Gen Zen: My attention span has shrunk over the years. Here’s what can be done about it

SINGAPORE — After reading just 10 pages of a book, my eyelids droop and I retreat to my bed to scroll on my phone. This is leagues away from my childhood self — before I owned a smartphone — when I could finish a novel in one sitting. 
And when I watch movies with my family, I find it difficult to concentrate for the entire two hours, and periodically look down to check the number of views on my Instagram Stories.
Many of my friends have similar experiences. As we spend hours each day chained to our devices, continuous streams of information from different sources present distractions that have shrunk our attention spans.
Technology has caused us to lose focus on tasks more easily. Dr Gloria Mark found that people now spend an average of just 47 seconds on any screen — a drop from 2.5 minutes in 2004.
She is the author of Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity.
Mental health professionals I interviewed agreed that the extensive use of smartphones and social media has affected our ability to concentrate.
Dr Michael Patterson, a cognitive neuroscientist, said that we now have more demands on our attention than in the past. “We didn’t have email and Slack, we didn’t have as much interference from different technologies.”
The rise of short-form videos such as TikTok and Instagram reels, which can be as brief as 15 seconds, also means that we can switch to new content whenever they want to, leading to us becoming less patient, Dr Patterson said.
Mr Nav Vij, the chief digital neuroscientist at Neurowyzr, a brain health solutions company, said that mobile phone games have stimulation markers such as colourful lights that excite players every three to four seonds.
“This reduces your available attention capacity. Generally, we find in the younger population that attention is reduced (because of) increased mobile phone use at an earlier age.
“When you compare to the older generation, they can sustain quite healthy attention. Coming from a different era, they are a lot more used to tasks and activities that last longer.”
Dr Gemma Calvert, a professor of consumer neuroscience, suggested that people have simply adapted to the digital age. She said that reduced attention span is not all bad news.
In an era that seemingly rewards people who can rapidly switch from one task to another, she said that digital natives are more proficient at distributing attention across different modalities, such as watching television while interacting with electronic tablets.
“We appear to have changed from deep-sea divers to surface surfers. But like most things, change comes at a cost.”
Information overload from multitasking causes our memory systems to become overwhelmed and reduces cognitive performance, Dr Calvert said. This impairs one’s ability to execute tasks.
“Research has also shown that people who have high usage of social media are less able to control their demand for short-term rewards, often choosing a small immediate reward over a higher long-term gain, indicating a weakening of the prefrontal control systems (of the brain)”, she added.
Dr Patterson referred to a study by researchers from the University of Toronto, which stated that switching between videos on digital media intensifies boredom rather than alleviates it.
In addition, Mr Vij said that there is a correlation between attention span and a sense of fulfilment. Since one’s mind is overtaken quickly, such a person will find it difficult to have meaningful interactions.
He explained that people might find it hard to speak to a loved one for a long period since they are not able to control their attention. When people are more mindful, they enjoy deeper friendships and relationships, he added.
Not all is doom and gloom. The good news is that attention spans can be rebuilt.
Mr Vij attributes this to a concept called neuroplasticity, which means that we can change our brain’s behaviour throughout our lives.
Dr Stijn Massar, a neuroscientist, said: “Training is key.”
The researcher at the National University of Singapore (NUS) added: “If finishing a book is like a marathon, then don’t expect yourself to do that immediately.”
Extending the metaphor, he continued: “If you’re only used to running for the bus, start training for that first, like in smaller chunks. And do that regularly.
“Then you’ll be able to grow that capacity and focus on one thing for a longer time.”
He suggested that people may try reading a book for five minutes every day without distractions.
Once they can focus on the text without picking up their phones and letting their minds wander, they may gradually increase this duration to eight, 12 and 15 minutes.
Mr Vij emphasised that goals must always be achievable. The moment a person fails to reach it, their sense of motivation will be lost.
“In neuroscience, repetitive activities rewire your neurons and make it a habitual, instinctual activity. If you don’t repeat, that process won’t be hardwired.”
Dr Patterson advised people not to do two things at once because that causes us to enjoy activities less.
Instead, they should pour all their focus on what their task is at that moment, whether it be watching movies or talking to others.
He also recommended that they invest more time to watch a new show rather than give up after five minutes, because the extra time can allow audiences to understand different points of view, which might be worth it.
When at work, our mobile phone settings can be changed to minimise disruptions.
For example, people may schedule their notifications to appear in batches or put their devices on “do not disturb” mode to receive only the most important updates.
“Studies have shown that we check our email at least 77 times a day. And every time you switch, it takes you a few minutes to get back to the task that you’re doing,” Dr Patterson said.
To counter this, he suggested that people may broadcast a message in company chats that they would not be checking their email or notifications for, say, half an hour because they are working on a specific task.
“You can say, ‘Okay, I’m going to block out all distractions and just focus on this work until 3pm’, for example.
“And you’ll find that you can focus better on the tasks you’re doing, and colleagues won’t mind as long as you keep them informed about what to expect.”
More strategies include solving logic puzzles — such as crosswords and sudoku — as recommended by Dr Massar from NUS.
He said that this is a playful manner of investing effort into solving problems, as opposed to getting instant gratification from social media.
“What initially might feel like a huge effort becomes more interesting to do and more automatic.
“The more you can function without the help of mental crutches and easy access tools (like social media and ChatGPT), the easier it is for you to take in more information.”
Dr Calvert encouraged individuals to meditate. She said that research has revealed that regular mindfulness practices can increase activity in the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain involved in sustained attention and control of impulsive behaviour.
And this brings about countless benefits. “Retraining your attention systems can lead to greater mental wellness and a sense of being in ‘control’ of your life. This makes you less prone to bouts of anxiety and you are better able to cope with life’s challenges,” she explained.
“By re-learning how to stay focused, tasks are more easily completed and memory, cognition and creativity can be enhanced.”