A new book explores the science of attention span and how you can regain your focus.
The Problem
The average person’s attention span is only 8.25 seconds, which has been shrinking over time. It has decreased over 25% from 12 seconds since 2000 and is currently below the average attention span of a goldfish, of nine seconds.
It is a struggle for the modern person to focus on a task for an extended period, affecting our productivity and quality of life, with the average person requiring 25 minutes to readjust focus once we’re distracted.
UC Irvine professor of informatics Gloria Janet Mark has dedicated much of her career to the subject of focus. Her study on the interplay of technology and people has resulted in her newest book, Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity.
Possible Solutions
“She shows how much of what we think we know is wrong, including insights such as: why multitasking hurts rather than helps productivity, how social media and modern entertainment amplify our short attention spans, what drains our mental resources, how to refuel them, and the four types of attention that we experience every day and how to recognize them,” says the publisher.
Professor Mark has worked for years studying focus, even discussing the issue in this Talks for Google presentation from June 2018. She now offers a new framework called “kinetic attention,” which she believes can help the reader gain a better understanding and control of brain function—which can improve our lives, careers, health, and wellness.
Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity will be published on January 10, 2023, by Hanover Square Press.