Quite honestly, I cannot go an entire lecture without checking my phone every 10 minutes. Some call it multitasking, some call it socializing and some call it habit. The 21st-century attention plague—or short attention spans found amongst most millennials—is characterized by constantly pinging phones, 25 open tabs on people’s computer screens and conversations in the form of emojis.

Time wrote an article detailing how our attention spans have shrunken to a whopping 8 seconds—shorter than the attention span of a goldfish (9 seconds)! With the growing number of apps, technology, and social media, productivity and networking have increased, as children play with iPads before they’re potty-trained and online conferences span throughout 6 continents in 20 different languages.

With increased efficiency and technological growth comes higher and more stressful expectations, expectations to accomplish multiple tasks in a short period of time without wearing yourself thin, expectations to maintain contact with everyone and anyone, and expectations to adopt impatience and the inability to focus on your daily routine.

We want instant gratification

How many of you read the Daily Skimm, check your Insta likes only moments after your recent post and glance to see if the other person has read your text messages? With unlimited information literally at our fingertips, we accept these technological luxuries as normal, experiencing mild anxiety every time our computers buffer.

Companies have capitalized on our instant gratification, developing a vicious cycle of impatience, with immediate access to brief news blogs, food, rides (Uber), goods (Amazon), information (Google), housing (Airbnb) and even romantic partners (Tinder, J-Swipe, FarmersMatch, etc.). Our need for instant gratification shortens our attention spans, causing us to switch channels, skip songs, or tune out information we don’t find interesting.

Learning to focus

With the temptations of technology and social media, it can be difficult to switch off, to ignore the constant stimuli nagging at your brain. Here are some easy ways to improve your attention span amid consistent interruptions:

1. Drink more fluids: Mild dehydration can cause drowsiness, depression, and inhibited concentration. Every function of your body is dependent on water, especially the brain. Men are advised to drink 13 cups of total beverages a day, while women are advised to drink 9. Try sipping cold water or Gatorade during your next exam!
2. Exercise: Exercise, especially strenuous exercise that gets your heart pumping, leads to improved focus and concentration. When we exercise, new brain cells form in our hippocampus, where our brains produce memories. Exercise also increases BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), which causes brain cells to bind to one another, building denser synapses, or connections, between cells. This heightens our ability to produce long term memories, make connections, and, of course, focus longer.
3. Meditation: Meditation aims to sustain attention while avoiding distracting stimuli. It grows and thickens the hippocampus and frontal lobe matter, magnifying short term memory formation, focus, and attention.

Now pat yourselves on the back if you managed to make it through this article without checking your electronic devices!