Attention spans sure are different these days. Send someone a meme with a dancing cat and they would likely get all jolly and excited. Send them a 5 minute video about homeless children and you may more likely get, “I can’t stand to look at those things.” Sometimes you may just get ignored altogether as though the recipient expects that you will just go away. Many blame it on the type of content sent (e.g. humor versus calamity), which can understandably be true. But the bigger issue is that people just don’t know what to do with their short attention spans.
Short attention spans … like a goldfish
A report from Microsoft revealed that the average person now has a shorter attention span than a typical goldfish; a goldfish loses concentration after 8 seconds. Ouch! You would think that something this startling would be enough to easily get people to adjust their ways. but many people don’t care to change. Instead, it’s today’s marketers and business leaders who adjust their advertising strategies to more easily reach each “goldfish”.
Longer internet, shorter attention
How did we get to this place? Look no further than the digital revolution for that answer. Almost everyone has a smart phone with daily access to the internet at some point. Their options to divulge in experiences and entertainment is now seamless and limitless. Humans are so engaged with the digital world these days that soon every newborn’s first words may be,”Waz App”. It’s funny but sad at the same time.
You go out on a date with someone and half the time they’re on their phone. You ask someone to take a read of a 500 word article and they frown. Yet, many of these same people will have no problem binge watching their favorite reality show for 10 hours. Interestingly enough, the ability to watch the same show for that long contradicts with someone having a short attention span. Preference for trash, anyone?
As the saying goes: people make time for what they deem important. If people are whining that stuff you forward to them is too much to engage with or they never seem to have time for you then read between the lines: to them you are not important. On the other hand, should it be the case that they really do have short attention spans then that brings up another question: why don’t more people work harder to increase their level of focus?
People like to do what’s easy
Like a goldfish that merely swims from side to side while puckering its lips, the average person prefers to consistently do what is most effortless or easy. Of course in this life we need to take breaks at times and sometimes just relax and have fun.
But where we draw the line between fun and focus makes a huge difference in how we channel our time and energies. If someone can find time to give their attention to a 9-5 job they don’t have a short attention span. Remember that people make time for what’s important to them.
Be wary of people with short attention spans
A person who uses the excuse that they possess a short attention span may be someone you need to be wary of, productivity wise. This is simply because nothing beneficial can come out of having a short attention span; it is essentially a weakness. One “saving grace” is that marketers can use such a weakness to their advantage to reach more customers.
Just think: rather than having to fight to get people to step up and increase their focus they now get to adjust their strategies to easier connect with people through their laziness. Who can blame them? It’s just business.
Learn how to focus
Short attention spans don’t discover cures for cancer. Short attention spans don’t sustain long-term relationships. And short attention spans certainly don’t build Eiffel Towers. If you (or anyone you care about) suffer from short attention spans, the best thing you can do is find a way to FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS; focus until you discover a way to get rid of the plague.
The easiest place to start is by recognizing that lack of focus does not only affect you. It can affect your friends, family and loved ones. It helps to be a little less selfish at times and place more undivided attention on others. Keep in mind that being successful in life and maintaining healthy relationships isn’t always based on what you want to do.
If you made it to the end of this article then congratulations because you just might be more focused than the majority of today’s population.
