the American Psychological Association, people’s attention “occurs in rhythms, and it seems to correspond to the ebb and flow of our mental resources that we have available.” This means it matches the ups and downs of our mental energy, which is the capability in our brains to do tasks. If this is low, we often lose focus on what we need to do.
In 2004, the American Psychology Association experimented with stopwatches, where if you switched tabs from your work, they started the timer and ended it once you got back to your task. According to their article “….we found the average attention span on any screen to be two and a half minutes. Throughout the years, it became shorter. So around 2012, we found it to be 75 seconds.” This means that in eight years, people’s average attention span is shortened by about half.
This new average seems to be the new normal because it has been like this for five to six years, with people’s attention spans being lowered. A second experiment showed a direct correlation between switching our attention and stress, shown by heart rate monitors. This means that multitasking greatly increases stress and blood pressure levels. This happens because it’s often more difficult to regain focus on the activity you were previously doing.
In school, with so much access to computers, it is difficult to concentrate on assignments for classes. With infinite games and videos just a tap away, it is difficult to think about the work that you don’t want to do versus the games you would rather play. Due to this, work often does not get completed in time, resulting in lowered grades. Students often think that they have time to play games, but in reality, work often never gets completed.
If you struggle with poor self-regulation skills, it is recommended that you get internet blockers. Instead of doing the work of keeping yourself concentrated, the apps do the work for you. There are also other types of concentration-helping websites, such as I Miss My Library, which plays different sounds you would find in real life while you work. You enter the task you want to complete and put it in an online to-do list. Once you finish, you can organize it into the completed category, encouraging you to finish your tasks.
