This blog is all about tactics you can use to increase your attention span.
Let me tell you the craziest thing that happened today. I was walking down the street, the one across from Phila Cafe? Did you know Phila Cafe is my favorite coffee spot? They have the best Iced Matcha Latte. The barista who works there even lived in Japan for three years. I always wanted to visit Japan. I heard the summers there are brutal so I’m definitely planning a winter trip.
Now, do you remember the story I initially wanted to tell? Neither do I. Over the last decade, one thing I know for sure is TikTok, Instagram, and all this social media have negatively impacted my attention span. I can’t watch a movie that is more than 1 hour long. Sitting down to read a book without scrolling my phone is almost impossible. I crave instant gratification although I know everything I am doing to get short-term satisfaction will negatively impact me in the long run. So in this blog, I’d like to share with you some ways I’ve used to increase my attention span and improve your ability to work on a task longer.
Key Takeaways
1. Don’t use your phone for the first few hours of the day
How you start your day is telling of how the rest of the day will play out. If you don’t use your phone first thing in the morning, you will have time to do other tasks that will give you a boost of Dopamine that your phone would have given you. Start your day by doing the basics like making your bed, your skin care routine, a short meditation, and maybe even add in a morning walk. I would also start work or tackle a hard task before allowing yourself to use your phone. You’ll slowly train yourself to get the reward from “completing a task” to substitute any dopamine rush you get from your phone. This will set you up for success for the day, shift your attention away from your phone to important tasks, and help in regulating how you feel throughout the day.
2. Physical activity
We put a lot of pressure on our brains. The taxing daily job can be very exhausting, all the mental investments and effort we put in our day to day relationships, the external distractions, and all the overwhelming ways we can spend our finite brain power on. Physical activity is a way to release that stress and give our minds a chunk of time to rest. Taking daily walks is a great way to do that. It can help us pay attention to our surroundings, disconnect from the “online” world, and it helps our brains to rewire and restructure to give space for all the remaining stressful aspects. I know it’s hard, It feels like you are taking time from your day, but in truth this is a short time commitment for a long term benefit.
3. I hate to say it, but it’s really is that freaking phone that’s impacting your attention
I know. I keep mentioning our phones, but there is something so interesting about having a device that enables you to jump from one source of Dopamine to another. In comparison, everything seems so boring because we aren’t getting that quick dose of Dopamine, stress relief, and temporary dissociation we get from scrolling on our phones. We are trained to believe that everything else is boring. If we don’t get instant gratification, if things are hard, we walk away. Don’t get me wrong, I am an advocate of quitting and walking away when things aren’t working (sunk cost fallacy bye bye), but we also need to balance it with a level of commitment to get through hard stuff. I recommend starting with limiting your phone usage to 1-2 hours a day. Every time you use your phone, think through why you are trying to use it. Is it because there is something else you need to do? Is it because you are stressed? Where does the need to use your phone exactly come from?
4. Stop multitasking
Multitasking doesn’t exist. I actually, truly, really don’t believe it’s possible. There are many books that dive into the details of this statement such as The Myth of Multitasking, but all in all, the underlying principle is if you focus on one thing then you can’t focus on another thing (oh, sounds familiar?). This is very similar to being distracted and as a function of that having a lower attention span. If you focus on one singular task, you will be able to complete it in a more efficient manner and you will be side-tracked less often.
5. Meditations
One two three four five six seven eight. Breathe in, breathe out. One two three four five six seven eight. Did I leave the oven turned on? One two three four five six event eight. Breathe in, wait did I confirm my dentist appointment? Breathe out.
Okay, I think you get it. Meditation is the antithesis of distractions and losing your attention. It encourages you to focus on the moment, the thing at hand, and pushes everything else on your mind for another moment. This will help you build and practice focus and mindfulness. With time, this will help you slow down your pace at life and as a function of that, slow down trying to get things done too fast and too haphazardly which should help improve and increase your attention span.
6. Take Breaks
Back in school, I always told myself that I’m going to study “all day long”. I am going to put in a crazy amount of time and for sure I am going to ace my classes doing that. Do you know what happens almost every time I try to do that? I barely get in 1-2 hours of work and my attention is non-existing. Many years later, reflecting on this, my big issue was thinking I’m a superhuman who has an insane amount of focus and stamina. That by just willing myself to stick through it, I am going to do it. That is incorrect. We need breaks. They help us regain our focus and capability to solve hard things. One of my favorite TedTalks explains how taking breaks restores your stamina to a level that is almost similar to when you started. This will help you maintain your focus longer.
7. Don’t make it Overwhelming
Why don’t we do hard stuff? Why don’t we follow our lofty goals that we’ve dreamed of since forever? What’s stopping us? A big portion of that is because they are overwhelming. I guarantee you that if you focus on doing less, building the confidence in yourself that you are able to finish the stuff you committed yourself to finishing, and then gradually adding your tasks / to-do list to a level that matches your current efficiency and capability, you will be able to maintain your focus/attention, and also motivation, for longer.
I hope this post was in figuring out ways to increase your attention span! If there are any other topics around good habits, health, and wellness you would like to read about, my door (or in this case my e-door) is open so let me know!
As always – live and let live,
The Pacifist Economist