Is our concentration span reduced drastically ?

Nikita L Sharma *

The other day, I caught myself deep in a scroll spiral—flipping through 30-second reels, chuckling at clever skits, saving recipes I'll probably never try, and skipping past a "part 2" video because I just couldn't be bothered to wait. And then it hit me. I put the phone down, stared at the ceiling for a second, and asked myself: "Have I completely lost the ability to focus?"

I don't think I'm the only one asking this. If you've felt that same restless itch—where even a 10-minute video feels like a stretch, or reading a book requires more mental effort than it used to—then you know what I mean. I used to love reading, for hours at a time. Now, I find myself re-reading the same paragraph because my brain has already wandered off to some imaginary notification.

This wasn't always the case. I remember being able to binge entire book series, sit through long movies without reaching for my phone, and lose myself in projects without checking the clock. But now? Now it feels like my focus is being auctioned off to the highest bidder—usually an app on my phone.

Sometimes, I even thought of deleting the app but could never bring myself to it as I had the FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out. Ironic, isn't it ? The scary part is that there's actual research to back up this shift. A study by Microsoft Canada in 2015 famously claimed that the average human attention span had dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to just 8 seconds by 2013. (Yes, shorter than a goldfish.

Though to be fair, the gold-fish comparison is a little dramatic and debated among scientists.) But still, the point stands—we are struggling to stay focused, and there's data to prove it. Dr Gloria Mark, a Professor at the University of California, Irvine, has been studying how digital environments affect our attention for years.

Her research shows that the average person now switches tasks on their screen every 47 seconds. Let that sink in. Less than a minute. And I can totally believe that—my mind has wandered off to the notifications on my phone that is being charged in the other room while writing this paragraph. It's not just about being distracted—it's about what that constant switching does to our brains.

Our attention becomes fragmented, shallow. We're no longer sinking deep into tasks; we're just skimming the surface of a dozen things at once. The crazy thing is that I can spend an hour on social media without even noticing, but when it comes to watching a 2-hour film, I suddenly feel like I need three coffee breaks and a mental pep talk. And it's not by accident.

These platforms are built to do exactly that—to keep us hooked, scrolling, engaged. They reward us with little bursts of dopamine every time we see something funny, exciting, or emotionally triggering. Tristan Harris, a former Google design ethicist, has talked a lot about how these apps are essentially slot machines in our pockets—constantly dangling the promise of the next "rewarding" piece of content.

Even researchers at Nature Communications, in a 2019 study, found that our collective attention span—how long we stay interested in trending topics—has been shrinking too. Thanks to the overwhelming volume and speed of digital information, we now move on from topics faster than ever before. And honestly ? That tracks. The moment something feels even slightly boring or slow, I'm already onto the next reel.

I think what hit me the hardest was realizing how much this affects things I used to love. Reading, for example. I've always been a reader, and yet lately, I have to consciously force myself to sit and read a book without checking my phone every few pages. It's like my brain keeps asking, "Where's the next dopamine hit?" And it's not just me.

A 2021 Common Sense Media report showed that teens spend over 7.5 hours a day on screens—not counting schoolwork. That's a full-time job. And in 2018, a study published in JAMA found a strong link between frequent use of digital media and the development of ADHD-like symptoms in adolescents over a two-year period. It's hard not to wonder what all this means for the next generation.

But here's the thing: I don't think we've lost our ability to focus altogether. I think it's just buried under the noise. When something really grabs me—like a show I'm obsessed with or a game I love—I can still zone in for hours. Same with a good book, if I can get past the initial resistance. So maybe it's not that we can't focus anymore. Maybe we just don't practice it enough.

James Williams, a former Google strategist, argues that our attention hasn't vanished—it's been hijacked. We're constantly being pulled in different directions, not because we're incapable of paying attention, but because our environment is designed to scatter it. And honestly ? That makes a lot of sense. It gives me hope, in a way.

Because if the problem isn't that we're broken—but that the world around us is louder and more demanding—then maybe we can do something about it. Maybe we can get some of that focus back. Lately, I've been trying. I've started using the Pomodoro Technique-25 minutes of focus, 5 minutes of break—and it helps more than I thought it would.

I've turned off most of my phone notifications, and I've set screen time limits for apps I tend to overuse. And I'm trying to read again. Just 10 minutes a day, no pressure. It's small, but it's something. There's science behind that too.

A Harvard study in 2011 showed that regular mindfulness and meditation can increase gray matter in the brain areas associated with attention and memory. Just 10 minutes of mindfulness a day can start to retrain your brain for focus. It's not about being perfect—it's about being intentional. I think we're living in a weird, wonderful, over-whelming time.

Technology has given us so much, but it's also demanded more of our minds than they were designed to handle. Our attention is one of our most precious resources, and yet we trade it away every time we mindlessly scroll. So yes, I do think our concentration spans have taken a hit.

The research says so. My own daily habits say so. But I also think we're capable of change. Focus is a muscle, and even if it's out of shape, we can rebuild it. We just have to want to. We just have to remember what it feels like to be present—and remind ourselves that not everything worth doing comes in 30 seconds or less.