With all this talk about the dangers of TikTok to national security and consumer privacy, I couldn’t help but wonder what else it had been “stealing” without our consent. With personalized algorithms designed to make it impossible to put down your phone TikTok has been taking both our personal information and our attention. The 12 hour TikTok ban was an eyeopener as to how dependent we all our on it and how little we can pay attention to anything else because of it. During this past finals week, I had come to face the harsh reality of just how small my attention span had grown leading to one of my primary New Year’s Goals being to increase it. In this article I’ll dive into the negative affects of low attention spans and action steps I am taking to take it back. Let’s hope yours is long enough to bring yourself to read the entirety of it!
attention span, attention spHan: Why does it matter
Having a long attention span is something that benefits almost every aspect of your life. Not only is it helpful to be able to sit down and study for hours at a time without checking if he texted you back or if your follower count went down, increasing your attention span can improve your relationships with others. Allow me to hypothesize but I think there is a relationship between the increase of lower attention spans and the decline of long-term relationships. We’re so used to working on multiple things at a time, we’ve extended that to dividing our attention to multiple people at a time (enter the influenza of short-term, casual relationships that have replaced long-term, committed ones).
When was the last time you went an entire meal with someone without checking your phone? I don’t know about you but it would probably be BP, the Before Phone era of my life that ended in the seventh grade. Being able to give my undivided attention to my friends and family is something that I strive to achieve and think will help me in improving relationships.
In addition, having a longer attention span will allow me to be more in the present, live in the moment, and increase my productivity. It will improve my life in every aspect by allowing me to have enough patience to get through a 50 minute lecture that I pay attention to entirely or sit through a meeting without checking out different tabs on my laptop. It pains me to think of the books I could have read, assignments I could have gotten done, and time I would have saved by being able to devote my full attention to everything I do.
Here are some things high attention spans are beneficial for:
- learning and memory
- problem solving
- reducing stress
- interpersonal communication
Steps for increasing your attention
- Meditating: I am a long time fan of meditation and could rave on and on about its benefits but I’ll save that for another time. In the case of increasing your attention span, your first step should be to start meditating. It is the mental equivalent to working out and instead of your body, it strengthens your mind. It is essentially practicing focusing on being in the present and one if its best benefits is increasing one’s attention. HeathyMinds is an amazing science and researched based program that you can use to start your meditation journey (did I mention it’s free?)
- Reading Books & Watching Movies: I have now come to the point where getting through a two hour movie without checking my phone once is an accomplishment. Indulging in activities like reading a book and watching a long movie can help increase your attention span. These are both better ways to spend time than scrolling aimlessly on social media. If you have a 2+ hour screen time, then you have time to be watching a movie or reading a book instead!
- Being Okay with Being Bored: Social media has trained us to be dissatisfied and uncomfortable with being bored. Our brains are constantly yearning for fast-paced media to satisfy our mental cravings, depriving us of the ability to sit in our thoughts and develop new ones. Actively choosing to not go on your phone between every set at the gym or every stop light on your way home can help increase your attention span.
- Social Media Detox or Screen Limits: In a natural experiment I participate in yearly during my Ramadan social media break, I observe the positive effects of breaking free from socials and it is a very freeing experience. It is so relaxing to not know every thought and action of every single person you know at any given moment! In addition to the many benefits for my mental health, breaking away from social media increased my attention so that I could enjoy watching three hour movies and be able to study for four hours straight like it was nothing. Participating in social media breaks and setting screen limits are a great way to take your attention back. Apps like Refocus or using the Screen Time Limit feature on your phone are easy ways to ease into this.