In a typical hour and fifteen-minute class, many young people find themselves checking their phones a number of times. It’s common to see people click away from their notes, browsing online stores or playing games like 2048. For some, sitting through the entire class without feeling the urge to get up and roam the halls can feel nearly impossible.
Attention spans today are decreasing at an alarming rate. The ability to stay focused is a lost art. The American Psychological Association reports that the average attention span today is just 47 seconds, compared to 75 seconds in 2012 and 180 seconds in 2004. This drastic change in the average person’s ability to focus has in turn taken a toll on their ability to function.
As the digital age advanced, attention spans regressed. Dr. Mary Pritchard, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Boise State University, outlined how this phenomenon came about.
“We’re constantly scrolling,” Pritchard said. “If you don’t like it, you scroll to the next thing. Milliseconds can go by between one event and the next. 20 years ago before we had all of this, things took as long as they took. There weren’t so many things competing for our attention and we couldn’t so quickly switch from one topic to another.”
The most popular social media platforms, particularly TikTok and Instagram, offer users an endless supply of short-form content. If a video isn’t immediately engaging, they can simply scroll through billions of other posts.
Social media set up a system of instant gratification for people online, giving users constant “dopamine hits”. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter produced by the brain to send messages throughout the body, commonly known as the “feel-good” hormone. The neurotransmitter plays a major role in the reward system of the brain, releasing the chemical upon the experience of something pleasurable.
Megan Koehler, LPC, a counselor specializing in clients with ADHD and autism, outlined the role dopamine has played in many people’s inability to function efficiently.
“The phone is primed for any emotional response or elevation,” Koehler said. “No matter what you’re doing, you’re going to be getting a little bit of dopamine because of algorithms, because of immediate gratification, and because of that ‘I don’t have to sit and wait for what I’m looking for’. It’s right there, and you’re getting it fast.”
Koehler went on to discuss how this impacts people’s day-to-day lives.
“We have to wait in line in real life,” Koehler said. “We don’t always have control over what other people are going to say and do. If you’re getting all of that dopamine and all of those feel-good brain chemicals in digital world life, outside of that life where you’re not getting as many hits, then it’s just going to feel awful. You’re wired for more of it faster, more often.”
Social media’s reward system and the digital world as a whole have drastically impacted the average person’s ability to stay focused and function. People’s ability online to immediately access the entertainment or information they desire has impacted many facets of everyday life, including education.
Pritchard outlined some of the academic difficulties young people today face due to shortened attention spans.
“For an hour and 15-minute class, it’s probably not a series of 30-second exciting events,” Pritchard said. “It’s just you sitting there. There’s a lot of fidgeting, there’s a lot of boredom, there’s a lot of ‘isn’t this over yet?’ You’re not able to focus, so you’re missing what’s being said, and then you’re not performing well because you were there, but you weren’t present.”
When students can’t pay attention in class, whether they’re thinking about what they’re going to say next or focused on something else completely, academic performance and grades suffer. This struggle to stay present in the moment and lack of constant engagement in the real world has also affected the workforce.
Pritchard discussed how a similar effect has occurred in many young people’s careers.
“In terms of employment, we’re seeing a lot of issues with Gen Z not showing up for work because they have better things they want to do,” Pritchard said. “They’re getting fired. They’re quitting. They’re not staying in jobs for very long because they expect it to be fun and exciting just like the online world is, but that’s not real life.”
These issues can quickly be attributed to the digital age, but the constant advancement of technology isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Rather, people struggling to stay present in the moment should work to practice mindfulness and intentional consumption of social media.
Koehler discussed some of the tactics she offered clients with attention issues to counter the effects of technology today. Engaging in slower activities like face-to-face interaction with loved ones, physical movement, reading books, creating art, listening to audiobooks or long-form podcasts, solving puzzles, and spending time in nature offers a few ways to practice mindfulness and diversify media consumption.
The digital age completely changed how we process information and engage with the world. The constant supply of short-form content and instant gratification rewired our brains, making it more difficult to focus on tasks requiring sustained attention. While the effects are evident in both academic and professional settings, where performance and retention are suffering, we can begin to reclaim our ability to stay present, improving our productivity and overall well-being.