Always On: What Constant Stimulation Does to Attention

How long have you been reading before your eyes drifted somewhere else? A notification, a tab, a thought about something you forgot to do?

If the answer is "not long", you are in very good company. And it is not entirely your fault.

Constant stimulation trains the mind to shift attention quickly and often. Research by Gloria Mark at the University of California, Irvine found that the average time people spend on one screen before switching fell from about two and a half minutes in 2004 to around 47 seconds in recent years. Each switch has a cost. The good news is that attention behaves like a skill: it can be retrained.

From Two and a Half Minutes to 47 Seconds

For two decades, Gloria Mark has measured how people actually use their attention at work, not in a laboratory but at their desks. In her early studies, people stayed on one screen for about two and a half minutes on average before switching. Her more recent studies found the figure had fallen to around 47 seconds.

She has also observed that recovering from an interruption can take close to half an hour. Every quick check, it turns out, is rarely quick.

The Hidden Cost of Switching

Most of us believe we are good at multitasking. The research is not kind to that belief.

In a well-known series of experiments, Rubinstein, Meyer and Evans showed that every switch between tasks carries a time cost, as the brain lets go of one set of rules and loads another.

The cost of one switch is small. The cost of hundreds a day is not.

This is why a day full of activity can still end with the uneasy feeling that nothing important was done.

Attention Is Trainable

Here is the hopeful part. Attention is not a fixed quantity we either have or lack. It behaves more like a capacity that grows with practice and weakens with neglect.

Anything that we learn can be unlearned, and the habit of constant switching is no exception.

It is also exactly where clinical hypnosis begins. At its heart, hypnosis is a state of focused attention: the mind gathered onto one thing, with less pulled away by everything else. Practising it, in a session or as self-hypnosis, is in a very real sense practising concentration.

Five Ways to Rebuild Your Focus

1.  Work in single-task blocks. 

Choose one task for 25 to 45 minutes, with everything else closed.

2.  Batch your messages. 

Check email and WhatsApp at set times rather than whenever they call.

3.  Move the phone out of sight. 

Out of reach is better than face-down.

4.  Pause between tasks. 

A minute of stillness before starting something new lets the last task settle.

5. Practise focused attention daily. 

Ten minutes of self-hypnosis, or any practice that holds attention on one thing, is training for the mind.

Learning How the Mind Works

At LCCH Asia, we believe that understanding your own mind is not a specialist's luxury. It is a basic human skill. How attention works, why it scatters and how to gather it again are among the first things our students learn, for themselves first, and then for the people they go on to help.

Our Foundation Certificate in Clinical Hypnotherapy is where that learning begins. Register your interest for the next intake.

Because in a world that competes for every second of our attention, learning where to place it may be the most valuable skill of all.

FAQ

1. What is the average attention span on a screen? 

Research by Gloria Mark at the University of California, Irvine found people now spend around 47 seconds on one screen before switching, down from about two and a half minutes in 2004.

2. Is multitasking bad for the brain? 

Switching between tasks has a time and effort cost each time. Frequent switching can leave people feeling busy but less productive.

3. Can hypnosis help with focus and concentration?

Hypnosis is a state of focused attention, and practising self-hypnosis is a structured way of training the mind to hold attention on one thing. It works best alongside practical changes such as single-tasking.