The Social Media Problem: How to Reclaim Your Attention Span
My first year of university came with a rather horrifying realization: I could not focus on a single task for an extended period of time. I have always been a procrastinator, but even when I eventually got to work, I could barely go for forty-five minutes before looking for an excuse to take a break. Need I mention how sub-optimal this is when your deadline is only a few hours away?
Realising that my phone was a big part of the struggle, I started making an effort to switch it off, throw it across the room (be careful with this one), or hide it away in a drawer. Unfortunately, my willpower was not strong enough for this tactic, and once I hit a mental block or a particularly unbearable level of boredom, I did the walk of shame back to my little rectangle of instant gratification. Scrolling Instagram Reels provided much more stimulation than my essay on the construction of the railroad and required much less effort. I scrambled up my thoughts by scrolling which made it even more difficult to return to the task.
I know that I am not alone in this struggle. A third-year Art History student I chatted with told me that when she has a deadline, “I put my phone away, hidden from sight. I turn off my notifications on my watch.” A joint degree student studying Anthropology and Art History explained how she gets distracted by “daydreaming, thoughts. Thoughts about speaking to people and replying to people. Sounds: I like to have things there. I can’t necessarily deal with moments of nothing.”
Trying to remove my phone as a distraction while studying worked sometimes, but I was disappointed to discover that this did not magically cure my poor attention span. Emmanuel Opara et al. found that using TikTok leads our brains to grow accustomed to lots of short bursts of stimulating content, making it more difficult to focus on long-form media. This explains why hundreds of pages of academic readings, or typing up several-thousand-word essays, feel so challenging. But if short-form media damages our ability to focus for long periods, then the remedy must lie in long-form.
My goal for this year was to incorporate boredom and long-winded tasks into my life (I once watched a video of a girl who counted individual grains of rice for an hour and would like to disclaim that I am not that hardcore). While I am certainly not claiming to have defeated distraction, I have noticed an improvement in my ability to concentrate. I will now kindly share with you some of these boring activities to exercise your brain’s stamina.
Leave your headphones at home. If I have a particularly long walk or bus journey then I won't do this, but I have started making the decision to bring my headphones with me on an outing a conscious one rather than a given. This tactic actually helped me flesh out the premise for this piece. Akin to the shower-thought phenomenon, it gives your brain a chance to process all that information you have been inputting and maybe even come up with something new. It is an excellent choice of study break, and since it is a bit boring, you have the added bonus that your studying will seem incredibly stimulating in comparison.
Reading longer books. I (shamefully) found myself opting only for short novels over the past year so that I could add more books to my Goodreads. Over the summer I read The Count of Monte Cristo (which is a beast of a book) to get back into the practice of sitting still and focusing for longer. My Nan's ability to spend entire days reading in the garden inspired me on this one.
Do a digital detox! You could always just cut to the chase and delete social media, but if you aren’t ready for such a large step then there are some great apps out there that can help you by blocking your phone or specific apps. I think it's a great idea to remove the option to scroll completely and remind yourself that there are other (longer form) things to do out there. You might find that you have a lot more time on your hands.
Just pick a movie. I don’t think the endless search through Netflix to find a film, and instead watching trailers for so long that you could have watched one in that time, is a unique experience. Quit the mindless scrolling and just pick something. If you are indecisive like me, my brother and I have been going through the IMDB Top 250 movies list by choosing a number randomly and watching the corresponding movie. This also keeps me open-minded, and I have watched a couple of unexpected greats because of it (Some Like it Hot is a prime example).
Some advice from my friends. Now that I have shared my ideas, it feels only right to conclude with some suggestions from my friends. Study in the library and use the embarrassment of pulling out your phone as a deterrent. If you are too shameless for this one, then “avoid social media in the morning. It is a very easy way for your day to kind of disappear.” And some final words of wisdom: “Delete TikTok. TikTok is the worst for you.”
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