It is tough to picture our lives before it was switched on via smartphone and other devices.
Though these devices make us accessible.
But they also make us so easily distractible and interruptible.
Every second of the day.
We have adopted to these constant fragmentation of time and concentration and it has become the new normal.
But there is a downside.
More and more researches are showing that These interruptions and distractions have decreased our ability to concentrate.
Our ability to focus.
Repeated interruptions affect concentration.
In 2005,
A research at London's Institute of Psychiatry found that those distracted by emails and phone calls saw a 10-point fall in their IQ.
Twice that found in studies on the impact of smoking marijuana.
Constant interruptions can have the same effect.
As the loss of night's sleep.
In 2018,
A research from UK's telecom regulator Ofcom reported that people check their smartphones on average every 12 minutes during their waking hours.
We live in a world of Continuous partial attention or CPA.
By adopting to an anything and everything,
All of the time lifestyle.
We exist in a constant state of alertness that scans the world but never really gives our full attention to anything.
We may think that we are multitasking,
But we are not.
Rather,
We are switching rapidly between different activities.
In the short time period,
We can adapt well to this behavior.
But in the long term.
The stress hormones.
Adrenaline and Cortisol.
Create a psychological hyper alert state that is always scanning for stimuli.
Provoking a sense of addiction.
Temporarily eased by checking in.
Adrenaline and cortisol are designed to support us.
When a lot of activity is needed.
Like fighting or running away from a threat.
But in the long term cortisol can knock out the feel-good hormones serotonin and dopamine in the brain.
Which help us feel calm,
And happy.
Affecting our sleep.
And heart rate and making us feel jittery.
This is the predominant reason for the poor concentration so many people report.
This constant high levels of stress hormones also have an inflammatory and detrimental effect on our brain cells.
Simply put,
Better concentration makes life easier and less stressful.
The digital media depletes our ability to concentrate.
First of all,
As we are the cause of the depletion of concentration,
It follows that we can reclaim the brain function and cognitive health.
That's been disrupted.
By our digitally enhanced lives.
Along with meditation practice,
We have to deliberately reduce distractions and become more mindful.
And disciplined about our use of social media.
It takes about 3 weeks for a repeating behavior to form a habit.
Getting into a new habit will not happen overnight and adaption can be incremental.
You can start by switching off the smartphone alerts or taking social media apps off your phone.
Then switching off the device for increasingly long periods.
Remember that you cannot just go from a state of distraction to one of concentration.
In the same way that most of us cannot fall asleep,
The minute our head hits the pillow.
It takes a bit of time and with the practice becomes easier to accomplish.
