Have you ever sat down to read a book or complete a task, only to find yourself easily distracted and unable to focus?
You’re not alone. Many people struggle with short attention span, and it can be a major problem to our success. Living in a world full of digital products and distractions, it’s easier to lose our focus than ever.
In this EDU Blog, we’ll explore some tips and strategies that can help you maintain your focus and increase your attention span.
But first, let’s see what attention span means and find out the reasons behind it.
What is attention span?
The definition of attention span refers to the amount of time a person can stay focused on a task without getting distracted. In simpler words, it’s the length of time a person can remain focused, and engaged without getting distracted.
Having a strong attention span is crucial for succeeding in both personal and business life. It allows people to learn new things, remember them, and use them to solve problems.
For students, this means being able to stay engaged during lectures, readings, and exams to learn knowledge.
For employees, a good attention span leads to greater efficiency and job satisfaction, resulting in delivering results in a fast manner.
What is the average attention span?
People are talking a lot these days about how much attention we can pay to things. Experts say that, on average, we can only focus for about 8 seconds, which is shorter than a goldfish!
This is because we have so many things asking for our attention, like mobile and PC. But not everyone is the same, and your ability to concentrate can also depend on age and interest in particular tasks. While some people think this is bad news, others think it can help us to respond quickly and be adaptive to the changing world.
Average attention span by age
Attention span varies by age. Infants and toddlers have a very short attention span and can only focus on something for a few seconds. As children enter preschool age, their attention span increases to a few minutes. By the time they reach elementary school age, their attention span can be up to 20 minutes or more.When they reach to their teenage, the attention span increased to 30-48 mins. (Source link)
According to the study, human attention span is at its highest level when a person is in their early 40s, then gradually declines in old age. (Source link)
It’s important to remember that attention span varies from person to person and can be impacted by many factors, such as fatigue, stress, interest or distractions.
Here's how to increase attention span
It takes some time for you to practice and increase your attention span. At the beginning, it can be a little bit hard, but if you keep on practicing, things will get better and better. Here are some tips to follow:
- Try to do things that matter: Sometimes, you can’t maintain a good degree of concentration because you feel that this matter is not that important, and subconsciously you think it’s ok to postpone it. Well, it’s time to start with things that matter to you to just stay focused.
- Get rid of distractions: Put your phone, iPad away and turn off the TV in your room. If you need to use PC to do your work, use Focus Booster and BlockSite to block news or ads that might distract you.
- Don’t multitask: There is an infinite amount of information around us daily, however our brain can only process so much. Instead of doing everything all at the same time, why not do one task at a time and put other tasks on your to-do-list and deal with it later. This way, your brain works better, thus it becomes easier for you to stay focused and productive.
- Eat and sleep well: Eating and sleeping are two of the most important activities in life and determine our health and energy levels. Make sure you eat high quality protein, vitamins, fibers at each meal and sleep 7-9hours each day. This will help you to boost your body with enough energy. With a good level of energy, the attention span can be increased to a satisfactory length.
- Take a break every 50 mins: Set your timer to remind a break, give your brain a few minutes to rest and take your mind off work. You can relax a bit, have a chat or take some snacks to recharge.
- Meditate everyday: Sit in a spot in comfortable clothes, close eyes, pay attention to inhale and exhale and think of nothing as you relax. Practice 5-10minutes every day when you first start to meditate, and gradually prolong the timet. You will find a noticeable increase in your attention span after practicing a while.
Why is my attention span short?
There are several possible reasons for this, from biological factors such as genetics or medical conditions to environmental factors such as stress or lack of sleep.
In addition, social media use, and the habit of constantly checking the phone or email may all lead to a shorter attention span.
It’s important to remember that every person’s attention span varies and that there are ways to improve it.
Attention span test -- help to increase attention span
Good news is, there are attention span tests that can help define and treat this issue.
These tests help us to find out the length of time a person can stay focused and track the areas where they may have trouble.
By using the test results, healthcare professionals can develop ways to manage this problem and help one achieve their full potential.
If you have read this far, then congratulations! Because it is not a short one. We will try to publish more blogs that you will be happy to give your attention to. So why not stay in the know with our latest blog posts? Click the subscribe button to follow us at EDU Passport today!
