As I sit here to write this blog, I hear the chimes of incoming emails, feel the gentle pulsing of my smartwatch on my wrist indicating it’s time to stand up and I sense the vibration of a text arriving on my phone. Part of me desperately wants to focus on the task of writing down my thoughts; however, there is another part of me that is curious about who sent the text and what they want. My mind is shifting context from writing to respond, which leaves me inefficient and ineffective at both tasks.
As far as I know, I do not have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) yet symptoms like “difficulty keeping my attention/concentration” and “delaying difficult tasks”, “finding myself distracted by activities or noises” all feel too familiar. I don’t fit the stereotype of a school-aged, child who cannot sit still in his seat and I have somehow seemed to juggle my priorities – just not as easy as I once did, almost as if my brain is foggy, tired, or scattered.
I don’t recall feeling this way as a child or a young adult in university. Then again, in those days, all my watch did was tell time and it took 2-4 minutes of binging sounds before we could log into the internet to check emails. My phone was attached to the wall by a long chord and if I wanted to find out what do hippopotamus’ eat, I had to go to the library and look in an encyclopedia. It took time to be in contact, time to access information, time to switch from task to task. We have become so accustomed to immediate gratification and multi-tasking that we can no longer effectively single-task or tolerate waiting.
Smartphones switch contexts so quickly and social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok train our attention span to last about 15 seconds. In addition, these platforms use algorithms to learn about each of us and our interests to keep us scrolling for as long as possible. This is how they make their money. When we eventually pull away from our phones/social media and try to focus, our mind struggles to leave that rapid turnover of context and all that immediate, easy, and stimulating material. How and why would we ever want to sit and listen to a lecture, write a blog, read a book, or even support a friend when we can be passively entertained by cat bloopers and dancing babies?
In 2014, a study of over 7000 adolescents found that anything over one hour a day of smartphone use affects their focus. One hour! I have met many adolescents who spend over 5 hours a day on their phones and some even closer to 9-10 hours. When I hear this, I like to challenge them to a little math exercise. So, naturally, they pull out their phones to access their calculators- sigh! I ask them to enter minimum wage and to multiply that by the number of screen time hours per day, per week, per month, and then annually. They usually respond with an eye roll and snort but I know that I have made my point.
As adults, we aren’t much better. We know that we are affected by our technology and yet we will reach for our phones, almost unconsciously at times. We try to manage our children’s use of technology and battle with our teens, then once the house is quiet we numb ourselves with candy crush and Pinterest. Our brains are addicted.
Consider a digital detox. A period of time where you commit to being tech-free. For those of us whose lifestyles have become enmeshed with virtual work, this may mean putting away your tech for a couple of hours in the evening. For others, this detox could be a 3-day tech free experiment. I often hear people speaking with nostalgia about times they can recall when they were out of service for a few days, or the quality of their vacations when they were able to leave their phones in the hotel room.
That’s because there is a real-world out there to be seen. It’s waiting for you and so are we. Our counselors at Synergy Counselling can help support you in determining the cause of your lack of focus and help you design a digital detox plan if that’s what is right for you!