Is Our ATTENTION SPAN Alarming?

Is Our ATTENTION SPAN Alarming?

Is Our ATTENTION SPAN Alarming?  You may NOT agree with me but me thinks it is indeed ALARMING.  In one diabolical study @ the California State University, psychologists brought heavy and moderate smartphone users into the Lab for a unique experiment, hooking participants to skin conductor monitors measuring levels of arousal and took away their phones.  Then the researchers texted them multiple times💊💊💊

That time, their phones were close enough to hear BUT too far away to check.  When their phones buzzed, the participants' arousal level ALL spiked [and that caused their anxiety].  What's our conclusion here?  Turning off notifications is a good way to reduce distractions [what a CLASSIC TIP!] but it DIDN'T totally solve the problem.  Researchers found that external distractions accounted for only half of the interruptions n focus.  The other half was prompted by an 'INTERNAL MOTIVATION' to switch tasks💎💎💎

Interestingly, when the number of external interruptions waned, the number of self-interruptions rose.  The conclusion was that when we get into that 'pattern' of having short attention spans, when we're NOT interrupted by something external to us, we tend to switch gears and begin to interrupt ourselves📌📌📌

The hypothesis of the researchers was that those 'URGES' are caused by STRESS.  Research shows that heavier smartphone use is correlated with higher levels of 'CORTISOL' and other markers of STRESS.  Rising anxiety could become an internal signal to look at your texts or Twitter, even without that notification chime or vibration.  When there are NO notifications, people tend to 'GET A STRONG INTERNAL SIGN' from their anxiety system💊💊💊

Researches also showed that we grab our phones because we need a break.  Simply put, our brains AREN'T capable of focusing for long periods of time.  Sustaining attention and resisting distractions uses up cognitive resources and we need to replenish them periodically to regain focus.  So, why DON'T we run a check of our own ATTENTION SPAN if it's alarming❓❓❓