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Ask Slashdot: Dealing With Electronics-Induced Inattentiveness?
An anonymous reader writes: I am a graduate student in his twenties who used to be able to read dozens and dozens of lengthy books in his childhood. Over the years, I have noticed that my attention span and ability to concentrate has decreased noticeably, seemingly in synchronization with society's increased connectedness with the Internet and constant stimulation from computers and mobile devices alike. I have noticed that myself and others seem to have a difficult time really sitting down to read anything or focus on anything relatively boring for even more than ten seconds (the "TL;DR Generation," as I sometimes call it).
I see it when socializing with others or even during a professor's lecture. I have tried leaving my mobile phone at home and limiting myself to fewer browser tabs in an effort to regain concentration that I believe has been lost in recent years. Nonetheless, this is an issue that has begun to adversely affect my academic studies and may only get worse in time. What advice do fellow Slashdot users have with regard to reclaiming what has been lost? Should such behaviors simply be accepted as a sign of the times?
I see it when socializing with others or even during a professor's lecture. I have tried leaving my mobile phone at home and limiting myself to fewer browser tabs in an effort to regain concentration that I believe has been lost in recent years. Nonetheless, this is an issue that has begun to adversely affect my academic studies and may only get worse in time. What advice do fellow Slashdot users have with regard to reclaiming what has been lost? Should such behaviors simply be accepted as a sign of the times?
I can't handle summaries more than 3-4 lines long, can someone sum it up for me?
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
Find something to actively do. Have no more broadcasted stimulation than the radio. By doing something you'll focus your attention.
I tend to work on machinery or cars in my workshop. Still can be very technical when building an engine from a bare block with mains, but needs focus.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Quit social media, quit 4chan, quit masturbating (BIRM) quit reddit, quit facebook, and go back to reading books again.
Edit your hosts file or put in firewalls if you have to. Get an old flipphone that makes texting difficult and browsing near impossible. Disable your data plan.
Use a hand-me-down laptop/desktop pc that is so horribly slow it's painful to browse modern websites on.
You have the power of time management. Accepting a low attention span as a sign of the times is giving up, like an addict.
How?
Tried and true: Yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, walks in nature, do what you love to do (and which gives you energy).
Even just a mindfulness class or book might help you in the right direction.
Don't become a leaf in the wind. Take charge.
Yes. A proper root cause analysis is important here.
Is electronics the actual root cause? I suspect not. Most of the issues the OP describes are pretty typical examples of stress/burnout.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Forget about how it affects your academic studies -- the academic world has always been a far stretch from reality, so the older most people get, the less it makes sense to study and learn in heavily structured environments.
Now, regarding the distraction, here's what I do.
Every week, I measure my happiness. There are countless psych-industry surveys, and a few very official ones, but any technique that makes sense for you will work just as well. It can be the number of times you smiled, the ease with which you slept, your willingness to go to work on monday, the number of times you went out with friends, the amount of chocolate you ate, or didn't eat, whatever. Your measure of happiness is all that matters, and any will do, provided that it's the same technique for six months at a time.
So every week, measure your happiness. Again, not your joy (emotion), your happiness (state of mind).
Buy an old "dumb" phone for $10. Basic address book, telephone, crappy texting. The kind of phone that was AMAZING in 1998. The kind of phone that only the very wealthy had in 1996. The kind of phone that only kings had in 1995. The kind of phone that only freakin' astronauts had in 1994.
Use it for two weeks instead of your modern smart phone.
See what happens to your happiness measurements. Maybe they'll go up. Maybe they'll go down.
The point is simply this. Every week, make an arbitrary change from what you're doing today, to something that is or was perfectly amazing to someone else. See if you become a happier person. Forget about measuring by price, or appearance, or opinion, or status. Just look at your own face in the mirror, or feel your own face with your hands, and see what makes you happier.
Do so objectively, and within a year you'll transform so many different parts of your life that you won't even recognize it anymore -- because it'll be a perfect extension of you.
I bought a piece of furniture that most people haven's seen seen the 16th century. It doesn't match any other piece of furniture in the house. But it's super-comfortable, and my favourite place in the house. Sitting in it is an instant-soothe.
1) Experiment. 2) Measure. 3) Adjust. 4) Measure. 5) Iterate.
I've only recently gotten a smartphone, after being a holdout for a long time. Before that, one of my beefs with smartphone users was that they were always reaching for their phones whenever they might otherwise have been bored. It seemed to me that they had lost something valuable: time to contemplate.
However, now that I have a smartphone, I no longer think about that.
Definitely this. Don't bring your laptop to class, bring a notebook and pen. Don't check your phone unless you've got an incoming call you need to take.
You might not be quite as efficient in note-taking (if you're in certain disciplines), but you'll be a lot more able to focus on what's going on, and you'll retain a lot more.
When studying, turn off your phone, or at least disable notifications.
TL;DR: When you're doing something, do one thing well.
As with anything worthwhile in life this requires willpower. I'm surprised it took you all the way to grad school to have trouble plowing through boring text books. The truth of the matter is no matter how far we've advanced we aren't really any better at shoving knowledge into your brain. The real change that has happened in the Google universe is that the philosophy of "Why memorize it when I can Google it?" has taken over. Unless you have some form of ADHD (honestly severely over-diagnosed but does exist) then the ability to sit down and read something long that is not interesting falls to pure willpower. I didn't want to do homework either but if I didn't my grades suffered. "Consequences" All of these distractions that are more "interesting" to you can wait. Don't blame technology for giving you more distractions to choose from.
I'm also a graduate student who has noticed a reduction in my (and my peers') ability to concentrate. It's a daily struggle to fight back against sources of distraction, but I've made some small changes that have helped me and might help you (and other Slashdotters) as well:
- I try to print really important papers and read them on paper. It is wasteful (recycle nonessential papers if desired), but pulp has no tabs;
- If I read analog media at my desk, I turn off my monitors to avoid notifications;
- I turn my phone on silent and flip it over on the desk for the same notification avoidance--works well with OS' that allow repeated callers to ring through while other notifications you designate keep the phone silent;
- I try to be a more "engaged" reader, taking notes on the paper (see my first point) to force my own engagement with the material. My mind wanders if I'm bored, which is entirely possible with academic material, so to stave off the boredom I'll do more to insert myself into the reading process.
Baby steps to change habits over time.
Ditch the electronics, and the temptations.
Seriously. I am a programmer working on games for smartphones, but... I don't own a smartphone, I make do with a five-year-old flip-phone that does nothing other than make phone calls.
I don't have a facebook account, or a twitter account.
I've unsubscribed from most of the mailing lists I used to be on, and dropped most of the forums I used to frequent.
And you know what? I don't miss any of it. I have time to read books. I have time to play long video games.
I can only answer this with the example of my own life. I was in roughly the same situation, and decided that like most things, it was the result of habit.
My first step was to get a notebook and mark down what I was doing throughout the day. If I was reading an article while checking email, responding to facebook messages, and bidding on ebay, I wrote that down as unproductive time instead of "reading". I generally wrote down any activity I did for more than 10-15 minutes, and it turned out that most of my day was either "work" or unproductive time. I also began to optimize things like cooking, eating, and showering because I realized how much of my time they took up.
Once I was aware of how I actually spent my time, it was much easier to break these habits. Even easier than breaking a habit is replacing a habit though, so I got a whiteboard and wrote down the things I wanted to do each day besides things that were required like work. I usually had a 5 or 6 things a day once I lumped things together like "Complete errands and pay bills". Most books with psychological leanings tend to recommend changing a single habit at a time. I really think that's likely the best approach for most people. I did slowly eliminate unproductive time even though I attempted to change more things at once. It's all worked out for me as expected and now I spend most of my spare time playing piano, building things(robots usually), or bicycling.
Overall this approach took me 2 years. I can say my attention span has improved dramatically, and I'm vastly happier right now and in better shape. I've also noticed that many of the time wasting activities I used to partake in have been organically eliminated from my life(I no longer have facebook messenger on my phone, I don't own a tv anymore, I avoid getting caught up in the drama that pops up every week on the internet).
Good luck with your own attention resurrection.
If you don't actually concentrate on doing things for extended periods of time, you're going to lose your ability to do it.
So when you have some spare time instead of flipping through slashdot or reddit why not try actually doing something for an extended period of time? Read a book, do a hobby, go for a walk, take a bike ride for fun, go to a coffee shop and casually read a big newspaper, do the crossword puzzle. I read a lot of novels and do some woodworking on the side. A quiet evening in the shop with hand tools and the radio in the background is a great way to decompress.
You may only need to cool brain down from fast paced stressful modern connected life. Get yourself a bottle of complex wine, like a Chianti, have a glass or two over twenty five minute time span. Then read. Put the cork in bottle and store in dark cool place (not fridge) for the next day's reading.
There may be other ways to relax,
Smartphone apps are intentionally designed to grab your attention. The human brain actually triggers the reward center each time you get a new text, or email, or social media message. The more you do those things the more your brain is trained to react instantly to a new event, thus breaking your concentration on whatever you were doing.
If you want to really focus on something, it's probably best to disable your notifications so that only emergency events get through. (Or even turn the thing off completely if you can.)
I noticed a similar tendency in my own behavior. There are two things that I've done about it. First, around an hour before bedtime, all the electronics go off. Pull out a book of whatever you like to read for recreation. Force yourself to start reading, but don't force yourself to keep reading, because then it will feel like a chore. The deal is that you can read as long as you'd like, but when you put the book down, the light needs to go off too. Second, almost everyone has some kind of creative endeavor that they can pursue on their computer. In my case, there are a small number of programming projects that I've started. Writing software requires long periods of concentration, and if you're working on something interesting, then you'll have more incentive to stick to the project.
If you're unhappy with your level of concentration, then find something you enjoy concentrating on. Then when you're obligated to do something tedious, you at least have the attention span to properly apply yourself to the task.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Buy yourself a kindle... no not a tablet, that gives you too much access to the internet. Then that hour you normally spend sitting on your laptop while watching tv... spend it reading. We live in the golden age of literature... you have more books at your fingertips that anyone in history.
Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
Here is a revolutionary new way to sit in a lecture...
Sit in your seat, pull out a pen, pull out a pad of paper ("spiral notebook", "Legal Pad", whatever).
If the professor/lecturer says something important... write it down. If the professor is boring, doodle idly while you listen.
Leave the laptop, ipad, phone at home.
Welcome to growing older. Notice how there aren't as many Olympians in their 30's? The defending World Champion in Chess isn't even a quarter century old. I realize that your question was regarding new media and attention spans, but life is phenomenological in nature and you are describing an experience shared among aging humans for eons. Next stop: middle age. But don't worry, you figure out a work around to your diminishing capacity.
The subject says it all, but let me give you specifics. My tools may not be the same as yours, but the same principles apply.
1. Mobile Device
I have a recent Android device. I have turned off all audible notifications in all applications except for phone calls and SMS messages. That brings the notifications down to the '90s dumb phone level. With notifications off, I choose when I'm going to pull my phone out and check things, and my device only interrupts me for important communications (text messages and phone calls).
Delete the Facebook and Twitter apps. You can use Facebook from the browser, and it's more secure that way anyway. Replace Twitter with Twidere, which by default must be launched and the feed updated manually, though it will notify you of direct messages and mentions. Sign out of Google Hangouts. This ensures it only bothers you for text messages, and when you're off your computer, you're signed out of instant messaging and people know they either have to call you or text you if they want you.
2. Computer
I use a KDE-based Linux desktop (currently Manjaro), so you may have to adapt this. KDE has this thing called Activities, which let you group apps by function. Currently, I have only two: Desktop and Social. These are two separate screens that I have to Meta-Tab to switch back and forth to see. I know there are virtual desktop utilities for Windows, and I think the Mac lets you put apps on various screens now, but you're probably guessing where I'm going with this. On the Social activity, I have my email client (KMail) and my Twitter client (Choqok). My email client is set not to show a notification or play a sound when a new message comes in: that would be a distraction. Same with the twitter client (you have to set the system tray icon to Hidden to accomplish this).
Using an email client is important: if you use a browser tab, guess what? You'll see that little number in parentheses telling you how many emails have come in, and you'll then be tempted to check it. Don't use your browser. Use a client.
And while I'm on the subject of browsers, you should have two plugins installed: an ad blocker and a flash blocker. For those sites (like Slashdot) that you want to support, let the ad blocker show ads, but keep the flash blocker active so the ads don't become intrusive. It's easier then to read articles and such without the ads getting in the way. For most sites, block it all. And for heaven's sake, don't keep a Facebook tab open. Visit the site when you want to visit it, and then close the tab.
With this system, when I'm supposed to be focusing on work, I'm on my Desktop activity. I never receive a notification for email or any social network. If I have to use a browser in the course of my work, which is a frequent happenstance, ads and flash are blocked by default, and I don't mix it with my email.
Does this mean I miss stuff? Never. Like you, I realized I have an attention span problem that I didn't have in the past. That attention span problem induces me to check things on a regular basis. What I've removed is the interruptions: I'm probably going to check all those things anyway. That increases the amount of time I'm able to focus, and if I feel the need to check something, my email and twitter feed are a Meta-Tab click away.
What I have found is that I've been able to find that focus and "lose myself" in my tasks again. I am no longer interrupted all the time by things that have a lower priority than what I'm currently doing, and I'm much happier with what I'm able to accomplish as a result.
I hope this helps!
No reason to blame your gizmos or the current culture of information and sharing. The thing to do is to work out your ability to focus on one thing at a time for longer periods of time. The way I work on this is via meditation. There are many techniques of meditating to choose from. They all do the same sort of thing: increase your focus and patience and ability to stay right were you are without seeking the relief of something more interesting. This is what is required to overcome the temptation of constant and immediate distraction. The fact that we have a super-wealth of distracting information is why so many people are turning to the age old practice of meditation to increase awareness and ability to stay present. Start small with 10 minutes a day at a particular time, and grow it. It works. It has always worked. But it takes some discipline, and it starts by recognizing that there is a problem. You're on your way already.
getting distracted by something else means you don't care enough about the subject to pay attention. if it wasn't a phone, you'd find another distraction because you don't care about whatever you're studying
you're ruining it for serious grad students by driving up tuition, and watering down the value of whatever degree you hope to achieve.
this is grad school, not the third grade- nobody's going to hold your hand through it, and nobody cares if you succeed or not.
This week I found a book in the library, "Ontketen je Brein" (Unchain Your Brain), the result of scientific research by Dutch psychologist Theo Compernolle.
In this book, he show how the brain really works and what adversely affects it.
The main thing he he does not stop repeating is: take a break, go off-line.
The main brain chains are:
Very interesting stuff to read.
Your brain learns to do what you teach it. As indicated above, if you practice concentration, your concentration will get better.
I fell out of reading books for many years, now I'm back on the bandwagon. I've been cranking on books for about six months now. Once I got back into the rhythm, which took about a week, I was able to settle down and really read again.
Concentration is a choice, just like multitasking. All the cool kids showed off by doing many things at once, and now we think that's normal, but it's just a fashion like any other fashion. I've noticed a rise is "put your phone away on holidays," for instance, or willfully putting your phone down in meetings. This is an acknowledgement that multitasking doesn't work in many situations. You may also need sleep.
I was invited to an event the other day where there were a lot of very wealthy people; Bank presidents and their investors. Open bar, free food, free valet parking and coat check. While in there mostly being a wallflower (because I am not good at this sort of event), I happened to notice that nobody was sitting there staring at a screen. In fact, I heard no alerts, no ringtones, and saw no trusty smartphones strapped sturdily to the hip. Nobody pulled a cell phone out to check the time, or the weather or their messages. During the entire three hour event I saw exactly one of these people look briefly at a cellphone. It was a smartphone, but a very early model with a small screen, and looked well used. She glanced at the time and put it away.
Not drawing conclusions, just something to ponder.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
I struggle with exactly the same thing. OTOH, the real superstar developers I've seen, can instantly achieve cast-iron concentration and focus. So it matters.
I figure that it ultimately boils down to practising impulse control, and trying to avoid distractions. Surfing the web is like a string of thirty-second activity-reward cycles: open a Web page, read it, *boom* dopamine hit.
I have two strategies I use: firstly, I try and maintain my awareness of 'flow' at work, and the little things that break it. Secondly, I go out of my way to find things to do which require achieving and holding focus (but don't overdo it).
Firstly, I find that when I'm working (cutting code), things like slow compiles break my flow, because it's easy to hit Alt-Tab and start surfing shit (until I catch myself, and get back on task). So I find little ways to maintain flow; staying off email, staying off Facebook, staying off Reddit, etc etc. Ringing my terminal when compiles finish, so I can get back on track more easily.
Secondly, I go out of my way to spend my off-hours doing things that require focus, and don't involve a computer. I'm working on a maths degree, as well as teaching myself a musical instrument, and when I establish 'flow' on either activity, I know I'm benefiting. Just the mere act of practising 'establishing flow', has yielded improvements.
I know I've had a good day, when I get home, and I'm too tired to do anything else. Focus is like a muscle; initially it is weak, and needs training up, but with exercise, it gets stronger and stronger.
YMMV.
You have an anxiety disorder. That's really the only way to classify those symptoms. The good news is that there's a lot you can do to treat yourself. First, you have to make a conscious decision to tell yourself how unimportant these things are that you feel like you can't be without.
- Cut back on caffeine/alcohol for a bit and prioritize sleep.
- Take a connection-free weekend - set an updated voicemail greeting and turn the phone and computer off. Allow yourself to change tasks as much as you like, as long as you stay off the phone/computer.
- When you feel withdrawal symptoms, go get some kind of exercise. This will take the place of the dopamine hit you get from checking up on things on your phone.
- Meditation is not for everyone (or me). But learning how to accept time without distractions and stimulation is important in whatever way is best for you.
The need for constant stimulation is really just a need for a distraction from the underlying issue. Boredom is being faced with your own thoughts, fears, and worries. Are long books boring or are they just not a distraction?
Read up on drug-addiction based anxiety, since there are a lot of commonalities.
You need to come visit Earth in the 21st Century sometime. At least among the college students I teach:
- College is the time to practice, exercise, and test out being an adult. Yes it's fundamentally a safer and lower-impact space than elsewhere. If there are some failures along they way then they can recover and be used as learning experiences.
- Students are not having educations paid for by mommy and daddy; mommy and daddy are probably dirt poor or not in the picture. Student's education are being paid for by financial aid from the state (I think 80%) at my school and egregious loans.
- Phones are part of their lives even if they're not physically on the at all times. Most of my students have jobs, children, other family members they take care of, and expect to be available in case of an issue or emergency. Yes, this makes it much harder for them.
Frankly I say this as an lecturer who fought bitterly against having any phones out in the classroom for several years (points off, attendance penalties, etc.) Within the last year I finally surrendered on the issue because it was simply unwinnable and caused escalations up to and including physical threats against myself. Having relaxed that requirement, I've found that counter-intuitively it seems like less of a problem; students do seem to keep them available in a mature fashion, and actually fewer of them are challenging the rule by fiddling continuously with them. So that's just anecdotal, but it's been my pleasantly surprising experience in all my classes this year.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
Yes. A proper root cause analysis is important here.
Is electronics the actual root cause? I suspect not. Most of the issues the OP describes are pretty typical examples of stress/burnout.
Or depression, anxiety about future, or a combination.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
"student in his twenties" is by far the most common time for schizophrenia and a number of other mental illnesses to first manifest. If you notice a rapid and unexpected change in your cognitive abilities in that time frame, visiting with a doctor is just good sense.
And by the way, you seem a little paranoid about doctors. ;)
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
We answer: "Masturbate and you will find some on yourself."
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy