College is one of the most stressful times in a Millennial’s life, and with the demands of higher education, those findings generally don't surprise anyone. Students must find ways to balance academic obligations along with extracurriculars and a healthy social life (not including jobs and internships). Pairing that with our exponential attachment to smartphones and internet usage, there’s a lot for the modern undergrad to think about on a daily basis.
So much to think about, in fact, that we can't focus. Not
just college students, but anybody. Our attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to below that of a Goldfish today (around 8 seconds compared to the Goldfish’s 9). Microsoft Canada pursued the marketing study by collecting surveys of 2,000 participants and 112 brain scans using electroencephalograms (EEGs). Results show that long-term attention spans have indeed dwindled with the rise of technology use, particularly in non-digital environments
Don’t worry, though; our brain’s are not getting dumber.
Rather, they’re adapting. While we’re not as good with extended periods of attention, our ability to multitask and focus in short bursts has drastically increased. We can “do” more with less information than we could a mere fifteen years ago. Even encoding memory has become more efficient. While there are certainly drawbacks to this trend for college students who need to spend the night studying a textbook, it provides some added benefits for those surfing the internet in multiple windows for research. It also means an easier time keeping track of all those assignments and activities.
That said, we all need healthy long-term attention spans at some point. Not only does it make reading evermore daunting (books are important), but these wandering brains spell trouble with extensive tasks like mid-terms and class lectures. That research paper won’t get done if you spend half the night flipping back to Facebook every 8 seconds. Therefore, here are a few measures you can take to give your attention span the extra boost it needs.
- A Healthy Diet: Simply put, your body lives on nutrients (among other things). Fast food, soda, and Kraft Lunchables do not allow it to function at full capacity. Along with plenty of water, replacing the smallest bag of chips with blueberries, leafy green vegetables, nuts, or dark chocolate (yum) can make a huge difference in brain performance.
- Set Goals and Rewards: When the relevance of the task at hand is punctuated by a small reward, you're that much more likely to finish by the deadline. Try doing your homework in manageable increments followed by a ten-minute break or a snack (this somewhat contradicts the previous section on a healthy diet, so use your own judgement). When you achieve the smaller goals, your focus on the big ones strengthens considerably.
- Spend Less Time With Technology: This is the big one, and arguably the hardest. If you want to have a longer attention span, you must train your brain to focus on things other than your smartphone. Sports, exercise, painting, anything that focuses your attention on a non-digital task. And if it feels like this isn't for you, try the little things. Listen to songs on your iPod all the way through rather than switching after the first chorus. Take a moment to admire nature on your way to class. Hangout at the pool with your friends. The more you pay attention to the world around you, the less your brain will crave excessive stimulation on the web.
Now, go out there and show that Goldfish who's focused!
