Recent studies show that a person can maintain the focus for only eight seconds. In other words, the average attention capacity has lasted the time to read a few sentences or see a quick scene on TV before the distraction returns.
New research found that the main culprits for this trend are the and (43%), besides lack of sleep (39%) and digital devices (35%), such as mobile, tablet and notebooks.
The work was carried out with a thousand US adults from the Faculty of Medicine of the State University of Ohio, in the United States, and released on Monday (30). The research found that among the other factors that contribute to the lack of attention are the boredom or lack of interest (31%), multitasking (23%), lack of physical activity (21%), poor diet/hydration (20%) and medical conditions such as (18%).
Of the total participants, only 25% said they had no problems with their attention capacity. “Stress, rumination, and repetitive thinking about things can certainly affect attention and concentration capacity,” says Singh, a psychiatrist at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Ohio State University, and one of the study authors, in.
“Many times, when patients come to consult me, they are concerned about the ability to concentrate, and there is a good chance that this is due to excessive stress or anxiety. So we work to treat it,” he adds.
Researcher creates strategy in 5 steps to recover focus
Faced with the findings of the study, Singh and his team developed a five -step strategy to recover focus. In English, the method was called “Take Five”. See below:
- Make frequent breaks;
- Actively get involved in the task you are at the moment;
- Keep distractions to the very least;
- Eliminate the multitasking, that is, to do more than one activity at the same time;
- When you notice yourself distracted, take five minutes to breathe and concentrate again.
If the strategy does not work and the lack of attention is negatively impacting everyday life, Singh encourages people to seek help from a mental health professional.
“There are many different things that can lead to the difficulty of focusing or the difficulty of attention,” says Singh. “But being able to recognize that, while we realize that we don’t have to be ‘connected’ and 100% of the time, it is also very important.”
