It's difficult to look around society today and have our senses not be overwhelmed by various stimuli. The world bombards us with a wide array of distractions. With constant releases of new video games, phones, movies, tv shows, books, etc., it's easy for people to become distracted at inopportune moments. This is thanks to the glaring, negative habit that seems to have wormed its way into our modern day society. Procrastination is running rampant in the streets and tripping people as it goes.
Everyone is busy. There is hardly anyone on this planet that doesn't wake up each morning with some task to accomplish. This is how it's been for as long as history has been recorded. We have to work, care for others, go to school, etc. To do lists are made and checks are administered, but thanks to our culture, our minds have a tendency to wander. It's only gotten worse as time goes on. This is in part can be blamed solely on smartphones. According to a survey done in Canada, our average attention span, thanks to smartphones, has dropped from twelve seconds in the year 2000 to eight seconds. That's a shorter attention span than goldfish. GOLDFISH, PEOPLE (read more here). Obviously, developments such as Netflix and other streaming services have not helped this statistic either.
Attention spans and procrastination go hand in hand. So naturally, thanks to our lowered ability to concentrate on a single task for long periods of time, procrastination has found a permanent home in many of our lives. I'll be honest. I'm one of the worst at doing my school work in an organized fashion. In fact, as I write this, I have put off a five page paper, online homework, and studying for a test for over a week. Sorry, mom.
Adulthood is one of the main causes of procrastination. This is not a statistic backed up by science. I'm inserting my personal opinion here. Procrastination is especially potent in college, because its full of work that no one in their right mind would ever voluntarily complete. And if you believe that research papers are fun, then this article is not for you. Everyone loves college, but not everyone loves school. There's a difference. One is the experience and the other is the responsibility. That is why we turn to the smartphones and Netflix. Escaping responsibility seems to be the only thing that can hold our attention for longer than those allotted eight seconds.
Many scientists and researchers have said that having a shortened attention span is damaging to our way of life and on some level that's true. But some of us thrive under pressure. We wait and wait until the last possible moment before something is due and then breathe coffee in like air and pull all-nighters to complete our work. For some, that's how they create the best. Everyone is different and no two people fit into the same mold exactly the same. So if you're the kind of person, like me, who's susceptible to high levels of procrastination then don't fret. Your best work may be completed in that last hour. And if you're the other type of individual, the one who plans ahead of time and gives themselves ample time to complete work, then don't let our practices stress you out. We can't change who we are and it doesn't help that our smartphones are permanently glued to our hands. Besides, in our day and age we only have eight seconds to hear your complaints anyway.
